Chapter 6: Beating the Bully PDF

chapter 6 Beating the bully Introduction In Chapter 2 we looked at the important area of managing stress. It has long been recognized that one of the most significant contemporary sources of stress is bullying and harassment in the workplace (Thompson, 2019b). Unfortunatel...

chapter 6 Beating the bully Introduction In Chapter 2 we looked at the important area of managing stress. It has long been recognized that one of the most significant contemporary sources of stress is bullying and harassment in the workplace (Thompson, 2019b). Unfortunately, it has also been recognized that bullying is not uncommon in the modern workplace (see, for example, Stephens and Hallas, 2006). Being able to withstand or avoid the problems associated with bullying and harassment is therefore an important aspect of personal effectiveness for many people in many organizations, as it is clearly the case that being bullied is likely to have a significantly detrimental effect on an individual’s ability to perform to the best of their ability. Being able to ‘beat the bully’, if or when we encounter one, is therefore an essential part of personal effectiveness.    In addressing this important issue we begin by clarifying the nature and basis of bullying and harassment before moving on to consider what can be done to deal with the problems at the levels of the individual, the team and the organization. What is the problem? Bullying in the workplace for adults is very much like bullying in the playground for children, in so far as it involves one or more people ‘throwing their weight about’ in a cruel and destructive way. This can have a hugely detrimental effect on the people so affected. As I have argued previously, the list of negative effects of bullying and harassment is a very long one: People who fall prey to bullies can experience any combination of the following as a result of how they are being treated: o stress o tension and anxiety o feelings of humiliation and a loss of dignity o depression o health problems or an exacerbation of existing health problems o a fall in work output and/or quality o sickness absence 45  Pe rs on a l e ffe ct ive n e s s o strained relationships o irrational feelings of guilt o a lack of confidence o a negative and defeatist attitude o lower productivity and therefore, for many people, lower earning power o a lack of career advancement o the need to resign or move to another job. (Thompson, 2019b, pp. 8–9) Bullying, then, refers to a person in a position of power using that power in such a way that it unfairly causes problems and distress for others. As managers tend to have more power in organizations than staff, this tends to refer more to managers, but this is not always the case – staff can be bullies too. Bullying is closely related to harassment, which refers to the persistent undermining or intimidation of an individual or group of people, usually because they are members of a particular social grouping (for example, sexual harassment primarily targeted at women and racial harassment primarily targeted at black people). The problems can arise because power is deliberately abused. That is, the person in the position of power knowingly uses that power in an inappropriate way (for example, a male boss trying to use his power over a female employee to pressurize her into a sexual relationship with him). However, it is important to note that power can also be misused unwittingly. That is, a person may be so naive or insensitive that they fail to realize the impact of their actions (see Practice focus 6.1). Of course, the fact that someone is causing problems unintentionally does not make such behaviour acceptable. Practice focus 6.1 Margaret was the head of a large division, with a large number of staff to supervise. She was a firm believer in participative management and went to great lengths to consult with staff and invite their views. However, Lyn, the only disabled member of staff, was clearly treated differently. Her views were either not sought or, when they were, they were generally dismissed, sometimes rather harshly with laughter or ridicule, often referring to her disability as if this somehow invalidated her point of view or the positive contribution she could make. Lyn felt that she was being discriminated against and was very distressed by Margaret’s persistently negative attitude towards her. She felt that her systematic exclusion from consultation was a form of harassment and made a complaint against Margaret. Margaret was genuinely quite horrified by this complaint, as she had no idea that this was what she had been doing. Her deep-seated prejudices against disabled people had been emerging without her being able to recognize what was happening. (From Thompson, 2015b) 46  B ea t in g the b ul l y Bullying can take many forms. These include, but are not limited to, the following: o intimidation, threats and victimization; o humiliating, demeaning and/or ridiculing; o unfair sanctions or ‘oversupervision’ (supervising somebody far more closely than is necessary); o spreading malicious rumours; o undermining – for example, through excessive criticism; and o offensive language or jokes. In addition to these general problems there are the more specific factors involved in harassment. For example, sexual harassment consists of a range of behaviours that involve inappropriate sexual touching or comments, often geared towards attempting to establish a sexual relationship. Similarly, racial harassment consists of actions that undermine and disadvantage ethnic minority staff as a result of racial stereotypes and other forms of discrimination. bullying Bullying refers to a person in a position of power using that power in such a way that it unfairly causes problems and distress for others. Figure 6.1  Bullying How do we deal with it? There are four levels at which we can deal with bullying and harassment. We shall look at each of these in turn. Individual responses Chapter 5 presented the benefits of assertiveness in dealing with actual or potential conflicts. The skills of assertiveness can therefore be brought to bear in responding to bullying behaviours. This involves not allowing people to intimidate us or put us in positions where we feel unduly compromised. However, as bullying and harassment generally involve unequal power relations, it is important that we do not leave ourselves open to further problems. Our own personal response to someone who is acting inappropriately towards us may involve not only assertiveness skills, but also interpersonal 47  Pe rs on a l e ffe ct ive n e s s skills more broadly. For example, if someone is causing us difficulties without realizing that they are doing so, it may take a very skilled form of communication to get this message across to them. It is also important that we (i) enlist the support of others wherever and whenever we can (see below); and (ii) keep records of what is going on. Records are important for two main reasons. First, it may become necessary at a later stage to rely on formal procedures to halt bullying and harassment (disciplinary or grievance proceedings, for example), and so your records may be needed as evidence if the problem is to be resolved through the