Bullying is more pervasive than many think. It is a behaviour that is repeated, and shapes another person’s behaviour. (In some countries, the behaviour needs to be intentional in order to be formally considered ‘bullying). Bullying affects not only its subject; it can impact on a team environment, customer service, performance and results.
How can organizations decrease the occurrence of bullying? Here are some simple, industrial strength tips:
- Create a strong harassment policy. Bullying should be well defined in the policy. I recommend including a specific stipulation that refers to bullying as a behaviour “based on the misuse of power in human relationships”.
- Ownership. Make sure that absolutely everyone knows the policy. All those in leadership positions should feel personal ownership of it. Use training and coaching as a means to ensure that people truly integrate what the policy means.
- Read the signs. Because bullying is often done specifically so that it will `fly under the radar’, organizations and their managers need to be acutely aware of the symptoms a bullied employee may display even if no complaint was lodged. Without such awareness, many bullying situations will go unnoticed.
- Complaints. Deal with all complaints seriously, promptly and fairly. I’ve seen cases where a bullying situation was clearly present yet management classified it as `two employees not getting along’. Doing so not only fails the bullied employee, but also exposes the organization to tremendous legal risks.
- Provide a living example. Leaders from the top down need to demonstrate that they are respectful at all times.
