Guest contributed by Patrick Valtin

Disengagement and bullying

More than 72% of the US Workforce are disengaged, costing the US economy over $500 billion in revenues annually. One primary (and often overlooked) source of employee disengagement is unsolved or badly managed bullying in the workplace; it affects 75% of American workers, causing lower productivity, lower morale and higher personnel turnover. Defined as repeated mistreatment of an employee by one or more employees, workplace bullying is hitting hard in the repute of US business leadership:

• 61% of bullies are bosses
• 71% of employer reactions are harmful to targets – versus 60% of coworker reactions
• 45% of employees have reported worsening of work relationships in the last 4 years.

A Leadership Crisis

Women are more frequently bullied than men. In fact, a survey by the Workplace Bullying Institute found that 70% percent of bullies were men (versus 30% women) and generally, 66 percent of targets were women. The survey also revealed that women bullied women in 67 % of cases – versus 65% between men.

The same-gender findings about workplace bullying illustrate well the inadequacy of current non-discrimination laws and employer policies to cover bullying cases. Per the Workplace Bullying Institute, 40% of all bullying cases are considered ineligible by HR gatekeepers in organizations. Complaints go unfiled, and bullying problems ignored or discounted. This allows bullies to bully with impunity.

As reported by business.com, less than 20% of employers will help a bullied target, leaving 65.6 million victims without much recourse – other than, for 61% of them, leaving their job in order to escape the resulting emotional stress and suffering.

Per a 2017 US workplace bullying survey on employer’s attitude & reaction to bullying in their organization:

• 22% never learned about bully’s misconduct
• 26% did nothing, while complaint was filed
• 46% investigated inappropriately, and nothing changed
• 71% showed negative reactions
• 23% took action with positive changes for target
• 6% took action which resulted in negative outcome for perpetrator

Developing an anti-bully culture

Employers must either learn how to deal with bullies or avoid hiring them in the first place. But bullying would dramatically decrease if leaders would first openly and formally make aggressive or abusive conduct inacceptable. Below are some practical tips on how to minimize the issue:

• Develop a formal code of conduct which (1) defines bullying in the workplace; (2) educates staff on the negative effects of bullying on personal & group’s morale and on the organization survival; (3) raises awareness and responsibility of every group member and (4) clearly defines penalties for non-compliance.
• Create a “zero-tolerance” policy on the subject, comparable to zero tolerance for drugs or for sexual harassment; and enforce it at all levels without any exception.
• Apply full transparency on the subject during staff meetings, while rewarding positive attitudes and discouraging/punishing bullying behaviors.
• Ensure that executives manage by example, treating everyone fairly and with care, without exception – and condemning any bullying attitude.
• Confront the bully without delay. Use a formal feedback form to report the perpetrator’s attitude and outline objectively any behavior that must change.
• Train your HR staff to help people deal with bullying. Both the bully and his or her targets need to be educated and procedures must be known on how to deal with the issue.
• Use happiness at work as a major focus of leadership. My white paper “Hire for Happiness,” explains why in a happy environment, it is harder for a bully personality to act freely.
• Understand the bully personality and how to spot it.

Conclusion:

The destructive impact of bullying in the workplace can be minimized if leaders become more aware and more willing to do something about it. Fundamental principles of respect for others and for the “Golden Rule” (Do not do to others what you would not want them to do to you) make up the basics of relationship and should be part of a code of conduct in any organization. It is up to employers and their executives to enforce such fundamentals, to compensate for a lack of legislation on the matter to ensure appropriate attitudes toward all employees.

About Patrick Valtin

Patrick Valtin is the president and CEO of HireBox International, as well as an international speaker and author. He is also the author of the whitepaper “Hire for Happiness” available at www.hireforhappiness.com. Considered an industry leader in recruiting, pre-employment assessment, personnel performance evaluation and human resources development, he has trained more than 120,000 people in over 35 countries over the last 29 years. Valtin received an MBA in International Business Studies from the Moore Business School at the University of South Carolina in 1982; his clients over the last 29 years have included executives and sales representatives from Ford Motor Co., BMW, Mercedes, Motorola, IBM and Century 21. His book, No-Fail Hiring 2.0, is a bestseller on Amazon.