Harassment in the workplace

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Harassment in the workplace

• Ann Stewart
• Director, The Equity Office
• The University of Queensland

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Definition

• the repeated less favourable treatment of a
  person by another or others in the workplace,
  which may be considered unreasonable and
  inappropriate workplace practice. It includes
  behaviour that intimidates, offends, degrades or
  humiliates

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• Abusive and offensive language or shouting
• Constant unreasonable criticism about work or
  academic performance, often about petty or
  insignificant matters
• Deliberate exclusion, isolation or alienation of
  a staff member or student
• Allocation of humiliating or demeaning tasks, or
  sabotaging a person's work
• Setting of impossible deadlines with unrealistic
  expectations of work
• Spreading gossip or false and malicious rumours
  with an intent to cause harm to a person
• Sarcasm or ridicule
• Threatening gestures or actual violence
• Inappropriate comments about personal appearance
• Electronic harassment such as through email, SMS
• Hazing or bastardisation (such as harmful or
• humiliating initiation rituals).

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Why is it an issue?

• For Individuals
• Recipient
• Emotional stress
• Reduced work performance career
• Home life
• Health
• Loss of job satisfaction
• Harasser
• damage to career / reputation

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For institutions/agencies

• Affect recruitment and retention
• Loss of effectiveness (turnover)
• Time loss complaint management
• Loss reputation litigation, media exposure
• Direct cost staff turnover, productivity, sick
  leave, litigation, damages

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Costs

• 6 13 BILLION per annum

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ORGANISATIONAL BULLYING

• occurs most frequently when an organisation is
  subjected to sudden and extreme change, including
  budget cuts, reduced income, changing markets,
  imposed expectations, and various external
  pressures.

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CORPORATE BULLYING

• where an employer takes advantage of the weakness
  of the law and, perhaps, the scarcity of jobs to
  create difficulties for any employee who resists
  unreasonable demands. This may include pressuring
  employees to surrender previously agreed terms
  and conditions, and to forgo permanency in favour
  of short-term contracts

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CLIENT BULLYING

• where employees are bullied by people they serve,
  such as Admissions staff being bullied by
  students and/or their parents, or general or
  technical staff being bullied by academic staff.

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SERIAL BULLYING

• where the source of dysfunction can be traced to
  one individual who scapegoats one employee after
  another. This type of bullying may also be found
  among students.
• (Adapted from the UK National Workplace Bullying
  Advice Line
• By Denese Gray, Manager, Equal Opportunity, 2003.
  JCU)

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Risk Factors

• Normalised culture of aggression
• Inappropriate exercise of power
• Vulnerable/precarious employment
• Assumption of personality conflict
• Staff blind to impact of own behaviours/words
• High and ever-increasing output demands
• Unclear communications
• Administrative failures, (McCarthy. Griffith
  University) and
• Poorly skilled managers
• Unclear policy

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Types of Badly Behaved Employees

• Accidental bullies (under stress)
• Destructive bullies (responding to challenge)
• Difficulty in managing rage.
• Serial Bullies
• Because they can. Deliberate choice
  undermining.
• (Ruth Pollard, Health reporter. smh.com.au.
• Reporting on work by Keryl Egan)

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• (cont)
• Justice Junkies
• Policy Nazis
• Vexatious
• Malcontents
• Victims
• Gossip Gluttons
• Corporate Psychopaths
• (ChristineTurner. Workplace Business)

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The accused?

• Those who are
• Overly assertive
• Playing favourites
• Overly familiar disclosure of own lives and
  prying into others
• Secretive in decision-making
• Inept management
• High achievers

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Unfounded complaints

• Desire to be consulted on everything
• Past work-related traumas
• Recent personal trauma
• Simplistic view of bullying anything they
  dont like
• Emotionally less robust
• Fear of failure in performance
• Suspicious mindset conspiracy theorists
• Unable to let go

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Strategies

• Senior commitment
• Cultural intolerance for behaviour
• Clear policies and definitions
• Staff awareness
• Proactive prevention, early intervention
• Skilled HR managers/supervisors
• Trend monitoring
• Resources
• And ???