You take pride in maintaining a safe, fair, and positive work environment. Therefore, finding out that bullying is happening in your workplace can be jarring. As an HR consultant, I can help you put the right policies and procedures in place.
The way you address workplace bullying as a business owner can significantly impact your company culture and legal compliance. Learn how to identify bullying, what to do when it happens, and how to prevent this issue moving forward.
Your employee handbook should specifically address workplace bullying, including a confidential process for employees to report this behavior. I can help you draft the right documents to ensure your employees feel supported and your business environment remains safe.
What Is Workplace Bullying?
When you think of bullying behavior, images of the schoolyard in sixth grade might come immediately to mind. But bullying can also occur in professional workplaces. It’s a form of harassment that your company needs to take seriously.
Workplace bullying might look like:
- Social isolation or exclusion
- Unwarranted or excessive criticism
- Being humiliated or publicly shamed
- Being treated differently from the rest of the department
- Excessive or unnecessary monitoring
The bully is often a person in a higher position than the target, but coworkers can also bully their peers. As much as 59% of workplace bullying is between two people of the same gender.
How To Address Workplace Bullying
Bullying behaviors are often subtle, and as a business owner, you might not be aware that this behavior is happening in your workplace. But when an employee brings bullying to your attention, whether as the victim or a bystander, you must take it seriously.
- Seek HR intervention
- Investigate the matter closely
- Speak with all parties involved
- Clearly label the behavior as bullying (e.g., “Your behavior toward this person is a form of bullying, and this is not okay in our workplace.”)
- Enumerate specific consequences for future bullying behavior
- Offer concrete solutions to help the bullied worker feel more comfortable
- Use conflict resolution strategies to help the workers resolve their differences
- Ensure that no retaliation occurs against the target or the person who reported the bullying
Bullying creates a hostile work environment, which makes it challenging for workers to stay productive and focus on work. If you fail to address bullying properly, you could be liable for workplace harassment.
Prevent Future Bullying Behaviors With an Anti-Bullying Policy
Discovering even one instance of workplace bullying should prompt you to take action and prevent future incidents. Start by creating a zero-tolerance anti-bullying policy that clearly defines your company’s stance against this issue and the consequences bullies would face. This policy might include:
- Specific reporting procedures that workers can follow if they notice or experience bullying
- Mandatory training sessions for managers and workers to understand and prevent bullying
- Strict consequences for anyone engaging in bullying behavior
- Examples of bullying and tips for how to identify it
- Encouragement to speak up about bullying without fearing repercussions or retaliation
Seek Human-Centered HR Strategies From 45 Solutions
Stopping workplace bullying is important if you want to maintain a safe work environment, support employee advocacy, and promote a positive workplace culture. At 45 Solutions, we offer cost-effective HR solutions and can help your business professionally and comprehensively address workplace bullying. We strive to put the human back in HR.
Book a call today to learn more about our fractional HR solutions.
