Workplace Bullying - stamp it out!

All workplaces experience internal conflicts or disagreements from time to time as part of normal working life. Above is a handy chart explaining the difference between a natural occurrence and an artificially created one.

Obvious forms of bullying would be name calling, shouting at or even physical shoving. Now there are better laws against the obvious, what is more commonly seen nowadays are the following more pernicious types.

Less obvious forms of workplace bullying include:

• Constant nit-picking and fault-finding of a trivial nature

• Not giving appropriate credit or praise for good work

• Undermining or belittling someone in front of others or encouraging co-workers to.

• Not including someone in normal workplace conversations or activities

• Setting unrealistic goals/moving the goal posts/inconsistency

• Repeatedly disallowing meaningful work in favour of menial tasks

• Giving someone too much or too little to do

• Increasing responsibility while reducing authority

• Withholding information to prevent someone from doing their job properly - ie setting them up to fail

• Dismissive behaviour

• Exclusion from meetings and training opportunities

• Not standing up for that employee when there is a (genuine) issue or witholding support.

• Exhibiting favouritism towards other employees which disadvantages the target

A clever bully won't necessarily do the above all of the time just so they have some examples of how they've treated the employee fairly in case the employee ever plucks up the courage to complain about their treatment. This messes with the employee's head even further when the bully is sometimes nice to them.

In the early stages of being bullied at work, the victim may feel that they are at fault and will attempt to work harder or behave in a way which reduces the unfair behaviour of the bully. This unfortunately gives the bully the means to control the victim further, increasing their ability to manipulate.

It is a common misconception that employees are bullied because they are weak or incompetent. On the contrary employees are often targeted because they are competent and good at their jobs and their aggressor (often, but not always, in a senior position) feels threatened by this or jealous of them, rather than seeing them as an asset who can help them look good/the company thrive, if treated respectfully and lawfully.

Employees who face bullying in the workplace may experience a number of issues, including stress, depression, illness, insomnia and even suicidal tendencies. 

There is also a high cost to business  

• Higher staff absenteeism and turnover

• Lower staff morale

• Decreased productivity

• Legal and workers’ compensation claims

• Time lost for managers dealing with issues

• Potential reputational impact

It is hard to quantify what the yearly cost to the UK of workplace bullying is as so many employees are still too scared to report bullying as they cannot afford to lose their jobs (unfortunately the messenger is still often shot, despite being the victim and doing the company a service in flagging up a serious problem which will eventually impact on their bottom line.) Many more are forced to sign non-disclosure agreements, even if they have spoken up. Shockingly up to one in three women and one in four men report they have experienced workplace bullying in their lives. Even more shockingly women are just as likely to be bullied by other women as men. Protected characteristics legislation has helped, but many staff continue to be bullied outside of these.

Here is a basic infographic of the dynamics of workplace bullying.

There are no failsafe ways to deal with office bullying, but if you cannot stop a colleague/boss bullying you, here are a few things to try;

• Does your company have an anti-bullying/harassment or respect policy? If so, read it.
• Talk to their boss to try and resolve, reminding them of aspects of company policy.
• Join a Union and seek advice and support
• Talk to HR (if you have an HR officer or department)
• You can also get free advice from ACAS on the phone
• Contact National Bullying Helpline for help and advice here
• Keep a diary of anything untoward that happens, just the dates and facts, in case you need to file an IGP (internal grievance procedure) or take other actions later.
• Look after yourself, ie sleep, eat and exercise regularly
• Minimise your contact with your bully if possible (work from home or another location? Plan holiday dates different from theirs?)
• Ensure you have a life outside work which offers you comfort, self-esteem and distraction.
• Do the best you can and try to stay as positive as you can with your other colleagues until the situation either improves or you can find a better one.
• Remember, it's not your fault. You are an employee with a problem, not THE problem and your employer has a duty of care towards you to sort bullying out once made aware.

International STAND UP to Bullying Day is 28th February 2020. Get your workplace involved!