Bullying: no workplace is immune and employers must be vigilant

Given the litany of negative impacts that can arise from bullying, it makes sense then that organisations do everything in their power to prevent or minimise the incidence of bullying and harassment.

Employers have a legal responsibility to take ‘reasonable steps’ to prevent harassment, bullying and discrimination occurring in the workplace. There are many preventative measures they can take to minimise the risk of bullying, harassment or other unlawful behaviour and manage it appropriately when it does occur.

Having up-to-date diversity and EEO policies, grievance procedures and support networks are good first steps. Continual education of staff on these and on their rights and responsibilities at work is also important.

DCA’s Working for the Future research, however, revealed a pressing need to develop an organisational culture in which employees feel able to seek assistance, and to build managerial capability on preventing and responding to inappropriate workplace behaviour in Australian workplaces.

Capability in this area is important given the alarming incident rates of inappropriate behaviour identified by our research, the relatively low use of internal grievance procedures by complainants, and dissatisfaction with how complaints are managed.

Our research found that awareness about policy and process was quite good – approximately two-thirds of complainants knew what to do when they felt they were being bullied. However, only half of complainants raised the issue with someone to get help. Moreover, only about a quarter of complainants who did seek help were happy with how the incident was dealt with.

No workplace is immune from bullying and employers need to be aware of the warning signs. These include high levels of absenteeism (associated with particular shifts/areas), highstaff turnover, increases in grievances, complaints, accidents and stress claims, and negative staff engagement or climate survey results. They can also include more subtle indicators such as employees becoming withdrawn, isolated, unpredictably upset and underperforming.

It’s also important to audit your workplace for key risk factors. WorkSafe Victoria’s Preventing and Responding to Bullying at Work guide suggests five key work environment risk factors that can contribute to bullying. These are organisational change; negative leadership styles; lack of appropriate work systems; poor workplace relationships; and workforce characteristics (e.g. some workers are more vulnerable). Bullying can arise from a number of interrelated risk factors and workplaces should use this as the basis for implementing workplace policy, procedure and training.

Smart employers understand that creating a workplace where people actually want to work, by establishing a culture that respects difference, will produce the greatest business benefits, and this goes way beyond meeting legal obligations to address bad behaviour.

Creating a productive working environment in which everybody feels valued and respected, and where their talents are being fully utilised, should be the ultimate objective. Organisations with a reputation for this will become ‘employers of choice’ and be able to attract and retain the best talent.

Importantly, each of us has to call bad behaviour when we see it and hold people accountable at every point in out daily lives – be it at work, home or in our social lives. Culture will only change over time if every individual changes.