Bullying Has No Place - Anywhere
A recent newsletter, “When They Go Low, You Go High,” explored the issue of workplace bullying and how lessons from childhood about bullying continue to resonate in the workplace. It was inspired by Chris Westfall’s article, “Bullying is Back: How Hard-line Leadership is Crushing Morale.”
In this newsletter, I want to discuss how we can work to eradicate bullying from our workplaces. It has no place. If you ignore it, you are condoning it. If you are silent, you give the bullies power and approve their behaviour.
There are three levels at which we can attack workplace bullying.
1. Personal level
a. Peer pressure
b. Upstanders
c. Zero tolerance
2. Team level
a. Team charter
b. Team meetings
c. Buddy schemes
3. Organisational level
a. Culture and values
b. Policy and procedure
c. Prevention
d. Education
Personal level
Peer pressure
In my newsletter “When They Go Low, You Go High,” I called out the bullying behaviours of executives such as Andy Jassy, Elon Musk, and Jamie Dimon. These executives use bullying as a strategy to get employees to return to the office. Employees are threatened and coerced to return to the office to avoid losing their jobs, bonuses, or being overlooked for training and promotion.
The use of threats and coercion is bullying.
When bullying occurs at this level, it could be difficult, if not impossible, to eradicate. Who will stand up to Andy, Elon or Jamie and tell them their bullying must stop?
If the entire executive team agrees with the use of bullying as a strategy, then little can be done. That’s when you seriously consider a job change – but on your terms. If voices at the executive level do not believe that bullying has a place in the workplace, then peer pressure can be applied.
The impact on the organisation can be highlighted to the bullying executive.
· Decreased productivity
· Increased staff absenteeism
· High cost of staff turnover
· Talent attrition
· Poor morale
· Degradation of brand and reputation
There are legal consequences for failing to address bullying in the workplace. In the previous newsletter, I mentioned France Télécom. Needing to cut costs, executives hatched a plan to eliminate about 22,000 workers by conducting an overall restructuring, which caused severe anxiety and an atmosphere of fear. Thirty-five employees committed suicide between 2008 and 2009.
The consequences. Boss Didier Lombard was jailed for a year, as were executives Louis-Pierre Wenès and Olivier Barberot, although eight months were suspended.
The company, since renamed Orange, was fined €75,000 ($83,000; £64,000) in 2019.
There are legislations in most countries. In Australia, we have governing bodies such as the Fair Work Ombudsman, the Fair Work Commission (FWC), the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
In my state of Victoria, we have Brodie’s Law, which makes serious bullying a criminal offence punishable by up to 10 years in jail.
When bullies are aware of the consequences on a personal level, they are more likely to change their behaviours.
Upstanders
As an individual, you can decide to be an Upstander rather than a Bystander. An Upstander supports a person who is being bullied. A Bystander who observes bullying and does nothing is perpetuating a toxic culture that allows the harmful behaviour to continue.
An Upstander educates themselves to understand what constitutes bullying in the workplace.
Upstanders act to assist someone being bullied and foster a positive cultural change.
Learning Dimensions Network has an infographic that describes how you can be an Upstander. (Note: I have no affiliation with LDN).
Upstanders also act by telling the bully to stop. The bully may think teasing a colleague is just a bit of fun, but when you describe how it makes the recipient feel, they may realise it is unacceptable behaviour. It is harassment, which is bullying. Upstanders can intervene as a group to show a bully that more than one person is concerned about the observed behaviour. There is strength in numbers!
Upstanders can educate their peers about what constitutes bullying in the workplace. Just saying two words, “That’s bullying,” can help others recognise that there is a problem. Whilst education can occur at an organisational level, Upstanders can reinforce the learning.
Zero tolerance
Zero tolerance is a phrase often used but has no meaning. It implies that bullying will be stamped out by any means necessary in the workplace, which involves discipline and punishment reliant on employees making formal complaints. This is not commonplace in organisations.
Zero tolerance should mean that we will not accept any form of bullying. Bullying can be overt or subtle - neither of which is acceptable. While some employees may consider behaviours such as gossiping or making targeted jokes harmless, they are forms of bullying and will not be accepted.
