Bullying is a taboo, which is why many managers have anxiety when it comes to handling the cases. Leader insight has spoken with Eva Gemzøe Mikkelsen, PhD. and occupational psychologist at CRECEA A/S on how you as a manager can take care of bullying and how you can effectively prevent it. There is good economics in that.
Bullying is not a uniform phenomenon, and it has many faces, which manifest themselves differently from situation to situation, and therefore it can also be difficult to define and, not least, to detect.
The Norwegian Working Environment Authority's definition of bullying:
"This is bullying when one or more people regularly and over a long period of time - or repeatedly in a gross way - exposes one or more other people to offensive actions that the person concerned perceives as hurtful or degrading. However, the offending acts only become bullying when the persons against whom they are directed are unable to defend themselves effectively against them.
Bullying manifests itself in many ways. Here we will give two examples which are recognizable and easy to spot, should they arise in your company. In the book chapter "Bullying - one phenomenon or several?" from 2007 Eva Gemzøe Mikkelsen describes bullying which is aimed directly at the person and social isolation:
"Most bullies, especially those who have been bullied for a long time, are exposed to actions that are directed at them as individuals. They are scolded or shouted at daily. Managers or colleagues systematically criticize or ridicule them. They are called hopeless, incompetent and lazy. They experience that others underestimate or ridicule matters that concern their privacy – e.g. their political or religious affiliation or sexual observance. Many are exposed to coarse teasing or gossip, which is absolutely not good-natured. A variant of the latter is e-mails with offensive content that are sent around all or parts of the company.” Bullying – one phenomenon or several?” (2007)
"Social isolation is a special form of personal bullying. Many bullies find that colleagues deliberately exclude them from the community. They are ignored in collaborative situations or when the conversation is around the canteen table. Colleagues treat them like air by failing to look at or speak to them, or by referring to them in the third person in situations where they are present. One of the worst examples I have come across comes from a company where two colleagues consistently referred to a third colleague as "it". "Bullying - one phenomenon or several?" (2007)
"There is good economics in preventing bullying, because bullying reduces employees' motivation, productivity falls, sickness absence increases and staff turnover can increase drastically". That's what Eva Gemzøe Mikkelsen says in the handbook "Prevention of bullying in the workplace", which she has written together with Associate Professor Annie Høgh, University of Copenhagen. The book, which can be downloaded for free, focuses on what workplaces can do to prevent bullying.
"Preventing bullying in the workplace - a handbook"
"Bullying can affect even the best workplace if the circumstances are right. However, it is cheaper to prevent injuries than to cure them. Therefore, it is a good idea to think about preventing bullying, even when things are going very well in the workplace", explains Eva Gemzøe Mikkelsen.
The book describes seven preventive action areas against bullying in the workplace:
Introduce a bullying policy. The policy expresses the workplace's stance on bullying and provides written guidelines for how to handle cases of bullying. A bullying policy is therefore an important tool in preventive efforts. Read more in "Prevention of bullying in the workplace" chapter 3 about what a bullying policy should contain.
Minimize or remove risk factors in the psychological work environment. It is important to improve the working environment conditions that increase the risk of bullying. The work should begin with a mapping of the workplace's psychological working environment. Read more about how the mapping can be done in "Prevention of bullying in the workplace" chapter 4.
Introduce a bullying policy. The way we communicate with each other is crucial for our working climate, and a focus on communication is part of the preventive efforts against bullying. Many conflict and bullying cases could have been avoided if the company had paid more attention to the rising tone in the workplace. Read more about how to get a good conversational tone in "Prevention of bullying in the workplace" chapter 5.
Work to change a negative culture. In some workplaces there is a culture of bullying, and employees are expected to take part in it. Some call it workshop humor. Elsewhere, Janteloven rules, and if you stick your nose out too far, you will be prosecuted immediately. It is difficult to change a negative collaborative culture, but it is necessary in the prevention of bullying. Read more about how to change the culture in "Prevention of bullying in the workplace" chapter 6.
Increase managers' competence to prevent and deal with bullying. The manager's way of managing and distributing work can relate to bullying. It is therefore important that the manager is aware of the things he does that have a direct impact on the employees. Read more about what the initiative manager can do to increase his skills "Prevention of bullying in the workplace" chapter 7.
Recruit and promote the right people. It is important that management has carefully considered what skills a new employee must have before finding the right person for the job. Many conflicts and cases of bullying stem from the fact that a new employee does not "fit in". Read more in "Prevention of bullying in the workplace" chapter 8 about what considerations the manager should make when recruiting a new employee.
Learn how to handle cases of bullying. There are six stages in dealing with bullying cases. Find them in "Prevention of bullying in the workplace" chapter 9.
The handbook is the result of a collaboration between the National Research Center for the Working Environment (NFA) and the working environment consultancy firm CRECEA, and has been created on the basis of a three-year research project on the prevention of conflicts and bullying in the workplace.
Eva Gemzøe Mikkelsen works on a daily basis with companies that want help to deal with specific cases or to prevent problems with bullying from arising.
Facts
Eva Gemzoe Mikkelsen. Occupational psychologist and researcher. PhD in workplace bullying and author of several books as well as a number of internationally published articles and book chapters. Business consultant and course and lecturer. Primary interest and areas of work: Organizational and management development, advice on prevention and handling of conflicts and bullying.
"If a company has found out that there is a problem with bullying, we step in and help them through a process which must first investigate the problem and then solve it. We work in phases, where we start by meeting with the management or a steering group, such as may consist of the management, an occupational health and safety representative and a shop steward. When we are then asked to handle a case, we almost always start by investigating the problem through interviews with the people involved in the case. We then analyze the interviews – who is involved? What kind of bullying is involved? How did the problem occur? What solutions are possible? etc. The analysis and recommendations for specific measures are presented to the management/steering group. Sometimes the company can handle it themselves, other times they ask us to cover all or part of the effort. It can, for example, be leadership coaching, conflict mediation, organizational development, etc., says Eva Gemzøe Mikkelsen.
As said at the outset, there is good economics in preventing and solving problems with bullying in the workplace, and this does not only have consequences for the person being bullied – it affects the entire company when there is an imbalance in the working environment.
Sources:
Mikkelsen EG & Høgh A. Prevention of bullying in the workplace – a handbook. The National Research Center for the Working Environment, Copenhagen 2010.
Mikkelsen EG. Bullying – one phenomenon or several? in SUS, Copenhagen 2007.
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