First published on Thursday, Nov 16, 2023
Last updated on Thursday, Nov 16, 2023
When you think about bullying, the go-to mental image is usually playground shoving, teasing, and using physical or mental pressure.
But when it comes to the workplace, examples of bullying can be much more underhand and subtle, making the signs harder to spot.
So, here are some handy tips to help you identify the signs and prevent and protect your workplace culture and business from bullying…
1. Understand what workplace bullying looks like
Lots of people experience some form of bullying in their life, whether that’s from a colleague, friend, acquaintance or even a manager.
Bullying is defined as harmful, targeted behaviour that might be spiteful, offensive, mocking or intimidating. But because these behaviours are broad, some of the specific examples of bullying might surprise you.
Examples of workplace bullying include:
- Shouting or swearing at someone
- Ignoring or deliberately excluding a person
- Persecution through threats and instilling fear
- Spreading malicious rumours
- Constantly undervaluing effort
- Dispensing disciplinary action which is totally unjustified
- Spontaneous rages, often over trivial matters
These instances of bullying can happen right under your nose in the workplace. But it’s important to remember they can also happen outside of your watchful eye, like at work events, or even online.
Online bullying between colleagues is your responsibility—particularly if your employee decides they want to raise a formal grievance. So, it’s important you get the right support.
For more advice on what to do if you think online bullying is becoming a problem in your workplace ask BrightLightning: What do I do if an employee feels they are being bullied online by colleagues?
2. Recognise the impact bullying can have on your workplace
The costs of bullying can be high, taking a toll on an individual's wellbeing, ability to perform at work, and can even in extreme cases lead to higher rates of absenteeism.
If someone is being bullied, they might opt to take a sick day over coming to work to face the abuse. This is especially true if the individual works closely with their perpetrator or is being bullied by their manager, which is called ‘subordinate bullying’.
More subtle examples of bullying that can occur between manager and employee include:
- Deliberately withholding information or supplying incorrect information
- Deliberately sabotaging or impeding work performance
- Constantly changing targets without good reason
- Setting an individual up to fail by imposing impossible deadlines
- Removing areas of responsibility and imposing menial tasks
- Blocking applications for holidays, promotions, or training
This is where having software to track these kinds of interactions comes in handy. Recording all aspects of your day-to-day HR like holiday, performance, training, and administrative tasks can give you a clearer overview of team dynamics and a better chance at ruling out any potential bullying or team toxicity.
It’s important to remember there is also such a thing as ‘upward bullying’, a term coined to describe someone in a more junior role bullying their manager or a more senior member of staff.
It’s clear from this that bullying can impact any member of staff at any level, leaving you to pick up the pieces. Because of this, any training, policies, or advice you give to protect your workplace from bullying must be offered to all members of staff, not just managers.
3. Address workplace bullying
So, how should you address bullying between employees if you do spot the signs?
Well, first things first, prevention is key. Establish an anti-bullying policy, encourage reporting, address reports promptly, and provide training on respectful behaviour.
All these tactics can help you make sure you’re creating a supportive and fair working environment.
Spotting the signs of workplace bullying as an employer can be tricky, especially when you have 101 other things on your mind and the signs can be so subtle.
But by addressing workplace bullying in your employee policies and by training staff on subjects like effective communication and conflict resolution, you can remove its potential to disrupt your workplace, affect your team culture, and impact your retention rates.
4. Stay up to date with the latest employment law
The proposed Bullying and Respect at Work Bill aims to create a statutory definition of bullying. Although it’s still in its first reading stage, it’s worth keeping an eye on!
Currently, claims can already be brought by employees that stem from bullying in the workplace, but this new bill would give workplace bullying itself a specific legal claim.
The new law if passed will likely result in increased regulations for employers to protect staff against workplace bullying.
Training should already be provided to employees on the prevention of discrimination and harassment. But now, it’s more important than ever to cover bullying to reduce the chance of problems escalating to claims at tribunals.
This leads us to our last point…
5. Get the right support
BrightHR has an extensive document library with everything you need to protect your business and manage your employees accurately and fairly.
We even have an expertly written Bullying and Harassment policy, designed to keep you above board when it comes to workplace bullying, cyberbullying, harassment, and your legal obligations as an employer. Get hundreds of HR policies, documents, and templates at your fingertips — discover BrightBase.
Already a BrightHR customer and need more support on this topic? Call your employment advice team today on: 0800 470 2432.