We have all experienced some form of incivility at work one time or another. Someone completely ignored your email. You overheard someone taking credit for your work. You went to get a cup of coffee only to find an empty pot. A coworker criticized you personally in front of the whole group.
As innocuous as they may seem, research has shown us that these toxic behaviors can leave employees hurting mentally – and even physically – and can leave organizations hurting in their pocket books. They have been linked to depression, anxiety, and medical conditions such as cardiovascular disease. They have also been linked to absenteeism, higher turnover, decreased job satisfaction, and lower productivity. Questar’s own research has shown that employees who don’t feel respected by their managers are 5 times less likely to be satisfied with their jobs!
In the interest of creating healthier workplaces, Massachusetts is introducing a law that would allow targets to take legal action against bullies. Sounds like a great idea, right? I am a huge proponent of healthy workplaces and completely buy into the importance of stopping workplace incivility and bullying. But I am skeptical that such a bill could work.
So why wouldn’t legislation solve the problem? The problem that I see is this: It is hard enough to clearly define these behaviors in research settings let alone in the real world. They are subjective by nature. And legalese would certainly be vague at best.
Let’s look at an example. A manager is intentionally not including a direct report in important meetings which is affecting that employee’s ability to do their job. The employee is becoming increasingly stressed out, is missing more and more work, and eventually quits. Is this bad management or a criminal offense?
In my opinion, ‘psychological violence’ is serious – and has negative consequences for the workforce and for the organization – but nearly impossible to criminalize. How far is too far in so called ‘nanny state’ legislation? Consider France’s proposed legislation to criminalize insulting your spouse.
Should organizations care? Legal or not, bullying and uncivil behavior have an impact on an organization’s bottom-line. It is certainly in an organization’s best interest, not only as the socially responsible thing to do, but as a smart strategic decision to have policies and procedures for dealing with this type of behavior.
Maybe this is an issue best handled in the workplace – not in the courtroom. What do you think?
Michael Durando | Associate Consultant
2 Comments so far
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Michael, if you gain an understanding of what bullying is all about, you realize that the problem is not about an occasional slip-up or slight against an employee, but a chronic problem where a sense of helplessness builds up in the victim where they see no options to escape the abuse. Psychological abuse like bullying is insidious and maybe difficult to establish in law, you have a point, but if it is a regular event then it is easier to categorize than you suggest in your article. Some anti-bullying organizations have posted guidelines to what is considered bullying on their websites – from what they post it becomes clear what is a bullying behaviour. What we don’t have is a general awareness of the damage that bullying does to organizations, training or suggestions to tell people alternative ways to criticize or motivate people that are not like them. Bullying is in essence a behaviour problem from the individual initiating it – those people may have deeper psychological problems than can be addressed directly from within the workplace as well. In some cases, I have heard about companies encouraging bullying behaviour, because they consider it a part and parcel of aggressive action for bosses and employees, which they want to encourage to gain their group objectives. Needless to say, this unenlightened approach can lead to violent behaviour, avoidable legal action in some cases (even in an unrelated way), high staff turnover, and otherwise contribute to a decline in contributions from more creative members of the company staff. With the internet so prevalent in our daily life now, bullying individuals may not be able to hide in anonymity as they once did too – don’t be surprised if hidden camera videos get posted on websites after the victim leaves! It might get ugly out there for those that bury their heads in the sand..
Comment by Darryl February 4, 2010 @ 2:58 amGreat point, Darryl, regarding the chronic nature of bullying. Unfortunately chronic bullies often attribute their behaviors to part of their nature and do not see a need to change. I completely agree – there is a huge need for increased awareness, communication, training and support for both instigators and targets of bad behavior at work. Thanks for your contribution.
Comment by Questar February 4, 2010 @ 4:29 pm