Bullying in the Workplace: A Problem With Many Costs

When you think of the word “bullying,” what image comes to mind? Chances are it's your school-age children. However, a remarkable 35% of working Americans have been bullied in their jobs. That’s over 53 million people. In addition, about 15% of workers have witnessed others being bullied. The impact on an organization’s bottom line can be significant, including stress-related medical and disability claims, increased absenteeism, decreased morale, and loss of key talent.

Workplace bullying can include obvious behaviors such as raised voices, cursing, insulting, and ridiculing, but it also comes in more subtle forms, such as spreading malicious gossip, making invalid criticisms, micromanaging, stealing credit for accomplishments, placing unreasonable work demands, threatening job loss, and/or excluding employees from social events.  

I think we all know that bullying has a very negative impact on the target, including decreased morale, increased stress, loss of sleep, depression, shame, and embarrassment. However, what we may forget is that bullying has serious effects that go beyond the victim.

People who have been bullied often take their suffering out on co-workers, friends, and family members.    Work groups that have a bully in their midst often become intimidated, fearful, and anxious, leading to behaviors such hiding mistakes, utilizing play-it-safe strategies, and carrying out acts of sabotage and revenge.  Also, when workers feel bullied, they sometimes mistreat customers or patients, and that leads to customer service complaints and ultimately, lost revenue.  

Only about 20% of bullying behavior is illegal (that is, falls under the categories of harassment, defamation of character, or hostile workplace environment), but that does not mean that an organization needs to tolerate the other 80%. Managers and HR professionals need to confront bullies on their behaviors, even if the offender is a senior executive. Otherwise, the toll can be too high.

Here are some things you can do immediately: develop a no-bullying workplace policy; provide training and coaching to offenders; and work with the victims of bullying to create a safe work environment.

Have you ever encountered a bully in your workplace? Have you been mistreated by a supervisor or colleague? Do you have policy in place that has helped combat bullying? We’d love to hear from you.

-- by Randy Martin, PhD

Randy Martin, PhD, is HRI’s director of Clinical Services and oversees the EAP.