What is your organization doing to eradicate bullies at work?
I know that’s a strong word, but it’s an important question: every day I either read or hear about bullying in the workplace. And while there is no federal* anti-bullying legislation in the United States, 30 states have introduced workplace anti-bullying bills in recent years. (And, businesses in California are required to train supervisors on how to identify abusive conduct.)
There are many resources available online that can be tailored for your organization. For example, Don Philpott, a former senior correspondent for Reuters and editor of International Homeland Security Journal suggests a five-step process for understanding and preventing workplace violence in The Workplace Violence Prevention Handbook, (Bernan Press, 2019). This approach can also be used to prevent workplace bullies from causing further harm to individuals and organizations:
- Understand
- Detect
- Defuse and protect
- Assess and contain
- Prevent
An Ounce of Prevention…
I like what attorney Jessica Westerman suggests for leaders and managers:
- Create an inclusive culture: prioritize inclusivity.
- Survey all employees (anonymously) to identify problems.
- Tailor policies and procedures in response to survey findings.
- Establish clear anti-bullying policies, and communicate via writing in all languages used in organization.
- Conduct workplace civility training to promote respect for all.
- Conduct bystander intervention training to empower co-workers to intervene and create a sense of collective responsibility.
- Establish and implement clear and simple procedures to report incidents and maintain employee’s confidentiality.
Key to preventing workplace bullying is the knowledge and belief that such incidents can, and will, be promptly reported, heard, and investigated, and that workplace bullies will be held accountable. Therefore, it is imperative that leaders create and adopt policies and codes of conduct that address respect in the workplace and bullying.
What do you think? What is your organization doing to eradicate bullies at work? I’d love to hear from you. You can call me at 561-582-6060, let’s talk. And as always, I can be reached here, or on LinkedIn.
* Bullying is actionable under federal law when the basis for it is tied to a protected category, such as color, national origin, race, religion, sex, age, disability, and genetic information. If bullying amounts to some other civil or criminal wrong, such as assault or battery, it could amount to a claim under state law.
