Creating a culture of zero tolerance for bullying

The 2006 suicide of 19-year-old Melbourne waitress Brodie Panlock resulted in the highest penalties under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OH&S Act) being imposed on the perpetrators by a Melbourne Magistrate on February 9.

Magistrate Peter Lauritsen described the "persistent and vicious" behaviour towards Ms Panlock as the most serious case of bullying before fining three work mates a total of $85,000 and her employer and his company a total of $250,000. 

Sadly, my experience of a wide range of large and small organisations with unethical workplace behaviour risks parallels what happened in this case. Bullying is an escalating problem impacting almost two thirds of the Australian work force, according to a survey by employment website CareerOne.com.au. And the annual financial cost to the economy expressed in absenteeism, turnover, loss of productivity and poor staff morale is between $6 and $13 billion, according to Griffith University's Workplace Bullying Project Team.

Bullying is a repeated and prolonged pattern of unreasonable behaviour involving public humiliation, name calling, deliberate exclusion, stealing or taking credit for another's ideas, and spreading rumours. It is defined as a workplace safety hazard and the OH&S Act provides a legislative framework. But as with any laws they have to be adhered to and enforced.

Large organisations and government have the capacity to invest in workplace behaviour policies, education and preventative strategies, but still struggle. In my experience, small to medium enterprises (SMEs) such as the café where Brodie worked have the same obligations but tend not to have the same commitment. Too often the risk strategy of a SME is we'll deal with it if "the sh*t hits the fan." In many cases they simply ignore their obligations.

Even the authorities seem more reactive than proactive in responding to bullying risk. They conduct spot audits for OH&S compliance but are focussed largely on physical hazards in high-risk industries such as manufacturing. It's much easier to notice a missing machine guard than to identify workplace bullying, which people claim, is hard to detect or perception based. In my experience, someone always knows and either ignores the issue, normalises it or worse, joins in. In Brodie's case the employer knew but did next to nothing, his only reported concern being that customers might overhear the abuse. OH&S legislation applies to workplaces Australia-wide and makes both employers and employees responsible for ensuring they are safe. But if it's that simple why do we get cases like Brodie Panlock's?

Chiefly, I think, because there is a disconnect between OH&S enforcement and personal values around what is or is not acceptable workplace behaviour. Peoples' attitude is that the law doesn't concern or apply to them. Laws are disregarded also because human beings are frail. Colleagues spoke up for Brodie but perhaps were not heard or persistent enough, possibly for fear of retribution, losing their jobs or being classed a 'dobber.' But the impact of inaction is far reaching for those left with the guilt of asking what they could have done.

The solution is simple. A safe workplace stems from senior leadership demonstrating strong behavioural standards that are inclusive, respectful and lawful. This sets the scene for a culture of safety in which there is zero tolerance of any breaches. Being upfront and sharing a clear policy with employees, indicating that unlawful behaviour will result in termination and following through, creates a safe and healthy workplace in which employees feel confident they will be listened to and supported.

If there is a leadership vacuum, an informal leader will always step up to fill it, the huge risk being that they demonstrate inappropriate values.

It's time we realised that developing a healthy work environment is a non-negotiable imperative and that we all have a role to play. Law reform around specific offences to deter workplace bullying should be considered also.

About the author

Stuart King is CEO of Kings Workplace Solutions (KWS), a national workplace conflict resolution consultancy. 

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