Bullying At Work

// Bullying At Work

Bullying At Work

Bullying at work is a significant issue for most workplaces in terms of productivity and employee wellbeing.

To minimise their legal exposure, organisations are required to take all resonable steps to prevent bullying and harassment at work.
These steps include ongoing training to identify and manage these destructive workplace behaviours.

Our leading edge, interactive workshop enables workplaces to effectively deal with workplace bullying, harassment and discrimination.

Everyone has the right to a safe workplace free of harassment, discrimination or bullying. In this workshop workplace rights and responsibilities under the legislation are covered, as well as meaningful definitions of harassment, discrimination and workplace bullying and associated terminology. Participants will learn how to implement strategies in the workplace to prevent harassment and discrimination, promote a safe and productive workplace and deal effectively with complaints.

Our one-day workshops are customised and delivered in your workplace. Our training enables managers and staff to understand their legal rights and responsibilities and how to deal with harmful assumptions, attitudes, stereotypes and behaviours. The programs promote a productive, inclusive workplace environment that benefits both the organisation’s bottom line and employees’ wellbeing. Our courses include- the application of an innovative, award winning 3D simulation tool and provide employees with practical communication skills to deal with inappropriate behaviours.

Contact Details Tel: (02) 9402 4741 Mobile: 0438 231 065. Email: kerry@flexibility.com.au For more information on our diversity management programs go to The Flexibility At Work Website

BULLYING & HARASSMENT PREVENTION WORKSHOP

One-day program, delivered in your workplace.

Managers and Employees will learn:

Their individual roles and responsibilities.
Their legal obligations.
What is harassment and bullying.
What is discrimination.
Types of bullying and harassing behaviours.
Costs of discrimination and harassment.
What action can be taken to overcome harassment and bullying.
How organisational culture can enhance or inhibit workplace bullying
Diversity awareness.
Communication and assertiveness skills.

The unique feature of our harassment, bullying, contact officer and diversity workshops is the application of a Coaching tool and methodology, called The Play of Life. This process has received high profile international recognition and acclaim and is at the forefront of contemporary relational management methods.

The essence of the Play of Life is that it turns complex, cluttered issues and ideas into simple, clear and visual representations. Guided by the facilitator, the participants gain clear insights into their current situations both organisational and personal, what they want to achieve, their goals and objectives and practical steps for how to get there. It simplifies the issues by depicting them in a visual three-dimensional way. The process recognises that many of the strategies needed to achieve our desired outcomes exist within our own skills, knowledge and capabilities and that these abilities can be greatly enhanced through sophisticated facilitated dialogue and coaching.

The methodology is unique, fully engaging and interactive. It has a sound psychological and neuro-physiological basis and has been awarded the American Group Psychotherapy Award for Innovation.

Contact Details
Tel: (02) 9402 4741 Mobile: 0438 231 065. Email: kerry@flexibility.com.au For more information on our diversity management programs go to The Flexibility At Work Website

Participant feedback on these workshops:

“Excellent, clear and interesting presentation”

“Very professional, nice use of different media”

“Good control of group, good knowledge of topic and relevant examples of situations”

“Excellent – I liked her encouragement of group participation”

“Informative and thought provoking”

“Very good, dealt with difficult participants with courtesy and tact”

“Allowed good discussions to develop but still moved course along”

“Very good, clear, interesting and varied techniques”

“Excellent, involving, relaxed, very participatory, respectful of all of us”.

Your facilitator
Kerry Fallon Horgan is a recognised expert in workplace bullying, harassment and discrimination prevention. She has been interviewed by the Australian Financial Review and other media on this issue and has presented at high profile conferences such as the Occupational Health & Wellbeing Conference on bullying and harassment prevention. Kerry’s highly successful interactive workshops include the application of a unique 3D simulation tool. She has more than a decade of experience in diversity management and has worked at all organisational levels across a broad range of organisations in the private, public, tertiary education and community sectors. On a number of occasions, Kerry has been the head judge for the HR Leadership Awards in the Health & Wellbeing category. She is the author of two books, e-learning programs, video and audio programs on a range of diversity and financial wellbeing issues.

Note:
To book our workshops contact Kerry Fallon Horgan on Tel: (02) 9402 4741 Mobile: 0438 231 065. Email: kerry@flexibility.com.au

Bullying At Work

Kerry Fallon Horgan, Workplace Bullying Prevention Expert, is featured in this Age Newspaper article on Busting Workplace Bullies.

There are still plenty of old-style Dickensian bullies at work. Unless the joke goes too far they usually rely on an `anti-dobbing' ethic for protection.

The 'fun at work' sexual harassers are having less of a field day as waves of young people, better educated in each other's rights, hit the workforce. But those easily identifiable as guilty of abuse and discrimination at work are now finding the criminal courts a real threat.

