No workplace or industry is immune from the occurrence of bullying or harassment.

(image source: freepix)

Bullying and harassment can significantly affect a person’s physical and mental health, job performance, and productivity. It can create negative workplace morale, damage the reputation of your business, and even lead to legal action.

This can make it difficult to attract and retain high performing employees.

What is bullying and harassment?

It can be difficult to distinguish what does and does not constitute as bullying. Some employees may believe they are being bullied when they are in fact being performance managed.

Some common signs of bullying and harassment can include:

• Verbal intimidation or threatening physical harm.
• Constantly changing work guidelines and creating impossible deadlines to purposely cause an individual to fail their set task.
• Not providing important information or providing the wrong information
• Unwelcome physical contact, a sexual advance, or request for sexual favours
• Constant and unwarranted criticism and denying applications for training, leave or promotion.

Bullying or harassment can be subtle or direct. No matter what form it takes, it should not be tolerated.

Creating a zero-tolerance policy

As a business owner or manager, you set the tone for workplace behaviour. It’s your responsibility to intervene when you become aware of bullying or harassment happening and prevent from escalating. To minimise these instances, implement a stringent anti-bullying and harassment policy.

Clearly stating your zero-tolerance in employment contracts and employee handbooks ensures employees understand what is acceptable and unacceptable behaviour in your organisation. This policy can reinforce the consequences of bullying and harassment including disciplinary action or termination of employment.

It’s important to remind employees these policies are always in place. They cover conduct at functions, conferences, holiday parties, interactions with clients and customers and any other business-sanctioned event.

Your policy should comply with HR and workplace health and safety laws. It should reassure employees all allegations of bullying and harassment are taken seriously and will be promptly and thoroughly investigated. A Peninsula HR adviser can even help you draft your policy.

Taking appropriate action

When an employee makes an accusation of bullying or harassment you must be impartial. Even if the accused is a friend, family member working in the business or long-term colleague.

The first step is to schedule a formal face to face meeting. Someone who has experienced bullying or harassment can often feel intimidated by the aggressor. To understand the situation, speaking with each person separately provides an opportunity to discuss the incident uninterrupted and more calmly.

Ensure each meeting is well documented and added to the respective employee’s file. Include details about the incident, information shared, plus note dates, times and witnesses.

Depending on the seriousness of the accusation, appropriate action may be an apology with ongoing monitoring of the accused employee, up to and including, instant dismissal. In severe cases, the incident may be referred to authorities for further investigation.

Encourage reporting of unacceptable behaviour

Sometimes you may be unaware of unacceptable behaviour between employees. Unless someone comes forward to make an official complaint, it can be difficult to know if an employee is experiencing bullying or harassment. Although there are a few signs business owners and managers can look out for that may indicate workplace bullying

Employees who suddenly have a high number of days absent or are constantly late can indicate an employee is struggling with workplace bullying or harassment. If a previously reliable employee regularly misses deadlines or the quality of their work has decreased, they may be being bullied.

Providing safe and confidential reporting options encourages employees that experience or witness harassment or bullying behaviour to come forward without fear of reprisal.

The boss bullies

The one thing that complicates workplace bullying or harassment more than anything else is when the perpetrator is the business owner or manager.

Managers can use their position of power to intimidate, harass, or threaten employees with dismissal. This can be very harmful behaviour as it creates a hostile and uncomfortable work environment.

Employees bullied by their manager may feel belittled in front of colleagues and concerned about repercussions if they speak up. If you are experiencing bullying from your manager, it’s important to seek advice from HR or a trusted colleague.

It’s not always bullying

Not all behaviour is classed as bullying. It’s common for an employee who is subject to performance management make a bullying claim.

A business owner or manager can make decisions about poor performance and control the way work is completed. When this type of management is done in a reasonable way, it may be frustrating and appear like micromanaging, but it’s not considered bullying. Reasonable action can include placing an employee on a performance improvement plan (PIP).

Setting expectations for performance and conduct, having them clearly outlined in an employment contact and employee handbook enables managers or business owners to refer to them if an employee believes they are being unfairly treated.

Taking workplace bullying digital

Technology has led to online bullying and harassment becoming common. It can impact remote and hybrid workers and occur in online meetings, calls, or over IM platforms.

Workplace cyberbullying or harassment could be behaviour such as sending abusive or intimidating messages via email, text, or social media, or threatening to send personal or intimate images to colleagues and managers.

It can also include impersonating someone while posting untrue messages and inappropriate images to company or public websites and social platforms.

Workplace bullying can take many forms. It can include offensive comments relating to the race, religion, gender, age, disability, or sexual orientation of an employee.

As surprising as it seems, some people may be unaware their behaviour is considered bullying by others and feel genuine remorse.

Training team members to recognise bullying and harassment behaviour enables you to become aware of the situation, address it quickly and prevent it in the future.

By Judith Taylor, Associate Director, Health and Safety, Peninsula Australia

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