Schoolyard bullying has no place in a work environment. A Forbes survey found that 75 percent of employees had been affected in some way by workplace bullying, whether as a victim or as a witness. Workplace bullying can have a number of adverse effects, and it is important that employers do everything they can to create a positive environment for all employees.
The impact of workplace bullying
Perhaps the most obvious of impacts of workplace bullying is on the victim's mental and physical health. An employee being bullied – whether it is physical or verbal – is likely to experience mental anguish and increased stress. This is also likely to increase absenteeism and decrease the quality of their performance.
Depending on how severe the bullying is, the target may see no solution but to take a leave of absence, further reducing productivity, or even leave the company. It is estimated that workplace bullying costs more than $200 billion annually, and studies have shown that workers suffering from bullying perform 50 percent more poorly on cognitive tests.
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Bullying is a toxic behavior that under no circumstances should be encouraged or tolerated. Even workers who aren't being directly bullied could find themselves bogged down by the negativity, further decreasing the quality of work and the level of satisfaction in the company.
And, if bullying persists, Employment Practices Liability (EPL) lawsuits could follow if employees claim harassment or discrimination.
Top 4 methods to prevent workplace bullying
Even if your company already has anti-harassment measures, they may not be sufficient to protect employees from bullying. While anti-harassment procedures can provide a base for disciplinary standards, it is recommended that you take more specific measures to counter bullying.
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Make sure your employees are comfortable coming to you. Some employees may be reluctant to report workplace bullying (whether or not they are the victim) because they are embarrassed, or fear retaliation. Maintain an open-door policy, and allow for anonymous reporting. Critical to preventing bullying is maintaining a positive workplace culture where employees treat one another with respect. A healthy work environment minimizes the likelihood that bullying will occur and is one where complaints of bullying and harassment are taken seriously. The longer bullying occurs, the more pervasive it becomes, and the more difficult it is to stop
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Keep your eyes open. Understand the signs of workplace bullying, and train all employees to recognize when bullying might be taking place. Common bullying behaviors include: denigrating comments, malicious gossip, unreasonable workloads, ignoring requests, amplifying deficiencies and yelling. Training bystanders helps equip them to stop bullying and provide better support for victims. Bullying prevention and encouraging professional behavior and civility are the training goals.
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Don't promote it. If you or other members of management find that bullying is occurring in your company, act swiftly to ensure that the appropriate conduct is dealt with and that all employees are aware of your anti-bullying policy. The most detrimental action a manager can take when an employee complains about a bully is to shrug it off, or take no action whatsoever. This is a culture killer that creates significant risk for the company.
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Create a company structure that does not encourage bullying. Workplace bullying oftentimes occurs if one or several employees feel that another is receiving more positive attention or rewards than they are. Rather than work hard to learn the skills which would help them achieve their own success, a bully's jealousy can result in targeting a coworker to sabotage their performance, success, and rewards. Companies should ensure that learning and development opportunities are equitably available and performance measurement systems are completely unbiased, rewarding ideas and collaboration, not just results.
Andrea Goodkin, SPHR, SHRM-SCP is Executive Vice President, Human Capital Consulting for Hub International.
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