BULLYING and managing conflict at work cost the average UK employer nearly 450 days of management time every year, despite 83 per cent of them having an anti-bullying policy in place
BULLYING and managing conflict at work cost the average UK employer nearly 450 days of management time every year, despite 83 per cent of them having an anti-bullying policy in place.
Recent research from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) also found that there are additional costs to employers in terms of lost productivity, sickness absence and higher than expected turnover of employees.
Bullying is not something that can be ignored, the CIPD said, as research shows that exposure to bullying can cause the same range of symptoms as post-traumatic stress following events such as armed raids and in some cases the threat of death.
“Employers should work with staff to create a dignity at work policy that defines the positive behaviour expected from all employees,” said CIPD professional adviser Imogen Haslam.
“This will help make sure staff know what is expected from them and it will be easier to identify when someone is acting unreasonably.”
She said the next step is to provide training to all line managers and team leaders to help them recognise the signs of bullying or undesirable behaviour, and then take action to encourage people to recognise and change their behaviour before situations escalate.
“There is a very fine line between firm autocratic management styles and bullying, and often bullies are unaware of the negative impact their actions may have,” she said.
Investing time and money in training line managers will help change mindsets making it easier to move away from the traditional boss versus employee scenario, by raising awareness of alternative, more effective styles concentrating on motivating staff through engaging their commitment and trust.
“This will help reduce conflict within the workplace and deliver benefits to the business by improving performance, improving the working environment, helping to retain staff and reducing absence rates, especially that caused by stress-related illness.”
She said being clear about the difference between using reasonable management techniques and bullying at work will help managers who are concerned about being accused of bullying when dealing with difficult personal issues at work, such as managing under performance.
“This requires good communication and a suitable support network for staff who are facing problems,” she said.
“Bullies are often oblivious to their actions and therefore a policy won’t work in practice and the problem will not stop unless they realise they are behaving inappropriately,” she added.
Much bullying is also low-level. If employers do not take action to change the behaviour of otherwise valued members of staff accused of minor cases of bullying, they may well end up losing both the victims and the bullies if problems escalate in the future, Haslam said.
