Bullying in the workplace

Bullying attracts its fair share of public interest and controversy. A staggering three quarters of employees have been the victim of workplace bullying at some point in their careers, ranging from intimidation and verbal abuse to discrimination. With the advent of social media, such behaviour is increasingly being played out in a very public arena. Recently, a fierce twitter bullying campaign by what is described on twitter as “trolls” provoked the hospitalisation of the victim, Charlotte Dawson. In another case, a Tasmanian woman’s online torment turned to real-life confrontation when a group of people involved in Facebook abuse towards her turned up at her workplace. As such, social media is increasingly becoming a medium for workplace bullying, potentially damaging both individual and corporate reputations. But what does this mean for employers?

A recent poll conducted by nation-wide recruitment marketing firm Employment Office has found despite the growing incidence of workplace harassment, including incidents derived from social media, employers don’t seem to be getting any better at handling it, with over half the employees surveyed stating their workplace does not manage bullying incidents effectively.

However, Tudor Marsden-Huggins, Managing Director of Employment Office, says “In these days of social media and personal broadcasting, if a company develops a reputation for having a dysfunctional corporate culture, it can stay with them for years. This makes the recruitment of quality candidates will be much more difficult, time-consuming and expensive.”

In the age of social media. employers need to appreciate that just because the conduct occurs in cyberspace it does not mean that it cannot be monitored or that action for inappropriate behaviour cannot be taken. The consequences are dire for the employer because of the well-established principle that employers can be vicariously liable for the conduct of their employees, as long as that conduct was engaged in at work or in connection with their duties. If the conduct occurs in cyberspace it does not mean that it will be separate to the employment relationship, particularly where the intention might be to harass a fellow employee.

Marsden-Huggins notes that, “If employers do not have policies for appropriate behaviour that extend to the use of social media then it will be difficult to argue that your company has taken all reasonable precautions to prevent the offending behaviour. Workplaces that allow, support or encourage the use of social media should ensure strict guidelines and policies are in place and communicated clearly and regularly to all employees.”

In order to prevent bullying from affecting your workplace, Marsden-Huggins suggests, “It’s important that an employee has a clear way to bring complaints forward to be treated in a fair and unbiased manner. By the same token, it’s crucial to treat the alleged bully with respect and use collaborative approaches instead of adversarial approaches to resolve differences. It’s also a good idea to be proactive and perhaps arrange a workshop to educate employees on workplace bullying and harassment,” he said.

Implementing a policy reform that includes social media usage would reap a huge dividend by saving lost productivity costs and improving the quality of our work environment. Workplace experts say that if bullies are not dealt with appropriately, low productivity, absenteeism and even physical illness can eventually seep through into the company’s brand name, goodwill and bottom line.