Recent high-profile cases have brought harassment and bullying in the workplace very much into focus. Despite legislation and guidance based on ‘best practice’ behaviours, employees can still be subjected to completely unacceptable treatment with risks to their health and wellbeing. That this treatment is often excused by the perpetrators as some kind of ‘management style’ along with a general ambivalence by society only helps it stay under the radar.
This article has been written to explore the issue in more depth, giving insight into the health impact, why it persists and what actions organisations can, and must, take.
Examples and definitions of harassment
You might wonder why harassment and bullying hasn’t already been consigned to history. After all, the legislative protection was firmly and clearly embedded in the Equality Act (2010) where harassment is recognised as illegal with redress available in both the civil and criminal courts. Excellent guidance, for both employees and employers, is documented by ACAS and freely available.
Another useful guide to the precise legal definitions and consequence of harassment is provided by Stuart Miller solicitors which not only defines harassment but identifies several different forms of harassment, physical, psychological and emotional.
Generally speaking, harassment is understood as singular or repeated actions that cause a person alarm or distress or put them in fear of violence, along with any unwanted communications and contact upon a victim in a manner that could be expected to cause distress or fear in any reasonable person. The CPS guidelines on Stalking and Harassment are a useful source of terminology and legislation.
Some common examples of harassment in the workplace include:
- Making unwelcome sexual advances or comments
- Racial slurs or telling offensive jokes
- Physical assaults or unwanted touching
- Threatening someone or making them feel scared
- Spreading rumours about a person or damaging their reputation
The Law Society provides a precise definition of harassment to be found in section 26 of the Equality Act (2010) as “unwanted conduct related to a relevant protected characteristic and which violates a person’s dignity or has the purpose or effect of creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment.”
The threat to employee wellbeing
From an Occupational Health perspective, harassment and bullying is a significant risk to health and wellbeing. In exceptional cases of physical bullying, which are admittedly now much rarer, there is the risk of injury but increasingly we have become aware of the mental health risks bullying causes. Single instances of harassment or bullying can have a long lasting and debilitating impact on someone; but it’s the more persistent and long-term pattern of bullying behaviour which creates a toxic working environment leading to low self-esteem, lack of confidence, unhappiness at work, depression and anxiety.
Why does bullying persist?
There is clear legislation in place and the effects on health and wellbeing are well documented – and yet, as we all know, it still takes place. Part of the reason is that we, in general society, can be rather ambivalent in our own attitudes towards bullying. We are divided on what is called “woke” behaviours, quietly concerned that people are becoming “too soft” and recalling anecdotes, usually from our childhood, which accepted a level of bullying or taunting as some acceptable norm. Changing attitudes, and then changing behaviours, when they have become so embedded in our upbringing and socialisation is extremely difficult.
The excuses we make for bullying
Both employers and employees will benefit from the excellent advice and support provided by the organisation Family Lives who give clear definitions and good advice on how to tackle the issues at a personal as well as organisational level. They get to the heart of things, our ambivalence towards bullying and harassment, highlighting four particular excuses so frequently made for bullying or harassment and providing a clear response to each.
- A “clash of personalities”: If you are being systematically belittled, excluded, or intimidated, you are not just clashing with someone, this is bullying.
- Character building: Negative remarks and actions towards you will not build any sort of character; the effects can be debilitating and influence your emotional health.
- A leadership style: Overly aggressive or dominant managers may try and pass bullying off as their “style” of management, but if you feel threatened, this is bullying.
- Provoked by the victim: Bullying is never the victim’s fault and is often motivated by the perpetrator’s own insecurities or desire to progress up the career ladder.
The impact of leadership and culture
Organisations can influence workplace behaviour, both through the wider legislative process, but also through their own policies and practices and the culture they develop within. That culture, the attitudes and behaviours that define our place of work, is instigated, of course, through senior leaders. But the greatest impact on workplace behaviours is so often the middle or line managers who day in and day out have the greatest contact with employees and have the greatest impact on the workplace environment. They can be a tremendous force for positive change: equally they can be resistant to change.
Pressure on management
The greatest problem for such managers may often lie in the demands organisations make on them without providing either the training or the resources to achieve such demands. High productivity is key to organisational performance and this productivity can lie in the hands of individual employees. Senior managers “drive” for performance, raising expectations and attempting to achieve more for less.
Physical resources may be inadequate, staffing levels too low, but the incessant demand is made, and it is the middle managers who are left with the task of achieving exceptional results from limited resources. Indeed, frequently their own livelihoods depend on it. Often, they themselves do not feel supported, have competing demands on their time, and poor management behaviours appear; they become less available to delegate and effectively supervise and can also suffer from stress which leads to being short-tempered, poor relationships and low morale. They require training to inspire and stimulate performance in others.
Tackling harassment and bullying with four actions:
- Publish, implement, and monitor a bullying and harassment policy within your organisation – not merely as a wordy document but as a call for sustained action. (If one is already in place revisit it and ensure it is fit for purpose).
- Create the workplace culture which supports all staff, which recognises and respects the dignity and individuality of all, and which nurtures an environment of tolerance and kindness. (Check out that workplace culture with open eyes – review employee survey feedback to identify what can be improved).
- Whilst supporting the need of any organisation to achieve high performance, ensure that leaders and managers have the training and the resources needed to achieve such results. (Assess more realistically what can be achieved given the resources, skills and people available).
- More specifically, provide training for senior and line-managers to recognise and deal with harassment and bullying issues. Recognising at the same time, the positive or negative impact of their own behaviours. (Move from tick-box forms to comprehensive and frequent training on workplace culture).
In summary
It is time for us to lay aside the excuses, the tacit condoning of unacceptable behaviour, the attempt to pass the blame onto the victim not the perpetrator. Organisations can be a force for good in tackling what are often complex and deep-seated issues. Bullying and harassment is totally unacceptable. It must be dealt with decisively and promptly, for the benefit of all.