Team level
Team charter
A team charter outlines a team’s goals, values, roles, guidelines, and expectations of each team member. A team charter is co-created by the team and visited regularly to ensure it is current and effective.
Values include respect, honesty, integrity, empathy, openness, collaboration, trust, accountability, and continuous improvement.
Expectations should include zero tolerance for bullying.
“<team name> expects team members to treat each other with civility and respect and will not tolerate acts of harassment, intimidation, or bullying.”
The charter can include links to policies and guidance on what constitutes bullying and what action to take if you are a victim of bullying or observe it taking place.
Team meetings
Team meetings should constantly reinforce the team’s values and expectations. A team charter is more than a document; it must be a living and breathing team agreement.
The team must have an environment of psychological safety. Hence, there should be no fear of retaliation or reprisal when someone calls out behaviour that is not aligned with the team’s values and expectations.
Open and honest discussion should be the norm, and team members should talk about their experience of bullying, the impact it had on them, and how they dealt with it. Team members should call out any bullying they believe they have witnessed and agree on actions to be taken.
Buddy system
Teams can implement a buddy system that pairs suitable, experienced employees with “vulnerable” workers for designated periods. Vulnerable employees may include young and inexperienced individuals, those facing language barriers, disabilities, or challenging socio-economic situations. Buddies provide support and build connections.
Buddies should be taught how people relate to each other and how to help if they notice bullying.
When workers are paired with a buddy, they have someone to confide in. It can result in earlier identification of bullying activity as workers are likelier to tell their buddy than a manager or leader. Buddies can offer a listening ear, help the bullied person find the proper support, and enable the worker to form connections with other employees.
Organisational level
Culture and values
Organisations cannot just rely on policy and procedure to tackle bullying but must have supporting culture and values.
There must be a psychologically safe environment that encourages a speak-up culture, allowing bullying to be identified and addressed early. The values should include zero tolerance for workplace bullying, along with respect for diversity and the perspectives of others. It should emphasise treating others as you would like to be treated, and promote behaviours that foster inclusion and belonging.
Policy and procedure
Employers should develop and implement a workplace policy and procedure for workplace bullying. This can ensure a consistent approach to preventing and responding to workplace bullying.
A workplace policy should establish the standards of behaviour and clearly state that bullying is not tolerated. Workplace procedures should outline how to report bullying and detail how the workplace will respond to bullying allegations.
WorkSafe Victoria provides guidance on what should be in the workplace policy procedure and how they should be promoted.
Prevention
WorkSafe Victoria also provides comprehensive guidance on the prevention of bullying in the workplace.
This covers induction, training, supervision, information provision to employees, and monitoring of health and safety and workplace conditions.
Education
The WorkSafe guidance mentioned above includes a list of training topics. I think the largest piece of education needed is on what constitutes bullying. When we all understand this, we can confidently call it out.
Workplace bullying is repeated unreasonable behaviour directed at an employee or a group of employees that creates a risk to health and safety.
Workplace bullying includes (but not limited to):
· Verbal abuse
· Aggressive and intimidating behaviour
· Being belittled, demeaned and patronised,
· Practical jokes or initiation
· Unjustified criticism or complaints
· Deliberately excluding someone from workplace activities
· Deliberately withholding necessary work-related information or resources or supplying incorrect information
· Abusive or offensive e-mails, social media activity or other correspondence
· Unreasonable demands, unnecessary pressure and impossible deadlines targeted at an employee or group of employees
· Unfair allocation of tasks and/or working hours
· Undermining a person’s work performance
· Refusal to acknowledge contributions and achievements
· Being singled out and treated differently from colleagues
· Being humiliated, shouted at and threatened
· Being overloaded with work or having all your work taken away and replaced with either simple menial tasks or with no work at all
· Having your responsibility increased but your authority taken away
· Having annual leave, sick leave, and compassionate leave refused without reasonable grounds
· Being denied training necessary for you to fulfil your duties
· having unrealistic goals set, which change as you approach them
· Being subjected to inappropriate disciplinary procedures
No place
There is no place for bullying in the workplace or anywhere else. We all must stand up, speak out and act to eradicate it. We can drive change as individuals, teams, and organisations.
