What Does Workplace Bullying Look Like?
Bullies may be associated with schoolyard playgrounds and classrooms, but unfortunately, they don't disappear after people graduate and enter the workforce. In fact, workplace bullying is shockingly prevalent in Australia.
With one in five Australians taking leave over the last 12 months due to stress, depression, anxiety and other related mental health issues that can stem from workplace bullying, this issue has an enormous impact and can have serious consequences for both employers and workers.
The first step to addressing workplace bullying is knowing how to recognise it. What kind of behaviour falls into this classification, and what does it mean for your employee induction practices?
Does Your Organisation Have A Problem With Bullying?
Workplace bullying is an especially concerning and common issue in Australia. Multiple studies have ranked the country as one of the worst in the world for bullying, with the issue costing the Australian economy between $6 billion and $36 billion every year. This wide range most likely due to the number of incidents that go unreported.
Within the professional landscape, bullying can take a variety of forms, ranging from explicit physical or verbal assaults to more subtle psychological abuse and sexual harassment.
The Australian Human Rights Commission lists the following common examples:
- Verbal or physical abuse
- Screaming or yelling
- Isolating, excluding or intimidating individuals
- Asking workers to do meaningless, unrelated jobs
- Assigning unachievable tasks
- Purposefully inconveniencing or burdening specific team members
Such behaviours can also be carried out over digital platforms, including on social media sites or through email correspondences.
What Can You Do To Prevent Acts Of Bullying In The Workplace?
Whether or not your enterprise has an ongoing issue with bullying, taking steps to improve company culture is an important part of managing a business. Not only are bullies damaging to employees' wellbeing, but they can also have a negative economic impact on the company. These costs manifest through lawsuits, absenteeism, lower productivity and more.
In addition to ensuring workers know their legal rights, organisation leaders should implement strong policies and develop an environment where employees are physically, psychologically and social comfortable.
Part of this effort includes sufficient work health and safety training, including as a part of onboarding new hires. By setting the tone from day one with new hires, you can help them enter your workforce with peace of mind that your place of work has the right procedures and policies in place to assist them where possible.
The WorkPro ‘Workplace Bullying’ eBook is a free resource to assist employers with this vital topic. This eBook contains all the information and tips you need to create a simple and effective anti-bullying policy today as well as checklist to ensure you’re on top of the obligations.
