Toleration of Workplace Bullies

In the October 19, 1998 edition of the San Francisco Chronicle there is an article written by Ilana DeBare, which contains an in-depth discussion of workplace bullying. In my opinion, this is one of those areas that Human Resource managers have, in large part, failed to address. In many companies, as long as an employee continues to get results, he or she will face no adverse consequences for bullying other employees. This approach is short sighted, as decreased morale and unwanted turnover can be the result.

The San Francisco Chronicle article cites the results of a survey conducted by Christine Pearson, a management professor at the University of North Carolina. The survey was conducted among 775 people who said they had been treated rudely or disrespectfully at work. Her findings included:

• 53 percent lost work time worrying about the incident or future interactions.
• 28 percent lost work time avoiding the instigator.
• 10 percent decreased the amount of time they spent at work.
• 12 percent actually changed jobs to avoid the instigator.

Also included in the article are the ten most common forms of workplace aggression.*

1. Talking about someone behind his/her back.
2. Interrupting others while they are speaking or working.
3. Flaunting status or authority; acting in a condescending manner.
4. Belittling someone's opinion to others.
5. Failing to return phone calls or respond to memos.
6. Giving others the silent treatment.
7. Insults, yelling and shouting.
8. Verbal forms of sexual harassment.
9. Staring, dirty looks or other negative eye contact.
10. Intentionally damning with faint praise.

* Source: Professor Joel Neuman, Center for Applied Management, State University of New York at New Paltz. Data is from samples of more than 600 employees in a variety of work settings.

Gary and Ruth Namie, a husband and wife team, are, according to the article, driving a national campaign against "workplace bullying." They define this as the hurtful and repeated mistreatment of people by their bosses, co-workers or subordinates. The Namies have a web site devoted to their campaign, located at http://www.workdoctor.com/. The workdoctor web site is worth a visit if you believe you have been the victim of workplace bullying, want to avoid becoming a bully yourself, or just wish to learn more about the issue. The Namies provide actual examples of bullying, as well as advice to those who believe they have been bullied.

My feelings? This is an issue that should be taken seriously. In almost every employee satisfaction survey we've conducted, we've found that the way people are treated at work has a very strong relationship to employee satisfaction. Indeed, employees who feel they are not treated respectfully are much more likely average to say they will be leaving the company in the next year.

Certainly not every negative interaction with an employee can be considered "bullying." People are people, and they occasionally will ere. However, this does not excuse bullying behavior. I merely mean to make the point that when trying to ferret out bullies, it is important to look for patterns of abuse.

The problem is, such patterns can be difficult to see, as much bullying takes place behind closed doors. "Boss" bullies tend to scare their subordinates into submission so that said employees are afraid to say anything. Moreover, bullies can be effective at using their bullying behavior to obtain results that make them look like heroes. Management is to blame if it overlooks bullying behavior because a bully is obtaining positive results.

It is important to have a means of obtaining feedback from employees to prevent this from happening. Some possible means of obtaining feedback:

• Employee hotlines,
• Employee advocates who really work for the employee,
• Peer-to-peer reviews,
• Confidential employee satisfaction surveys,
• Confidentiality guarantees.

The positive aspect of this problem is (I know, I'm an eternal optimist!) that this is one of those problems that can be reduced without major expenditures of corporate dollars. It takes sincerity and commitment on the part of the employer.