Polly Howard-De La Mare, occcupational psychologist, Pearn Kandola

As share prices plummet and banks go into administration on an almost daily basis you would be forgiven for thinking that this week’s hot topic of bullying is of less relevance to you than it was a year ago.


In fact, the reverse is true. In these turbulent market conditions the problem of bullying frequently becomes much more of a problem. Organisations could be at more risk as employees experience dramatic changes in working conditions arising from an increase in fear, uncertainty, pressure and the worst economic crisis in 60 years.

What is bullying?

People are often surprised by how prevalent bullying at work appears to be. Current figures show that one in seven people are being bullied at work. This is probably due to a failure in adequately recognising what constitutes bullying behaviours. In essence bullying is, “offensive, intimidating, malicious or insulting behavior, an abuse or misuse of power through means intended to undermine, humiliate, denigrate or injure the recipient.” It is important to note that the perpetrator’s intention is inconsequential. What is important is whether the behavior is deemed unacceptable by normal standards and the recipient finds it inappropriate.

Organisational conditions

Bullying is not just about the victim, there are things that organisations can do to make it better or worse. Neglecting the organisational factors that foster an environment where bullying more frequently occurs can be very costly to employers. Understanding these conditions will enable organisations to take steps to minimise bullying and therefore improve the working environment and protect themselves legally.

We know from the research that poor leadership is one of the primary organisational factors linked to bullying. As psychologists at Pearn Kandola, we know that leadership is influential because people tend to form opinions about what is appropriate behaviour by observing others. If leaders are observed to be engaging in bullying behaviour this is more likely to be seen as the norm by employees who may then choose to follow suit. Leaders therefore need to be wary of the role modeling behaviours they are exhibiting.

With poor leadership also comes poor management and the related finding that employees are more likely than managers to experience bullying at work, probably because of poor management skills. Whilst managers are more likely to experience bullying in the form of high pressure and an unmanageable workload, employees are more likely to experience derogatory or exclusionary behavior. So, when managers are experiencing greater pressures at work, the likelihood of negative behaviour filtering down through the organisation is increased.

The following conditions are also related to increases in bullying:

• High pressure and levels of stress
• A lack of time and not enough say over the way work is done
• Uncertainty
• Organisational problems

There are plenty of organisations that feel these conditions do not apply to them, and under usual circumstances they may not. However, these conditions are becoming much more widespread as a result of the global economic meltdown. The financial and property sectors are obvious ones to be open to higher levels of pressure and stress at the moment. Organisations across most sectors are also experiencing pressures due to reduced sales and consumer confidence, e.g. car sales dropped 21% in September, and increases in outgoings and inflation.

The uncertainty that these circumstances bring may also result in increased bullying. In particular, employees may be anxious about redundancies due to budget cutting and poor organisational performance. Poor handling of termination and demotion have been found to be related to dysfunctional behaviour such as violence. It is therefore critical that redundancies are handled in a fair, transparent and open way and support is provided for employees.

Bullying or banter?

One concern is that people may interpret their actions as banter rather than bullying, so how can we make this boundary clear? Some people may perceive practical jokes, name-calling/teasing and comments about someone’s appearance as general banter. If this behaviour is unwanted by the receiver it constitutes bullying. It is clear that there is a distinction to be made between extreme bullying and more subtle behaviours. For example, reports of extreme bullying have included forced genital waxing and sitting on someone’s face. Most people would feel quite shocked by these. More subtle bullying behaviours should also be recognised. These can include, but are not limited to, ignoring the person, giving them menial tasks and devaluing their performance.

Implications of bullying

Bullying has a huge impact on employees’ welfare, motivation, productivity and absenteeism and if employers fail to protect employees from bullying they can be legally liable. Employers have a duty of care to take reasonable steps to ensure the health, safety and welfare of employees, including cases of alleged bullying. The impact of not fulfilling this responsibility can be very costly, not only in monetary terms but also through a damaged reputation and poor public image associated with such cases. ACAS estimates costs to organisations of alleged bullying cases to be approximately £30,000 per case in the UK. This includes costs such as paid sick leave, replacing staff, legal fees and compensation, reduced productivity and investigation time. 

What can organisations do?

• The first step in any initiative related to bullying at work is to have a harassment and bullying policy in place; 40% of UK organisations still do not have an effective bullying policy. Employers have a responsibility to ensure that all employees are aware of this. As a minimum the policy should outline what is meant by ‘bullying’, examples of bullying behaviour, the legislation, the company’s procedure for dealing with alleged cases and contact details of a support person for those who are affected by bullying.

• In terms of protecting employees from bullying in the current climate, organisations need to be mindful of the increased pressure that managers and employees are experiencing. At this time it may be unrealistic to assume that these pressures can easily be reduced or eradicated. Organisations should therefore provide managers and employees with support to deal with the increased pressure. As previously mentioned, managers are more likely to experience bullying in the form of unmanageable workload. It is therefore important to ensure that whilst steps are being taken to drive profitability in an unstable market, managers are subject to reasonable demands and are able to cope with the pressure. It is about emphasising the right way to do things rather than just what we achieve.

• A lack of say in how to do the work and time to complete tasks has also been related to increases in bullying. With an increasingly pressured work environment employees are more likely to experience this lack of control. Furthermore, if re-organisation occurs, roles and responsibilities can become more blurred. To manage this effectively organisations should ensure roles are clearly defined, give autonomy and the ability to make decisions where possible and avoid unmanageable workloads and time pressure.

• Humans have a tendency to behave in a way that they think similar others will approve of and form groups with people they see as similar. Within the group, positive characteristics tend to be emphasised, whilst negative characteristics of people outside the group are also amplified. When this situation occurs, people tend to project negative feelings towards those outside of the group and bullying behaviour is likely to increase.

Providing an inclusive working environment can help to reduce this behaviour. An inclusive environment is one in which all employees feel included and valued, irrespective of any individual differences. To create an inclusive environment, organisations should focus on the needs of individuals rather than groups, e.g. as a way of facilitating development, encourage everyone to ensure they are including all team members, ensure policies are inclusive and do not discriminate against any group and manage the impact of bias.

• To reduce the effects of uncertainty, leaders should give clear and honest communications about the organisational situation and redundancies if appropriate. There should be a transparent and fair process in place where redundancies are to be made to reduce the likelihood of disgruntled employees engaging in negative behaviours towards their colleagues.