Definition of bullying
(adapted by HRL from the late Tim Field)
Persistent, offensive, intimidating, threatening or insulting behaviour, abuse of power and/or otherwise unfair treatment of a person which makes them feel upset, threatened, humiliated and/or vulnerable, undermining or destroying their self-confidence, reputation and ability to perform, and causing needless stress.
Bullying is commonly sustained by denial, ignorance and indifference, often in a climate of fear, with a common result being illness and the premature departure of the target and reward for the perpetrator.
The perception of what bullying is differs depending on whether you are already on the receiving end or not.If you're on the receiving end, identifying persistent, offensive, intimidating, threatening or insulting behaviour etc is easy. You don't need an investigator to tell you what's going on. So long as you're honest with yourself, you will know whether you deserve to be treated that way or not.If you're not already on the receiving end, but you have a collegaue who is, you might find yourself with the unenviable task of dealing with a complaint that your boss / friend / colleague is bullying someone, or you might even be accused of bullying. Where you are not on the receiving end, many factors and particularly personal interests can affect your ability to determine whether a complaint of bullying is valid or not. It should be remembered that bullying is not characterised by the intention of the perpetrator of the acts complained of, but by their impact on the recipient.
A large proportion of bullying complaints brought to my attention were dismissed by employers with the justification that the problem lay with the complainant's "perception", and the things complained about were "firm management".
While of course managers sometimes have to take tough decisions that can seem and even be unfair to those who are affected, the "firm management" excuse is sometimes as appropriate as saying that driving at 70 mph in a congested 30 mph zone is "advanced driving". "Firm management" is a common euphamism or excuse for thoughtless, selfish and destructive behaviour, and I have noticed that when the term is inappropriately applied, is usually by the "firm manager", or someone whose income depends more on them than on the complainant.
Saying that the complaint is unfounded because it is all a product of the complainant's perception is fundamentally incorrect approach: It can directly imply that the complainant's perception is flawed, which is an insulting thing to assert, particularly if it results from a presumption that the perpetrator's intention was reasonable. It should be borne in mind that the complainant's perception might be the only indicator as to whether bullying has occurred, they being the only reliable witness.
It is possible that the complaint might be complaining about genuinely legitimate behaviour, such as the fair imposition of a disciplinary sanction in response to proven misconduct. It is also possible that a complaint could be a vehicle for bullying the person the complainant is complaining about. Objectivity, thoroughness and fairness are vital components to any investigation.
Questions to ask are therefore: Did the incident(s) occur at all? Did it/they occur as alleged? Was it reasonable for the incident(s) to occur? Even if each was only slightly unreasonable, what was their impact on the complainant? Does the complainant have a stress related illness? Where there is a series of incidents which in isolation are trivial, it is fundamentally important for an investigator to consider the cumulative effect of all the incidents, rather than the triviality of each one. A person who is moved to complain about a series of trivial incidents is going to be affected by the cumulative effect. What is the complainant's motive - to make the bullying stop, or something more?
All forms of bullying involve an abuse of some form of "power", however tentative. The most common forms of bullying at work involve an abuse of the legitimate power that organisations give to their employees. However, not all bullying is effected by managers to subordinates. It can be the other way around, but it is far less common, because managers have easy and legitimate access to procdures that would nip such conduct in the bud.
How can you tell if you're being bullied?
If you're always having a hard time at work, for reasons that don't make any sense, you might be subject to bullying. Bullying isn't usually a one off incident, but a repeating pattern of relatively trivial incidents which all have the effect of making you feel angry, useless, scared about job security, and which prevent you from being as productive as you want to be. You might fight off criticism of poor performance by working harder, but find obstacles in your way. At first, you probably think you must deserve it for a reason you cannot see, or you put it down to the someone else's stupidity. Eventually, when it comes to a head, someone else will probably tell you you're being bullied.
What can you do?
- Find out all you can about bullying by reading what's out there on the Internet. Our Links page highlights a few resources that we think are valuable.
- Join a discussion forum. You'll find hundreds of people who know exactly what you're feeling, and why.
- Read a book. Tim Field's "Bully In Sight" remains the "bible" of many, simply because of its prophetic accuracy. The employment law section is now becoming a little dated, but the principles behind the book will never go out of date.
- Do not underestimate the depths people will stoop to. Just because "they can't do that" does not mean that they will not.
- Keep a journal of what's happened, and what is happening. Retain copies of e-mails and other records of incidents, and keep correspondence sent and received. Keep it accurate and keep it safe.
- Look after your health. Bullying can damage your emotional health, and more. Fighting bullying can be as stressful as putting up with it. More important than fighting bullying is making sure you are well. Keep an eye on the way you feel and the way you react to things. Encourage a trusted close friend or family member to tell you what they think of your behaviour. If in any doubt, see your GP.
- You might need to refocus your idea of what is most important in your life. It's easy to allow your job to become an overly important part of your identity. If your job turns sour, it should not have to mean that your whole life turns sour. Look outwards. There are a thousand better jobs within your reach.
