Anti-Bullying Policies Within the Workplace

In this blog I will discuss the article titled “Bullying in the Office: Why You Need a Policy”, which appeared on “BusinessNewsDaily.com” According to the article, unlike schools, “very few [workplace companies] actually have a clearly defined policy for reporting and dealing with bullying.” Jennette Pokorny, Chief Operating Officer of a human resource provider, defines workplace bullying as “any words or actions that […] make an employee feel uncomfortable, threatened, or intimidated, [… such as] threats of violence or blackmail, hazing of new employees, or [the] spreading of rumors.”  The article highlights that workplace bullying is a problem that is often overlooked because “leaders take a hands-off approach”. In fact, some workplace leaders feel that “employees should work out their issues with one another on their own time, since they are adults.” However, the article notes that ignoring the issue of workplace bullying not only creates a legal and financial liability against the company/business, it also creates the possibility of the problem escalating into something bigger, including violent retaliations.

This article highlights and reinforces two observations I have made within previous blogs. One observation is the broadness of the bullying term, in regards to its definition and the number of people affected. The article does not provide a straightforward clear-cut definition of bullying. Instead, the article lists various activities that may fall under bullying. Perhaps the pure arbitrariness of the definition of bullying is a factor that has led some people to fail to recognize bullying as a problem and has thus led bullying to be normalized. In addition, as can be seen within this article and contrary to popular assumption, bullying also affects adults. The second observation hints towards and seems to support a statement I made within a previous blog in which I stated that bullying is a “gate way” form of violence which leads to other forms of violence.

In order to guide employers the article offers three tips to help workplace leaders create adequate anti-bullying policies which include:

1.      “Clearly define bullying and its consequences. [… ] The employee handbook should […] include a detailed list of what actions constitute bullying in the workplace […] and what disciplinary actions will be taken if bullying occurs. In my opinion, this is an adequate 1^st step to make against bullying because it makes the consequences of committing bullying concrete. However, I think it will be equally important for leaders to ensure that companies implement their bullying policies. It may be that certain companies have anti-bullying prices, but fail to adequately use them.

2.      “Get everything in writing. […] Request written statements from both the victim and the accused bully, as well as any witnesses. […] Written documentation about the event can protect your company from liability or wrongful termination charges.” In the long run, this tip can prove to be beneficial, especially to bullies. For example, during a rehab program bullies may be asked to review their previous bullying action. Perhaps the aforementioned review will help deter future bullying actions.

3.      “Encourage immediate reporting. Make sure […] employees know who they can approach to report a case of bullying, and encourage workers to speak up as soon as possible.” Overall, I believe this is the most beneficial and productive anti-bullying tip because it encompasses the problems I have found and identified within bullying. This tip does not only advocate the recognition of bullying as a problem, it also advocates action. As previously stated, it may be the case that certain settings do have anti-bullying policies and people who recognize bullying actions. However it is important to keep in mind that if these people fail to act it renders the aforementioned anti-bullying policies as useless.