Workplace bullying headlines are not ones that any employer would like to see their company involved in. A report by Acas at the end of 2015 found that bullying is on the increase in UK companies, reporting that over 20,000 calls were taken by their helpline about bullying and harassment.
Acas define bullying and harassment as "any unwanted behaviour that makes someone feel intimidated, degraded, humiliated or offended". This can be a grey area, as what is considered by one person as bullying and harassment may be perceived by someone else as firm management. Of course, extreme cases of bullying and harassment are much more easily identified and generally agreed on.
Employer’s responsibilities
Everybody should be treated with dignity and respect at work. I’m certain that as an employer you agree with this and are keen to promote this kind of working environment for your employees. Harassment is unlawful under the Equality Act 2010. As an employer, you are responsible for preventing bullying and harassment and are liable for any harassment suffered by employees.
The cost to a business
The corrosive effect of workplace bullying is huge and should never be ignored by an employer. If left unchecked it will cause decreased productivity, increased absenteeism and a high turnover of people. This will also mean increased costs in recruitment and training.
Even if bullying is an isolated occurrence, left unchecked it sends out a strong message to everyone in an organisation about what will be tolerated in the workplace. A culture of bullying and harassment leads to low morale, where people won’t feel valued or respected. This is very damaging to a company’s image both internally and externally.
Employers are also at an increased risk of facing employment tribunals, even if there aren’t employment tribunals the time and resources spent dealing with these situations can really add up.
What can you do?
The best defence is a clearly defined and well communicated policy that prohibits any type of bullying and harassment. But don’t just have a policy in place, it needs to be actively promoted as part of the working environment and embedded in to the culture of your company.
- Clearly define what the company considers to be bullying and harassment. List examples of actual behaviours
- Have clear guidance for employees about how they can report bullying, taking in to account that it may be about a manager or another senior figure
- Explain the process and how it works, so they know what to expect and how it will be handled
- Offer support and have a culture of no retaliation.
Managing people and different behaviours in the workplace is extremely challenging. In an ideal world, we would recruit people who are always a good fit with the company culture, whilst still promoting diverse workforces with varied working styles that complement each other.
The reality is, that whilst we should strive for this, there will always be occasions when people don’t work well together. What you can do, is ensure bullying and harassment is never tolerated, have the right policies in place and promote a healthy and open working environment for your employees, who feel that they are supported and treated with respect.