Daytona Employment Blog
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Archive for the ‘Workplace Bullying’ Category
Bullying in the Workplace…not just about lunch money anymore.
Monday, October 25th, 2010
As an employer, protecting your employees from workplace threats is a key responsibility that you have to your employees. Often, employers focus on the immediately identifiable threats such as: hazardous materials, dangerous machines/tools and improper procedures that can lead to physical harm. But what about identifying those situations that can be hazardous to your employee’s mental health? Often, employers (and their HR departments) focus on those issues related to sexual harassment and addictions but overlook actions that effect their employee’s emotional and mental health, such as workplace bullying.
About the Workplace Bullying Survey(s):
Recently, the Workplace Bullying Institute (WBI) released data from two (2) surveys that were completed on the topics of workplace bullying. The WBI wrote the survey and commissioned Zogby International to collect data for the second representative study of all adult Americans on the topic of workplace bullying. WBI conducted the first national study in 2007.
There were two 2010 surveys – one with several items and 4,210 survey respondents (MOE +/- 1.5 percentage points), and one single-item survey with 2,092 respondents (MOE +/- 2.2 percentage points). Each sample was representative of all American adults in August, 2010.
What is Workplace Bullying?
In Survey 1, Workplace Bullying was defined as “repeated, health harming abusive conduct committed by bosses and co-workers.” In the single-question survey (Survey 2), Workplace Bullying was defined as “repeated mistreatment: sabotage by others that prevented work from getting done, verbal abuse, threatening conduct, intimidation, & humiliation” in order to make the direct comparison to the 2007 WBI-Zogby prevalence question.
Key Findings:
- 35% of workers have experienced bullying firsthand (37% in 2007, given the MOE, essentially equivalent)
- 62% of bullies are men; 58% of targets are women
- Women bullies target women in 80% of cases
- Bullying is 4X more prevalent than illegal harassment (2007)
- The majority (68%) of bullying is same-gender harassment
Prevalence of Workplace Bullying
35% of the U.S. workforce (an est. 53.5 million Americans) report being bullied at work; an additional 15% witness it. Half of all Americans have directly experienced it. Simultaneously, 50% report neither experiencing nor witnessing bullying. Hence, a “silent epidemic.”
Gender and Workplace Bullying
Both men and women bully, but the majority of bullying is same-gender harassment, which is mostly legal according to anti-discrimination laws and workplace policies. Women target women.
Public Support for the Healthy Workplace Bill
Survey 1 respondents were asked if they supported or opposed workplace bullying legislation to protect workers from “abusive conduct” as contained in the original HWB language. Support is 2.5 times the level of opposition.
Support and Race
The strongest support comes from groups which enjoy protected status under current civil rights laws. Support from African Americans (73%) and Hispanics (66%) shows that current laws are inadequate when workplace cruelty is the issue. In fact, in 2009 the NAACP endorsed HWB as a necessary law.
Political Party Affiliation and Support
Since 2003, the HWB has enjoyed bipartisan support in several state legislatures. Both Republicans and Democrats have been prime sponsors of the bill. In the 2010 WBI-Zogby survey, people identified themselves as members of the Democratic or Republican parties, or as Independents or not specified. Strongest support for the HWB came from Democrats (84%), Not Specified (60%), followed by Independents (55%) and half of Republicans. Thus, constituents of both parties want elected officials to address workplace bullying.
Download the 2010 Results Flyer
How to Avoid Workplace Bullying in your office:
In order to avoid bullying occurring in their workplace, employers need to adopt a inner-office culture that doesn’t allow your organization to become prone to bullying. Learn how bullying is an unsustainable cost. Look beyond personalities as causes to see how the workplace culture and environment make your organization prone to bullying. Commit to correcting and preventing it. Adopt the WBI/Work Doctor Blueprint to Prevent Workplace Bullying.
Some tips include in the blueprint include:
- Policy Creation and Enforcement Solutions
- Assessing Internal Problems with Qualitative Interviews and Quantitative Surveys
- Training Internal Resource Groups
- And, Restoring Employee Mental Health
For more information on avoiding Workplace Bullying in your office, Daytona Employment recommends that you visit the Workplace Bullying Institute and check out their Recommended Reading list(s). There is a lot of good information and book lists available for Employers to research this topic in more detail and create a safe environment for their Employees.
Daytona Employment is a full-service Workforce Planning agency with over 80+ years of experience helping the Volusia/Flagler area’s best companies to properly plan for the search, recruitment, screening and hiring of the RIGHT PERSON for their PERSONnel needs. With a minimal investment of time and effort, DE can work with your hiring managers to create a customized staffing plan for the continued growth and success of your company. Contact us today at 386-253-3333 and we’ll get started right away! Daytona Employment does NOT support any company that doesn’t support its employees an their physical/mental health – Stop Workplace Bullying today!
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