How the Bully Avoids Accountability to a Workplace Bullying Policy
By admin | June 15, 2010
Workplace bullying occurs because it can. Simply put, it takes a village to raise a child; it also takes a village to support the interests of its players. The question then becomes, what game are you playing? A company or organization exists to make a profit and to attain results. To the employer, a workplace bullying incident ‘takes time and energy away from profits and results’ in the short term. Companies and organizations that have long term vision value people before profits, and thus the benefit in addressing workplace bullying situations.
I have been interviewed many times this week with regard to Ontario, Canada’s new Bill 168 becoming legislation just yesterday. The question that I have received the most has been: “Will this new Bill help stop workplace bullying”? My response as noted in the Globe and Mail was that any law is only as good as the leadership support around it.
Even if a company or organization has a workplace bullying policy, the bully will still have tactics to move around such guidelines, so leaders and targets must be aware and plan not to be out-smarted by the bully.
1. With much of the legislation, there is no documentation outlining the consequences of workplace bullying behavior. For this reason, it is easier to get rid of targets than to support them. (Often the target waits to take action internally and by this time, they are too ill to take legal action. Also quite possibly they are facing job loss and financial ruin due to their state of mind).
2. Bullies are adept at deception, especially the manipulation of HR and management’s perceptions of their target. They will often appear confident, in control and capable, even charming. This is an illusion and a front which employers often fail to see beyond.
3. Many times an employer’s main concern is profit and productivity, and if a case looks ‘overwhelming’ and ‘hard to solve easily’ then no one seems to own the problem unless the target keeps pressing in with resources and support they often do not have. The case is dragged out and is only closed due to the exhaustion of the target.
4. Bullies have often made friends and alliances with senior management and are thus protected when a case comes about. The bully is given more room and support as a result of their connections above.
5. Employers are frightened of the legal action by both the target and the bully! Who do you think would have more resources? The larger employers have unlimited resources when it comes to engaging legal representation to defend a case against a target’s claim. The bully is protected once again as it is not ‘great press’ to have a workplace bullying issue out of hand and noted in the media (even though the target might be justified by their case, the organization will do what it can to defend their organization’s name).
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Did You Know?
- Bill 168 was enacted in Ontario, Canada just yesterday. What are your thoughts on this bill? Do you feel more protected? What needs to happen? Let us know by replying!
- Bully Free at Work will be creating a video blog later this summer. Let us know your thoughts on receiving a short video message as a result of our weekly tip series!
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6. The bully will often gather others to be on their side, either by direct force or by being so powerful it keeps others silent from supporting the target. HR and senior management can be fooled into believing ‘this is only in the target’s mind’ and be swept up into thinking it sure would be easier to remove the now unproductive target then deal with this issue.
7. The bully is often a high producer by their striving nature. Why would an organization let someone like this go?
8. The senior management and HR who are approached find it easier to subscribe to ‘shooting the messenger’.
9. HR, unions and senior managers are not trained or rewarded for dealing with workplace bullying issues so why would they seek them out? It takes time away from productivity; and in addition, it can be exhausting to try and solve a problem you have very few skills or authority to address. What gets rewarded gets repeated: profits and productivity are rewarded in most organizations, not more intangible factors to success such as team morale, dealing with and solving issues etc.
10. No one ‘owns’ the problem. Stopping workplace bullying must be the responsibility of everyone in an organization. The target must keep an accurate log of repeated events to support their case in order to avoid a ‘tail wagging the dog’ complaint structure many organizations are afraid of. The senior management must first believe in people, then profits when it comes to workplace bullying situations and put proper resources into standing behind this belief. Training for managers on how to support targets as well as accountability skills for the entire organization in order to hold the bully accountable are necessary steps in this process. The bully will never be accountable; they will only adhere to consequences put forth by those who can enforce the consequences.
Topics: Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
June 16th, 2010 at 7:29 pm
This was a really interesting post. I understand that it takes internal leadership and support for the impact of legislation to be positive. But, wouldn’t things be worse without 168 as an incentive to have policies in place?
June 22nd, 2010 at 10:28 am
I am someone who was harrassed in the workplace 6 years ago. I left that job and found a new job with a new company. Every single on of those “how the bully avoids accountability” applies to my former situation. The bully isolated me from colleagues, humiliated and belittled me in front of others, ruined my credibility with clients and co-workers and spread horrible lies and gossip about me, causing others to dislike me and provoking further bullying. Due to this being a workplace of 8, there was no HR. Mangement knew this was taken place but I was just told that I am not going to get along with everyone and I must learn to work together with others, in turn giving the bully more power. I just want to know who enforces “Bill 168″?
June 25th, 2010 at 11:43 am
Hello,
I’m so glad I found your website; because, I’m so anxious to address/share an ongoing workplace issue I’ve been dealing with for the past six to eight years. I am a 25 year employee with this large company and I enjoy my work, going to work, and my coworkers; but, the problem is that they don’t like me or working with me because I’m not a blabber mouth and is accussed of being “BORING”.
It’s a real problem for me because the supervisor always make me an extra person, loaning me out to other departments like I’m a new hire I have 25-years and think it is unfair, intimidating, and being bullied. The sad thing about it all is that management seem to support it, because I’ve been in classes where the facilitator (management)has made sarcastic remarks about how long the day seem when you’re not having fun and everyone laughs (except me), because I know what’s being insinuated I’m a very socialable, out-going individual and I’m tired of the slandering and management wonder why absenteeism is high? Some days I dread going to work and will use a VR (vacation restricted). Sometimes I think the supervisor be glad when I call in, then he doesn’t have to try to find a job for me that day, when I should have a permanent job to report to everyday like the low seniority employees do. I’ve addressed this with HR and Management before, but it seems to follow me every plant I relocate to. HELP Any advice is greatly appreciated
P.S.
The thing about it is it’s unfair to me to feel humiliated, bullied, and intimidated. I really don’t care what people think of me because they or what they say doesn’t define me; but, management seem to go along with it and I want to help others who are experiencing workplace bullying