The Workplace Bully: A Seemingly Lawless Social Predator - A Reminder for Leaders and Managers

Often when we think of bullying, we are taken back to our school days where some students were preyed upon by what appeared to be lawless social predators.

Those who experienced bullying were glad to see the end of their school days, incorrectly assuming that the end of schooling meant the end or their days of being bullied. Unfortunately that assumption has proven to be wrong for many.

Then they entered the workforce and found a new type of bully: not the school yard bully but the workplace bully.

So at the start of 2018, and with a view to reducing the incidence of bullying in the workplace, I thought I'd prepare a brief reminder for leaders and managers about the need to be vigilant when it comes to this type of workplace behaviour.

At at simplistic level, noting that the concept of workplace bullying is often very complicated, workplace bullying refers to any workplace behaviour that is ongoing and is threatening and/or harmful in such a way that it creates a risk to an an employee's health and safety.

Safe Work Australia identities a number of key bullying workplace behaviours including ongoing and repeated: abusive behaviour (including offensive language and yelling), aggression and intimidating behaviours, as well as belittling and intimidating remarks, victimisation and spreading malicious rumours.

More subtle bullying behaviours include withholding and/or denying information that is needed for effective work performance, and setting tasks that are unreasonably below or beyond an employee's skill level.

It is important to note that frequently, the workplace bully's behaviour is not linked to how the bully feels about his or victim.

Quite often, bullying occurs because of how the bully feels about him or herself. The typical workplace bully often feels inferior to others in the workplace, and frequently bullying behaviours are a result of a lack of social and emotional maturity.

While employees often assume that a prospective workplace victim will be someone who appears to be vulnerable, this is not necessarily the case. Those employees, for example, who are exceptionally good at what they do or are popular with other co-workers, are also frequently targeted by bullies.

Managers and leaders in all organisations should be acutely concerned with any incidents of workplace bullying within their organisations. Bullying in the workplace has a range of consequences for both the victim and the organisation. It can result in stress, anxiety and other medical conditions for victims. For organisations, the consequences can be just as severe with a bullying workplace culture often resulting in reduced productivity, increased absenteeism and costly legal issues.

Safe Work Australia has prepared a number of guides to assist those who have been bullied, and to help organisations to not only prevent bullying but also to respond to bullying when it occurs. For more information go to:

https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/bullying#codeguides

In the meantime, I am interested in your thoughts on workplace bullying:

• Are leaders and managers in the workplace respond adequately to bullying in the workplace?
• Is there room for more education and training around workplace bullying?
• What do you see as the most serious consequences of workplace bullying?
• Are we seeing an increase in workplace bullying in organisations, or has existing education and training resulted in a decrease in such behaviour?