Their employers, even if not directly involved, can now be held negligent for not providing the sort of workplace culture in which such victimisation and discrimination will not occur. The legal obligations of employers to provide an atmosphere in which people feel physically and emotionally safe, are widening to include the identification of manipulative misuse of power at all levels of management.

Would these 'command and control' managers think again if you called them by their real name 'bullies'?

25% of workers are aware of bullying.

40% of stress claims are in some part due to bullying.

Bulllying costs Australia $7.4 million annually.

The Victorian Work Cover Authority (VWA) is currently drafting and trialing a code of practice which will become part of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. This will bring a much wider range of bullying behaviours within the ambit of the OHS Act as 'workplace hazards'. Failure to observe the code may prove the offence. The aim is to reduce stress-related and psychological illness due directly to workplace bullying. "The whole point of the new code is guidance," explains Brendan Wood from the VWA. "It gives you a chance to recognise an emerging problem, deal with it quickly before it becomes serious, and create an environment where such a situation simply can't happen again."

Mr Wood says that such responsibility is nothing new. But as figures and claims come through, workplace stress-related illness is now seen as an issue requiring enforcement of appropriate conduct under the Act. "Workplace bullying is devastating for both the victim and the business bottom line," says Kerry Fallon Horgan, a managing partner with Flexibility at Work, a Sydney-based diversity management consultancy.

"Even in organisations that espouse values of respect, inclusion and the valuing of the individual, there are cultures characterised by bullying, distrust, fear and blame, work practices that constantly undermine employees' self-esteem and deprive employees of their basic right to enjoy their working life." That's a right that HR managers must keep in mind as they try to interpret the new code of practice.

Kate Jenkins, an employer relations specialist and partner in Freehills Solicitors, says that employers are now obliged to prevent reasonably foreseeable injuries. "This includes the probability that some one will suffer stress if they are being constantly bullied at work. If they have taken steps to prevent this, they are less likely to be prosecuted. From the HR point of view, this means risk management: making sure that they have a policy against bullying and the inappropriate use of power, that everybody knows about it and could raise a complaint." Ms Jenkins is aware of the difficult issues with manipulative behaviour and fear of job loss. That's why she advises clients to educate managers on how to handle people. "So much bullying should never have occurred," she explains. "A middle manager may not have been trained in the right way to treat people. They didn't mean to bully they just wanted a result. Good employers that live and breathe their HR policies will already have performance management systems in place. Where individuals are reluctant to complain, managers should be looking at macro-indicators such as absenteeism and resignation."

Human resource managers will find plenty of strategies to help organisations improve 'emotional intelligence' within their culture. Grievance procedures should include peer contact support staff; counselling must be available to both victim and bully; regular bullying audits, possibly on-line with trusted confidentiality.

Defining Bullying:

Verbal abuse

Intimidation

Ongoing criticism

Humiliation

Increasing demands

Isolation

Physical abuse

The Effects:

High turnover

Increased sick and stress leave

Low morale

Reduced commitment

Increased compensation payouts

Inability to concentrate

Employee resentment

Reduced productivity

Contact Details Tel: (02) 9402 4741 Mobile: 0438 231 065. Email: kerry@flexibility.com.au For more information on our diversity management programs go to The Flexibility At Work Website

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Is your boss a bully?

Kerry Fallon Horgan, Workplace Bullying Prevention Expert, is featured in this Australian Newspaper article on bullying bosses.

Nearly everyone will encounter bullying at some stage of their lives. It usually begins in the schoolyard and it’s expected that as we mature, the bullying will stop - but does it?

Schoolyard bullying - the torment of one child by another - is often carried through to the workplace. It represents a grab for control by an insecure, inadequate person in an attempt to exercise power through the humiliation of the target.

Amanda* had worked for the same company for over 10 years and she was happy in a job she loved. But after a sudden re-structure, things started to go horribly wrong and Amanda became the object of victimisation and workplace bullying.

For 12 months the bully continued and shattered Amanda’s Life. She became stressed, depressed and started having panic attacks. She was simply too scared to go into work. And she has no idea why she became the target of her boss’ torment.

"It was a terrible time. I’d worked really hard for years and was happy in my job. I’d won awards for my work and had been involved in developing many successful ventures. Then after several changes of staff, the nightmare began," says 34-year-old Amanda.

"I was yelled at, undermined and had work confiscated by the head of the company. I would attend meetings only to be ignored and put down if I made a suggestion."
Sound familiar? According to Paul McCarthy co-author of ‘Bullying: From Backyard to Boardroom’ (Federation Press) and member of the Bullying Research Team, Griffith University, Queensland, Amanda isn’t alone.

Although there are no official national figures on the incidence of workplace bullying, based on proportionate statistics gathered in the UK, it’s estimated that one in four Australians are being bullied.
"The best international research shows between 25 and 50 per cent of employees will experience bullying at some time in their working lives. In some occupations the figure is up to 95 per cent," says Paul.

Bullying is one of the major factors behind workplace stress complaints. In Victoria last year nearly 1,100 WorkCover claims arose out of either harassment at work or exposure to workplace violence. And this is a figure that may be under-reported.

