Were you one of those children on the playground that got taunted or beat up? Or maybe you were one of those kids that were 'geeky' looking or wore glasses at a young age and was called names (e.g., 'four eyes;')? Children can be cruel yet they don't know any different. In the formative years we contribute the 'mean' antics to the process of 'growing up'. The sad part is that the bullying, which has been traditionally in the playground, has moved to the 'grown-up' playground, known as the workplace. These 'bullies' are still acting like children and are doing just as much psychological damage as they did in the playground of yesteryear.
Workplace Bullying is repeated, health-harming mistreatment of one or more persons (the targets) by one or more perpetrators that occurs in the workplace which may be considered unreasonable and inappropriate workplace practice. This can take on various forms including verbal abuse, offensive conduct/behaviors (including nonverbal) which are threatening, humiliating or intimidating, excluding or isolating employees, setting unreasonable demands, assigning meaningless tasks unrelated to the job, giving employees impossible assignments, deliberately changing work rosters to inconvenience particular employees, or withholding resources that is vital for effective work performance. Workplace bullying can be very subtle such as work interference or subtle sabotage which prevents work from getting done.
According to the National Institute of Occupational Safety Health (NIOSH), there is a loss of employment amounting to USD$9 billion and a drop in productivity of USD$3 billion due to workplace bullying. Though dated, research conducted by the Workplace Bullying Project Team Griffith University (2001), found that workplace bullying cost Australian employers between AUD$6 and AUD$13 billion dollars every year, when hidden and lost opportunity costs were considered.
Findings from the largest scientific survey of bullying in the US, 2007 U.S. Workplace Bullying Survey, conducted by the Workplace Bullying Institute (WBI), showed that "bullying is 4 (four) times more prevalent than illegal, discriminatory harassment," which includes such things as discrimination due to race, gender, ethnicity, religion, disability, or age. Not only is this disturbing, later findings from another study from the Workplace Bullying Institute (WBI) was that a majority of employers (61.9%) simply ignored bullying. One must question why this is the case. In today's age of speed of letting others know of intolerable activities at work (e.g., bullying) via social media, it would be in the company's best interest to address workplace bullying very seriously.
The 'target' suffers great psychological and physical damage which can last long after the bullying has stopped. Bullying can lead to stress, loss of sleep, muscle ache, nausea, depression, anxiety, headaches, digestive difficulties, irritability and anger. Bullying at work also often places strain on a worker's personal and family life. In extreme cases, post-traumatic stress disorder and even suicide are unfortunately not uncommon.
So who are the workplace 'bullies'? In the 2007 WBI U.S. Workplace Bullying Survey, research findings indicate while men make up the majority of bullies - 60% of all bullies are men - women bullies tend to pick on other women 71% of the time. Thirty-two percent of all bullying is man-on-man, 29% woman-on-woman, 28% man-on-woman, and 11% woman-on-man. Though supervisors, managers, and people in 'power' positions are most often the people doing the bullying of employees, there are cases in which employees have bullied the supervisor as well as 'peer-to-peer' bullying. Additionally, Know-Bull found that over 80% of the 'boss bullies' prefer to operate in a 'bully group'.
Scandinavian countries had anti-bullying laws since 1994, possibly due to the pioneer of workplace bullying research, Heinz Leymann, being from Sweden. These laws are becoming more common as seen in Britain, Ireland, Canada and many other European Union nations. The United States is one of the last western democracies to not have a law forbidding bullying-like conduct in the workplace. (Reference:http://www.healthyworkplacebill.org ) More recently, in June 2011, the Crimes Amendment (Bullying) Bill 2011, was passed by Victorian Members of Parliament (Australia) making this the first law of its kind in Australia to cover all forms of workplace bullying - including threats, and abusive language. Under this law, workplace bullying in Victoria is now a crime, carrying a penalty up to 10 years' jail for those found guilty.
The organization's culture can add to the occurrences of bullying in the workplace. Poor people-management practices and skills amongst the managers as well as pressures of restructuring and 'downsizing' are other reasons why bullying may occur at work. Bullying at work is an occupational health and safety (OHS) issue. Under OHS law, workers have the right to a safe and healthy working environment, and employers have the legal duty to protect the health and safety of workers, which includes bullying. Therefore, employers must take reasonable steps to prevent harassment and bullying in the workplace. This includes establishing codes of conduct, developing policies and grievance procedures, and identifying a contact person in the organization to provide advice, support and assistance to a worker. When developing and implementing a plan to minimize workplace bullying, it should be done in consultation with management and non-management staff.
If you feel that you are being bullied, the first thing to do is to seek advice from a Grievance Officer, OHS representative, human resource officer or union official. Keep a detailed record of what has happened. Check to see if there is a workplace bullying policy which may state the organization's grievance procedures. There may also be counseling services available at the workplace that you could use to discuss the issue. You should also let the bully know that his/her behavior is unwanted and unacceptable and that you won't tolerate it.
Though there are guidelines and laws to protect from harassment and discrimination, employees should treat each other civilly and work together in a professional way. It is the right thing to do. As the Canada Safety Council points out, "there is no place for bullies in a well-run organization."
Dr Dion Klein is a Business and Life Strategist, and is Director of Healthy Worksites, a company specializing in corporate wellness strategies and solutions for the public and private sector. To find out more about Dr Dion and his various areas of expertise, go to http://www.drdion.com.
