Workplace bullying – don’t keep quiet about it or turn a blind eye

Have you ever felt bullied at work? Do you think you have ever bullied someone else at work? Are you looking away from someone you see being bullied, just glad it is not you?

Bullying is a common form of harassment in the workplace and can cause victims deep psychological hurt, feelings of isolation, depression and even illness. It is a problem that can be difficult to identify and manage because it is based on the perceptions of the people being bullied. When alleged perpetrators are confronted, they are quick to deny the harmful behaviour.

The lack of evidence causes most victims who suffer emotional abuse at work to remain silent about it and their unhappiness could filter into their personal lives with family and friends, who may notice that something is wrong.

The recently published Code of Good Practice on the Prevention and Elimination of Harassment in the Workplace (Government Gazette, No 46056; 18 March 2022) makes explicit mention of bullying and the responsibility of employers to inform and train on harassment. This may help to create greater awareness and understanding of such practices.

There are multiple causes of bullying behaviour cited in the literature, but often the bully has aggressive tendencies and lacks self-confidence, and is jealous of others’ good performance or popularity. It could also be due to unrealistic performance targets set for managers.

Whatever the causes of bullying, it is a form of workplace behaviour that should not be tolerated. Silence about or turning a blind eye to bullying is not an option, since it decreases employee productivity and job satisfaction and increases staff absenteeism and turnover.     

The code describes harassment as “unwanted conduct which impairs dignity, and which creates a hostile or intimidating work environment for one or more employees. A hostile work environment will be present where conduct has a negative impact on the employee’s ability to work and/or on their personal wellbeing.” A bully could be a manager or co-worker and sometimes bullying may be by a group of co-workers. It is an aggressive act, using a real or perceived power imbalance, that usually takes the form of verbal comments intended to intimidate, offend, degrade, dominate or humiliate a particular person or group of people. It is less likely among adults to involve physical contact such as pushing or shoving seen in bullying among children, but it could involve non-verbal actions such as ridiculing someone’s suggestions or socially excluding the person, resulting in feelings of rejection or isolation.

According to the Code of Good Practice, bullying includes a wide range of insulting, demeaning or intimidating behaviour that lowers the self-esteem or self-confidence of an employee. It explains that verbal bullying may include threats, shaming, hostile teasing, insults, constant negative judgement and criticism, or racist, sexist or LGBTQI+ phobic language.

Bullying usually involves repeated incidents rather than a single incident and could include actions such as the victim being moved to a lower position, being denied leave or promotion, belittling a person’s opinions, giving the person unrealistic workloads or timeframes, constantly changing the work deliverables or assigning too little work or menial or irrelevant tasks.

Cyberbullying is on the increase and can be equally devastating. Employees can be broken down by systematic behaviour that can be difficult to prove. The test is whether a “reasonable person” in the same situation would perceive the actions as bullying.

The code outlines proactive steps that employers can take to help employees. Training can assist to dispel myths around workplace bullying, such as the belief that superiors bully subordinates and not vice versa. While this may be more common, there are instances of subordinates bullying superiors, such as by spreading malicious rumours or gossip. Bullying is a complex issue to prevent, eradicate or manage and should not be confused with strong and fair management aimed at ensuring work productivity.

We have all seen bullying in action or experienced it ourselves. The code gives us an opportunity to examine our work policies and practices on bullying, to train employees about it and to encourage employees to speak out against it when they witness or experience it.

Q&A with Professor Monie Naidoo

Q: Another company that is in competition with the one I work for has contacted me and offered me a better salary as a manager and the work is the same as I am doing now. I need the extra money but am concerned because the contract is not detailed. When I asked about this, I was told that this is the standard contract. Also, it seems like managers do not stay there long – they seem to come and go.

A: Headhunting is a common practice, with competitors actively poaching well-performing workers from each other. Sometimes it is better to move out in order to move up, especially if you have been with the same company and in the same position for a number of years and have limited growth prospects.

The lack of details in the employment contract, depending on what they are, could disfavour either you or the employer. A contract should ideally specify all the important aspects to avoid possible conflict. For example, the length of the probationary period, any restraints on trade, the working hours and the place of work are among many aspects that should be clearly specified and easily understood. There should be no ambiguity in the manner in which it is written. Salary is an important factor in deciding to change jobs, but it should not be the only factor considered. Depending on the nature of the work, more companies are offering flexible working arrangements, considering travel time, costs and distance to work. DM168

Professor Monie Naidoo is an independent education development specialist and career coach. She was director of accreditation at the Council on Higher Education.

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R25.