"This may be due to victims’ fears of being labelled troublemakers, being accused of lying, making the workplace harassment worse or losing their jobs," says Paul.

"What is bullying?"
The Beyond Bullying Association defines workplace bullying as "the repeated less favourable treatment of a person by another or others in the workplace, which may be considered unreasonable and inappropriate workplace practice."

Apart from physical violence it’s behaviour that’s offensive, intimidating, humiliating, or that degrades, ridicules or insults the person at work. It includes yelling or screaming abuse and insults, belittling opinions or constant criticism, undermining work performance, increasing demands, impossible deadlines, isolation from normal work interaction, unexplained job changes or being assigned meaningless tasks.

Bullying occurs across all sectors of the work force but it’s been found that the most likely targets are young people, women, casual or temporary workers, contractors and trainees. And the most common fields are education, health services and public administration.

Giovinella Gonthier, author of ‘Rude Awakenings: Overcoming the Civility Crisis in the Workplace’ (Dearborn Trade Publishing) says that most bullies exhibit similar behaviour.

"Bullies are weak, mean-spirited people who display hurtful and destructive behaviour. They thrive on bullying those who are vulnerable in some way or those they feel professionally or personally threatened by. Many become managers because of the position of power, and as such no one is likely to check up on their behaviour. They generally have no interest in conforming to acceptable behaviour in society and often think they are a law unto themselves," says Giovinella.

"Bullies derive pleasure from inflicting psychological damage on the victim but what they often don’t realise, until it’s too late, is that they can actually be doing severe damage to themselves."

"At what cost?"
The financial implications on Australian companies due to absenteeism, paid sick leave, staff turnover, redundancy, staff training and legal and compensation costs arising from complaints and grievances is staggering.

"A recent impact and cost assessment calculated that workplace bullying costs Australian employers between six and 13 billion dollars every year," says Paul.

And the psychological affect on the victim can be just as crippling. It’s not uncommon for people to turn to drugs or alcohol and some are never able to work again.

"I’m normally a strong person," says Amanda, "but the whole experience nearly destroyed me. I was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.

I could barely leave the house and my relationship with my husband was in ruins. I started drinking more than usual as a way of trying to drown out the misery of my day at work.

"I even thought about suicide. I officially complained about the bullying but nothing was done so in the end I had no option but to leave my job. Looking back I can’t believe that one man nearly destroyed my life. It’ll never happen to me again," she says.

Amanda is lucky. Through counselling she has regained her confidence and her panic attacks have stopped.

"Although I’m still on anti-depressants I feel that I can move forward and put the past behind me. Counselling has made me realise that the problem wasn’t mine."

"What are your rights?"
As bullying is such a grey area most employees are unaware of their rights. They often believe that they just have to "put up with it", but they don’t.

Under occupational health and safety law, an employer has an obligation to protect employees form acts of violence, both physical and psychological. A complaint can be lodged with the health and safety representative at work or with a health and safety inspector in your area.

If you’re unable to work due to stress you can file a claim with WorkCover. You should be aware that the process can be lengthy and as bullying can often be difficult to prove, not all claims are accepted.

Despite legislation in all States outlawing bullying, some employers are still unaware of their legal responsibilities. Many companies are, however, seeking advice on how to deal with bullying and actively implementing anti-bullying strategies.

Kerry Fallon Horgan, Managing Partner of ‘Flexibility at Work’, a national Sydney-based Diversity Management Consultancy, advises employers on how to effectively address the issue of workplace bullying.

"The foundations of a high performing workplace include trust, respect, empowerment and feeling both physically and emotionally safe. These fundamental building blocks are shattered by bullying behaviour that can occur at any level in the organisation," says Kerry.

"Addressing bullying requires both individual and strategic workplace culture change. Strategies we recommend include the implementation of guidelines such as visible senior management commitment to zero tolerance for workplace bullying, training in dealing with workplace bullying that should start at the top of the organisation, undertaking regular workplace audits to determine the types and extent of bullying, protection for people who complain about bullying and following up all complaints."

Unfortunately for Amanda, even though her organisation did have an anti-bullying policy, it made no allowance for the bullying being committed by the head of the company.

"I was accused of not following the correct procedures when it came to the bullying guidelines but where did I have to go? The last point of contact was the head of the company," says Amanda.

However, many employers are now taking workplace bullying seriously as they realise the devastating affect it can have, not only on the victim, but also the business’ bottom line. And if all companies take Kerry’s advice and have a zero tolerance policy against bullying, the happier and more productive the workplace will be for everyone.

And as Amanda says, "no-one should have to put up with being bullied - ever."

*Names have been changed
(Amanda is currently taking legal action against her former employer)

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Contact Details Tel: (02) 9402 4741 Mobile: 0438 231 065. Email: kerry@flexibility.com.au For more information on our diversity management programs go to The Flexibility At Work Website