Workplace Bullying

Bullying in the workplace is a common phenomenon that has been reported in various types of Organizations throughout the world. Majority of the workplaces do not have a formal program or policy that prevents or mitigates workplace bullying. Thus, some organizations may be practicing corporate/institutional bullying and entrenching bullying throughout the organization. Workplace bullying has been getting a lot more attention in the media lately after some high-profile bullying cases have come to light — but the issue is unfortunately not a new one.

According to survey results, 14 percent of workers felt bullied by their immediate supervisor, while 11 percent felt bullied by a co-worker. Seven percent said the bully was not their boss but someone else higher up in the organization, while another 7 percent said the bully was their customer.

Bullying reports by gender and age

· Comparing genders and age groups, the segments that were more likely than others to report feeling bullied were women, workers ages 55 or older (29 percent), and workers age 24 or younger (29 percent).

· Women reported a higher incidence of being treated unfairly at the office. One-third (34 percent) of women said they have felt bullied in the workplace, compared to 22 percent of men. Of course, this doesn’t mean fewer men are bullied, necessarily — just that fewer men report it. And, according to research by organizational behavior and leadership expert Denise Salin, women are more likely than men to self-label as a target of bullying.

· Workers ages 35 to 44 were the least likely to report feeling bullied, with only one in four doing so.

Here are some suggestion,

1. Provide a supportive culture, and encourage open communication with both peers and leaders.

2.Introduce a specific, zero-tolerance anti-bullying policy to employees to increase general awareness of appropriate work behavior. The content of the document is very important; simply having one is not enough. It should cover the definition of what is regarded as bullying and what is not, as well as a statement of consequences of breaching your organization’s standards. It should also clarify who to report to, list specific contact persons and clearly explain the procedure for making and investigating informal and formal complaints.

3. Incorporate staff from all levels of your organization to help develop your policy, and increase awareness and acceptance of it throughout the organization — having a written policy is not enough. Policies are not just for the potential victim of workplace bullying, but are also helpful for managers, to give them advice and guidelines about how to deal with bullying. In turn, having a policy may make managers more willing and competent to react appropriately to a situation.

4. Include skills to identify and deal with bullying during management training, any action taken to increase leader competence in dealing with bullying is of utmost importance.

5. Spread knowledge of both the definition of workplace bullying and your organization’s policy at all levels,so that situations that could escalate into bullying can be quickly identified (and hopefully dealt with before the level of intensity increases). Increasing awareness may also encourage more employees to feel empowered to combat bullying by refusing to take part or refusing to silently watch it happen.

6. Increase the perceived cost to the perpetrator in order to deter potential bullies from taking action by making it clear that there will be serious consequences.