Bully Suspended!

It can be incredibly emotionally intense supporting members as a trade union rep. I get to know them, hear their stories, their background, their hopes and fears 

I find it especially hard, yet incredibly rewarding, when I support capable professional women who have been treated badly at work. Bullying is so damaging. The slow drip, drip of micromanagement, undermining comments and unpleasant behaviour can destroy confidence, self worth and even result in fabulous women believing that some how it is there fault, or that they imagined everything (gaslighting happens a lot in organisations).

But standing up, putting your head above the parapet and saying “This is not ok” isn’t easy. It takes resilience and self worth to believe in yourself when other people ask you to prove your experience. 

Although almost all organisations “say” that they do not accept bullying, it isn’t easy to get an organisation to actually take action. Most will investigate, but many also drop the case saying that there isn’t enough evidence (it’s hard to prove what happened in a one to one conversation).

So I was over the moon recently when I found out that a bully had been suspended and was facing a disciplinary hearing following a complaint made by a Member I am supporting.

As it turned out there were other victims. Which is often the case. Bullies, rarely just bully one person. When one person makes an allegation, it becomes easier for other people to stand up.

But it’s all worth it, when things go right, when justice is served and women are heard.

Sometimes I love my job.

#hr #bullyingawareness