If you know you're being bullied, and you have not suffered major health problems, and you have not taken any official action, it is worth considering changing jobs, including taking a salary drop if you have to. This seems completely unfair, but it is better to change jobs under your own control rather than waiting until you're forced to chance against your will, when you least need it and with, by then, possibly a poor disciplinary and medical record.
If you can't just leave, and you feel its important to take a stand, then do. Discover your rights and assert them. Learn about the Dispute Resolution Procedures and use them. If you must fight, do so in the most dignified and reasonable way you can.
Help! Someone has complained to me about bullying
If you’re an employer who has found this page because a potential bullying situation has just come to your notice, well done! The best time to start dealing with it is right now, with an open mind.
Realising or admitting that bullying is going on can be unpalatable. Failing to identify it, or dare I say denying it - when it is going on - can lead to much less tasteful results. I have discovered that most damage is done the moment an officer of an employer decides without enquiry that bullying has probably not occurred. While some find denial an easy option in the short term, it is addictive, with the urge to deny increasing during the inevitable and unstoppable process of decline that follows. Nothing facilitates and propagates workplace bullying more effectively than denying its existence.
However it is done, turning a blind eye to one person’s alleged gross misconduct leads to a working environment that is inherently and openly unfair, and guaranteed to be dysfunctional – people no longer work together as effectively as they could, leading to disloyalty, litigation with former employees, increasing rates of long term absenteeism and staff turnover, declining productivity, quality and profit, and having customers place their business with competitors. One firm I know lost a £35m contract because no one in the organsiation felt able to stand up to the autocratic boss, whose fearsome manner undermined all the key strengths the business had had when he joined it just three years earlier. Quality declined to a point where it was impossibly low, and the dog-eat-dog culture he had propogated made the situation irrecoverable. The firm's reputation was destroyed, major contracts were cancelled and the firm changed hands.
If someone comes to you with a complaint about bullying, the best thing you can do for your business, and the employee, is to treat their concern with the same objectivity and seriousness that you would apply to any major problem that came to your attention. If someone reported that a vital machine had become faulty, you would satisfy yourself that there was a fault, and fix it. When someone complains of bullying, the most productive approach is to satisfy yourself that there is a fault, and fix it. I'm amazed by the number of people I've come across in situation who expended all their efforts on trying to establish that there wasn't a problem, prefering to believe it was probably just a combination of "firm management" and the complainant's (flawed) perception.
Investigating a Complaint of Bullying
If you have to investigate a complaint of bullying, its a really good idea to establish the following basics. I mention these because in many of the investigation reports I have read, they were all overlooked, and investigators just wrote down interviewees face-value answers to questions that were not in the least bit taxing or incisive.Remember that the answers will probably not be found on the surface - you need to dig down a little.
1. Incidents complained of
Bullying is often a series of trivial incidents where each act taken in isolation might not be a cause for concern (although some might). The complainant is not concerned by each individual act, but by the cumulative effect of them.Sometimes the triviality will mean that only the complainant can recall the incident. People who believe they are being bullied are often advised to keep a journal, i.e. contemporaneous notes of incidents.This is likely to be more reliable than the memory of someone who didn't take notes and cannot recall. Remember that witnesses may be reluctant to confirm a complainant's account of events, for a variety of reasons. In any case, where bullying is taking place with some subtlety, it is difficult for witnesses to know what is going on, and the most they are likely to be able to do is verify whether an incident occurred - which is good, because that is what you need to establish: Did the incidents complained of actually occur?
2. Cumulative Effect of incidents
Do not discount the idea that bullying has happened just because each incident was of little or no consequence. What matters is the cumulative effect of the incidents. This is what prompts a complaint, so consider the incidents as a whole. Were they likely or even calculated to have the effect complained of? What was the cumulative effect on the complainant - eg, is the complainant ill; is he or she able to contemplate working with the alleged perpetrator again? How would you feel if you had been in their position? If the alleged bullying was not the cause of the complainant's predicament, what was? What does make a long serving competent employee with a good record suddenly become psychologically unwell, and blame it on their job?
3. Intention of the perpetratorBear in mind that a person accused of unreasonable behaviour can be expected to either deny it or justify it, and when faced with the fact that another person has been upset by it, they will tend to pass responsibility for that onto the other person. This is likely whether or not the behaviour was reasonable and justified. Remember that "bullying" is not necessarily intentional. It could be inadvertent.Questioning the alleged perpetrator and taking their explanation at face value is an ineffective way of establishing whether bullying has occured. This is why most definitions characterise bullying as not so much "the intention of the perpetrator", but the "impact on the recipient".
Approach alleged or apparent bullying in the same way you would approach problems that are not tainted with difficult politics. If you cannot, or if you cannot get your head around the issues, consider engaging the help of someone who isn't affected by the politics and who knows what they are dealing with. Can Humane Resources help you?