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.

Workplace Bullying 2

In this blog I will continue my analysis of the article “Workplace Bullying Often Goes Unpunished” which was published on “BusinessNewsDaily.com”. Previously I discussed some statistical information regarding the occurrence of workplace bullying and the characteristics of workplace bullies. On this occasion the statistical information I will be focusing on deals with how individuals react to bullying within the workplace setting.

According to the article, a recent study conducted by the Workplace Bullying Institute revealed that employers are not taking the necessary steps to stop or diminish workplace bullying. In fact, the study states that 25% of employers did not investigate the bullying claims, 31% discounted the bullying claims as “not serious” or considered it routine, 11% defended the bullies, and 5% encouraged the bullying abuse. Personality flaws and deficiencies in work-related skills were two reasons cited by the article as causes of workplace bullying. In addition, the article states that a lack of accountability encouraged bullies to feel safe from facing any consequences as a result of their bullying actions.

What seems to be occurring in the workplace is a feature previously discussed within another blog, which is the normalization of bullying behavior. Employers, which are supposed to be the individuals who set proper behavioral workplace standards, are not fulfilling their expectations. Instead, employers are downplaying bullying behavior and in a manner fueling bullying by accepting its existence. It is often the case that children look up to their parents and follow their example. As a result, it may be that adult bullying inconspicuously leads to bullying in children. It may be that children are observing the bullying behavior of adults, perhaps even their parents, and are mimicking their behaviors. Over time the bullying behaviors may become a “normal” occurrence to children. If this is the case, then perhaps bullying that occurs among adults, such as workplace bullying, is the type of bullying that should be especially targeted by researchers.

An unfortunate statistic revealed by the study is that in 61% of the cases where the workplace bullying incident managed to end, the bullying victim lost their job due to resignation, being fired, or being forced to quit. However, the article does note that “93% of U.S. employees [would] support the enactment of a new law that would protect all workers from reported abusive mistreatment in the workplace.”

The fact that most individuals would support anti-bullying laws offers glimmers of hope for the future. It is uplifting to know the ability to produce legal changes against bullying remains within the reach. Society as a whole seems to acknowledge that the concept of bullying is wrong. However, what seems to be the major problem within society today is the recognition of bullying as an actual problem.

Workplace Bullying

Within this blog I will begin my analysis of an article titled “Workplace Bullying Often Goes Unpunished” which was published on “BusinessNewsDaily.com”. According to the article, a recent study conducted by the Workplace Bullying Institute, an organization dedicated to the “eradication of workplace bullying”, revealed that “27% of U.S. employees have been bullied at work,” which translates to roughly 37 million people.  In addition, the study revealed that “another 21% of workers have witnessed bullying.”

The aforementioned findings show how widespread the issue of bullying is in terms of the age groups affected by bullying. One would think that adults would be “mature” enough to avoid bullying. However, research proves that children and adolescents are not the only age groups affected by bullying. This brings up the following question: How can adults expect children and adolescents to behave properly by avoiding bullying, if they cannot avoid bullying themselves?

The study also revealed that “the majority of the people doing the bullying are in management positions.” In fact, according to the study, “more than 55% of those who were bullied said it came from their boss.” Another interesting finding is that the study found that “men are more than twice as likely as women to be bullies”. In addition, the study found that “57% of the bullying targets for men are females, and 68% of women bullies target females.”

The aforementioned statistics reveal an interesting correlation regarding bullies and bullying victims. Men have historically held positions of power in most societies. The study conducted by the Workplace Bullying Institute seems to reveal the transfer and preservation of this status quo onto the roles found within bullying. Within bullying men have managed to preserve their power, since they are more likely to be bullies, but not the victims of bullying. However, I believe that there is slight glimmer of hope. Within the past few years, schools have emphasized gender equality, especially the schools found within the U.S. As a result, it may be the case that within a few years, the gender inequality that exists in terms of bullying relationships will diminish. In addition, it would be interesting to compare how school age children statistics compare with the statistics of working adults, regarding the gender of bullies and victims of bullying.