Is your workplace a playground for bullies?

What is going on in UK plc? The ongoing furore over allegations of bullying at No. 10 Downing Street raises a serious issue. Bullying has become the health hazard of the 21st century workplace. It seems that you can leave the playground, but you can’t always leave the bully behind.

As many as one in 10 people experience bullying at work, according to the independent conciliation service, Acas. Up to a half of all stress-related illnesses are as a direct result of bullying, according to a survey commissioned by Andrea Adams Trust, the now defunct charity dedicated to tackling workplace bullying. 

What people normally think of as bullying, is shouting or constant criticism from a boss to a subordinate, but there are more subtle forms of bullying.   For example, through the spreading of malicious rumours, being insulted,  ridiculed or demeaned, or being set up to fail by withholding vital information,

Over the years, many studies have been done on workplace bullying.  Research shows that employees of all ranks and positions have the potential to become bullies. No one likes to think of themselves as a bully, but when there are high stress levels within the work environment or organisations are going through a lot of change, this could lead to bullying behaviour.

Researchers at Manchester University found that negative and abusive behaviour on the part of managers was frequently as a result of work-overload and the failure to deal with personal stress. 

Professor Cary Cooper of Lancaster University differentiates between the very small proportion of bullies with a deeper personality problem and the ‘overloaded bully’, who is suffering under stress. The first type of bullying is intrinsic to one’s personality and is not something one can become. The second type of bully is what anyone could become if sufficiently overloaded.

Professor Cooper says, “The most pernicious type of bully is one with a very low self image of themselves who puts other people down to feel better. This is the bully who gets into a position of power and abuses it. These are the people other people think are the ‘normal’ bullies, but they are not. The consequence to the recipient is the same in the sense that you feel devalued and demeaned. It affects you adversely both ways.”

Others who work in a bullying environment can also be adversely affected, even if they are not the direct targets of bullying.  This is what Professor Cooper calls passive bullying, “The interesting thing we found is that people who hadn’t been bullied, but saw other people in their work environment bullied, were also damaged by it. Their mental health and productivity scores were worse than people who had not been bullied or not witnessed it, but not as bad as people who had themselves been bullied.”

What can individuals do to tackle bullying?

Bullying often occurs when there are no witnesses. The target ends up questioning their performance and taking it personally. What they don’t know is that frequently the bully is probably bullying other people as well.

Professor Cooper believes that talking to co-workers is essential because it helps the victim recognise that it is the bully who has a problem, “The first thing I always tell people who have been bullied is to talk to other people in the work environment and see if they are having the same problem. The most important thing is that it makes them realise they are not the guilty party. It also makes them think of what action they can take.”

Lyn Witheridge, former Chief Executive of the Andrea Adams Trust says, “One option is keep your head down and hope it goes away and of course it doesn’t. The second is to either formally or informally raise your grievance or your allegations using the company’s policies and procedures.  The last option is to leave and that is about as succinct as it is. “

To follow the HR route and raise a formal grievance, it is essential to gather evidence by keeping a diary of specific dates and circumstances under which bullying has taken place.
Some people might want to confront the bully directly, but there is always the risk of being bullied more - unless they are basically reasonable people who didn’t realise they were bullying.

It may also be worth seeking the advice of an employment lawyer, the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB), a union, or a charity which provides help and advice. There is no direct anti-bullying law but harassment is illegal as long as it falls within the discrimination element related to age, sex, race, disability, religion, nationality or any personal characteristic of the individual. 

What can organisations do to tackle the causes of bullying?

According to the National Workplace Bullying Survey, most respondents (44.2%) were unaware of how their organisation dealt with bullying.  Organisations need to have clear anti-bullying policies which clearly lay out what are the expected standards of behaviour and what are unacceptable, as well as safe reporting procedures to serve as a roadmap to employees on what they can do formally and informally to tackle the problem.

Witheridge, former chief executive of the Andrea Adams Trust says, “If people were more aware of the damage that bullying can do, then we would reflect on our own behaviour. One of the things I say very definitely is that, we are all bullies but we are not all workplace bullies. Everyone hides behind blaming everyone else.” 

Useful links and resources

• DSC offers courses on ‘Dealing with Difficult Behaviour’ and ‘HR for Non HR Specialists’.
• DSC Solutions team offers in-house training and support on dealing with bullying and anti-bullying policies for organisations. Simply call the DSC Solutions team on 020 7391 4849 to discuss your needs.
• Acas, the independent conciliation service: www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1461
• The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development: www.cipd.co.uk
• A resource on workplace bullying: www.bullyonline.org
• Beatbullying charity: www.beatbullying.org
• Dignity at Work Initiative: www.dignityatwork.org
• DirectGov bullying and harassment guidance: www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees/DiscriminationAtWork/DG_10026670