1. Senior HR manager forumThe Leadership Consortium30-31 October 2003 Corporate bullying The hidden costs

2. Today Overview of bullying Health risks and implications – a practitioners viewpoint Quantifying the magnitude of the problem Implicated management practices Steps you can take to minimise the risk

3. Take the quiz – Is your company losing its best employees to bullies? Do any of your leaders Disapprove of weakness in their employees? Yes / No Raise their voices when they get annoyed? Yes / No Spread malicious gossip? Yes / No Cause employees to dissolve into tears or walk away when confronted by them? Yes / No Use sarcasm? Yes / No Criticise junior colleagues in front of clients/customers/peers? Yes / No Every ‘yes’ adds to the risk of accepting bullying in your company and losing your best employees Paice & Firth-Cozens 2003

4. What is workplace bullying? An abuse of power Victims have associated feelings of Isolation Destabilisation Threats to professional status or personal standing Field 2003

8. Minimise and manage workplace risk Your company’s leaders could be contributing to workplace risk liability As a HR manager, minimise and control your workplace exposure Be cognisant of bullying Implement risk management strategies

9. Bullying costs your company Increased absenteeism Premature retirement Decreased customer or client satisfaction Replacement costs – labour turnover Grievance and litigation/compensation Reduced employee productivity Hoel et al 2001

12. Forced ranking – competitive or counterproductive? A performance management system where employees are ranked rather than rated Schemes used vary eg. totem pole approach, normal distribution Worklab Consulting 2003

13. Avoid a forced ranking system May hinder innovation Negative impact on teamwork Competitive environment may increase stress levels Can lead to bullying behaviours Worklab Consulting 200

14. Enhance the leadership style of your company’s managers Develop and participate in self-awareness training for your company’s managers Organise an appraisal of your company’s leaders Ensure that at least 10 people take part for each leader Attend and recommend a training program on workplace bullying Introduce or critically review your company policy on bullying/harassment Tackle overload and staff shortages in your workplace Paice & Firth-Cozens 2003

15. Prevent workplace bullying – your legal responsibilities Create awareness Develop a policy Inform, instruct and train employees on anti-bullying legislation Consultation Identify risk factors Monitor & evaluate Control the risks Provide clear reporting routes and dedicated support for victims Provide support and remediation for bullies Houghton 2003; Worksafe 2003

16. Next steps Conduct internal research Develop and administer staff surveys determine employee satisfaction rates assess bullying indicators such as reduced employee productivity, absenteeism rates, turnover rates and premature retirement Develop and administer manager surveys and profiling assess leadership style to identify managers prone to bullying behaviour

17. Next steps Policy Conduct a review of existing antibullying policy or introduce new policy Education/training Consider developing and conducting internal training for your staff and managers at all levels of the company Performance management Consider developing and implementing progressive appraisal and management systems

18. Further information Rudy Pilotto, BSc(Hons), CPT Serious Consulting (03) 9349 3700 Dr Frank Barbagallo, MBBS Adrenalin Strategics (03) 9412 0555

19. References 1 Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU). Being bossed around is bad for your health. Melbourne: ACTU, 26 August 2002; viewed 2nd May 2003, <http://actu.labor.net.au/public/resources/bullying>. 2 Paice E & Firth-Cozens J. Who's a bully then? Br Med J 2003; 326: S127. 3 Field T. Workplace bullying: the silent epidemic. Br Med J 2003; 326: 776–7. 4 Health Works Corporate. Is your boss a bully? Sydney: Health Works Corporate, 24 June 2003; viewed 14 July 2003, <www.healthworks.com.au/publications/booklets/b-communication.htm>. 5 Hoel H, Sparks K & Cooper C. The cost of violence/stress at work and the benefits of a violence/stress-free working environment. Geneva: International Labour Organization, 2001. 6 Mikkelsen E & Einarsen S. Relationships between exposure to bullying at work and psychological and psychosomatic health complaints: the role of state negative affectivity and generalised self-efficacy. Scand J Psychol 2002; 43: 397–405. 7 Tennant C. Work-related stress and depressive disorders. J Psychosom Res 2001; 51: 697–704. 8 WiseOwl Multimedia. Workplace bullying: who wins? Video and accompanying booklet. Melbourne: WiseOwl Multimedia, 2001. 9 Coffman C. Start worrying about 'not engaged' employees. Gallup Management Journal 2002, online serial; 8 August 2002: viewed 13 May 2003, <www.gmj.gallup.com>. 10 Harter J. Taking feedback to the bottom line. Gallup Management Journal 2001, online serial; 15 March 2001: viewed 5 May 2003, <www.gmj.gallup.com>. 11 Tritch T. B&Q boosts employee engagement – and profits. Gallup Management Journal 2003, online serial; 8 May 2003: viewed 13 May 2003, <www.gmj.gallup.com>. 12 Brim B. Upend the trend. Gallup Management Journal 2002, online serial; 15 March 2002: viewed 13 May 2003, <www.gmj.gallup.com>. 13 Coffman C & Buckingham M. First, break all the rules: what the world's greatest managers do differently. Sydney: Simon & Schuster Australia Ltd, 1999. 14 Field T. Bullying in medicine. Br Med J 2002; 324: 786. 15 Pilotto R. Goal-driven performance management empowers employees. Personal Communication. 1 May 2003. 16 Worklab Consulting. Forced ranking: the controversy continues. New York: Worklab Consulting LLC, viewed 15 May 2003, <www.worklab-consulting.com/site/articles/forced_ranking.pdf>. 17 Cherniss C. Emotional intelligence: what it is and why it matters. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology; New Orleans, LA, 15 April 2000. 18 Collins J. Good to great. New York: HarperBusiness, 2001. 19 Houghton A. Bullying in medicine. Br Med J 2003; 326: S125.

20. Thank you Q+A