Strategic Sense, in addition to providing Leadership Training, has made a commitment to highlight some of the remarkable authors, leadership professionals and business people we’ve had the great fortune of meeting and working with over the last 3 years. On Wednesdays you will see guest-posts from some of these folks. All are leaders in their field and have solutions to some of our biggest workplace issues.

As with Professor Robin Stuart-Kotze PhD who wrote about Getting a Handle on Different Cultural Values today we have a guest post that talks about Bullying.

Today’s Guest Post is by Michelle Berg, President & CEO of Elevated HR Solutions in Calgary

 

Photo Courtesy of Rene Asmussen, Denmark

And now, here’s Michelle…

Tell me if you’ve witnessed this before:  A manager thinks of himself as strong and effective.  He continually brags about keeping his employees in line – they even have to ask to go to the bathroom.  In terms of a work environment, he doesn’t allow for idle chit chat.  His door of his office is open and if he hears anything that doesn’t appear to be work he stands up and makes a comment such as, “I hear McDonald’s has an opening. They like to chat.”  Tasks are broken down for each individual into teeny tiny steps, so that each milestone can be checked and rechecked before continuing.  When the employee gets it “wrong”, the manager criticizes harshly to ensure that the employee gets what he/she did wrong and to never repeat the mistake twice.  When someone asks to take time off for vacation, his reply is always, “Must be a nice life. I guess you expect me to pick up all your slack for you.”

Do you know this guy? Chances are, you probably do.  In my case, this is a true story.

It’s probably no surprise to you that turnover in this department was rampant.  It’s probably no surprise to you that his employees that stood outside the Senior HR Leaders door wanting/needing/begging to talk to them. What may however, be a surprise is that no one did anything to stop this gentleman because he was the guy that “…knew how to get results.”

The broad definition of a bully is any behavior that intimidates, humiliates or demeans a person.  In some cases it’s directed or it can just be part of a hostile and poisoned work environment.  What organizations need to remember is that bullying is a form of harassment and to stand idly by, can only lead to more problems.  As of 2011, BC, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec are required to have a Psychological Harassment Policy in place and bullying is prohibited under human rights laws (Alberta will follow shortly.) According to BC Business Magazine in 2010 there were 4X more bullying complaints than sexual harassment complaints, meaning your organization could be next…are you prepared?

The effects of bullying are very real:  The Employer will most likely see increased turnover and absenteeism, decreased morale, losses in productivity and perhaps legal costs incurred to defend claims brought on by employees.

Your HR department however, isn’t necessarily the ones to stop bullying in the workplace.  Your Harassment policy won’t stop bullying either.  Instead, it needs to be the collective leadership team who buys into the fact that bullying is not synonymous with management.  A plan (as a team) needs to be devised and as a team, the plan needs to be followed.  This isn’t just an HR issue – it’s a management problem.

Signs of a Bully:

• anyone who yells, insults or name calls their employee
• anyone who is persistent and excessive with criticism directed to an employee
• anyone who spreads malicious rumours about an employee
• anyone who excludes or ignores their employees
• anyone who undermines an employees efforts by setting impossible goals or deadlines
• anyone who sabotages another employees work
• anyone who impedes upon an employee getting a promotion or a transfer

If you are a bully or allowing a bully to be in your workplace, the consequences are very real.  If you need help in handling a bully, there are organizations that are there to assist management teams.  It’s time to take off the blinders, drop the kid gloves and finally solve the issue.  If you don’t do it now, your pocketbook could be the one who feels the most pain.

For more information on Bullying or Psychological Harassment in the workplace check out: http://www.greggowe.com/category/topics/psychological-harassment

Michelle Berg, CHRP
Michelle’s twelve year experience has spanned the health services, financial services, information technology and professional service sectors. She has supported and set-up HR departments on both a national and international stage, from South Korea to South America. Her most recent post was the Senior Vice President, Human Resources and Administration for a mid-sized international, multi-million dollar firm. Dedicated to a quick turnaround and coming up with innovative ideas that promote the growth of the business, Michelle is committed to helping businesses move to the next stage. Michelle can be located via her website Elevated HR Solutions, Facebook, and Twitter.

Strategic Sense has bookings available for Executive, Director and Management Advisory sessions.  Contact us for more information at 403-201-8512