use of such procedures. Second, the bully may at some point attempt to use such procedures against you, and you may therefore require written records to defend yourself. Another important aspect of an individual’s response to consider is that of what has come to be known as ‘whistle blowing’. In the UK, staff are legally protected from unfair dismissal or victimization for blowing the whistle on, amongst other things, bullying and harassment. Many organizations now have policies and procedures which detail how an individual employee can raise concerns without fear of a major backlash. Such ‘confidential reporting procedures’, as they are often known, could prove invaluable to someone who is being bullied or harassed, and so it is worth finding out whether such procedures exist within your employing organization. But, even if the organization does not have such procedures, the law on ‘whistle blowing’ still applies. Check with your trade union if you have any doubt. It is very easy for someone who is being bullied to try to accept it as part and parcel of organizational life, just ‘one of those things’ that you have to contend with in your working life. Although this may well be an easy thing to do, it is not without its difficulties. This is for (at least) two reasons: o By not challenging what is going on, you may be unintentionally helping it to continue by allowing the bully to get away with it – and this may be not only to your detriment but also to the detriment of your present and future colleagues. o Being subjected to such bullying is likely to reduce your personal effectiveness, to make you a less effective and efficient member of staff, and so both you and the people you are seeking to help in your professional capacity are likely to suffer unnecessarily. Team support The point was made above that anyone being subjected to bullying and/or harassment should enlist the support of others. This is a very important point for three reasons: 48  B ea t in g the b ul l y o Being bullied or harassed can undermine confidence and lead to a sense of deskilling, and so having the support of others is an important antidote to this. o It may well be that others are in a similar position but have been keeping it to themselves, and so seeking support may also give support to others. o The abuse of power is a key issue in bullying and harassment, and so a collective team response can be very important in terms of altering the balance of power, given that the power of a team to tackle an issue is much greater than that of any single individual. It should therefore be clear that there is much to be gained from teams of staff working together to tackle bullying and related problems. Indeed, bullies often survive in organizations because they have adopted a ‘divide and conquer’ strategy and they would be far less able to inflict damage on people if a spirit of collective support were in evidence. A team response can take many forms. It can involve, for example, putting the matter on the agenda of a team or staff meeting, although this is likely to be seen as a confrontational approach if the bully is the team leader. It can involve a memo being sent to a suitable senior manager, signed by all the team members, expressing concern about the situation. However, in taking such action, it is important to consider carefully the normal protocols for raising concerns. For example, bypassing a particular manager in raising the issue may not only alienate that manager and thus risk losing his or her support in dealing with the bully, it may also potentially lead to disciplinary charges if established procedures are not properly followed. It is important, therefore, that such situations are handled carefully and sensitively. The problems being caused by the bullying may be very painful and difficult and may require an urgent response if further difficulties are to be avoided. However, we should not allow the pressures to tackle the problem to lead us into a situation where we run the risk of making matters worse. Perhaps one of the most important things a team can do is to support the individual(s) concerned, helping to confirm that bullying and harassment are not acceptable and that any shame associated with these matters belongs to the perpetrator, and not to the persons on the receiving end of such inappropriate behaviours. Practice focus 6.2 Richard had been head of section for a number of years and, although his style of management was far from supportive or sophisticated, it was not a major problem. However, when he obtained a temporary promotion he quickly found himself in a far more pressurized environment in which he needed to be on his mettle in terms of motivating and influencing his staff. Unfortunately, he seemed to lack the skills 49  Pe rs on a l e ffe ct ive n e s s to do so and therefore started to rely on pressurizing his team into doing what he wanted them to do. The team were very unhappy with this, as they were already in a highly fraught situation and were looking to Richard for leadership, not crass insensitivity and a total lack of awareness of people’s feelings. Consequently, the team made a complaint to Richard’s line manager as a result of which Richard resigned his temporary promotion and returned to his head of section post before the matter was fully investigated. Many people heaved a sigh of relief when he subsequently left the organization altogether. Even he had the insight to see that, while he could bully individuals, he was not going to be able to survive if the whole team stood up against him. Organizational responsibility Bullying is often presented (sometimes by people who should know better) as a form of ‘strong leadership’, whereas, of course, it is the precise opposite – it is a sign of failed or inadequate leadership (Thompson, 2016a). A leader who has to rely on intimidation to get staff to do what is required of them is a leader who either lacks the necessary communication and influencing skills (see Chapter 16) to motivate staff appropriately or misguidedly decides not to use those skills. An organization therefore has basic preventative responsibilities in terms of ensuring that its managers not only have the necessary leadership skills, but are also actually using them (Gilbert, 2005; Gilbert and Thompson, 2019). It can also be argued that an employing organization should be monitoring the behaviour of its managers and staff so that, if bullying and/or harassment are taking place, this should become apparent in order that the problems can be tackled, rather than allowed to fester. Indeed, organizations can be held ‘vicariously liable’ for bullying and harassment – that is, they cannot plead ignorance as a defence if a case is made against them (see the ‘Legal remedy’ section below). To ignore the possibility that bullying and harassment are going on is therefore a very risky strategy, as an organization could be in serious trouble if it cannot show that all reasonable steps were taken to protect staff from the harm that comes from being bullied. Where an organization does become aware that bullying and/or harassment are going on, then it has a legal responsibility, under its ‘duty of care’ towards its employees, to do something about the problem and to ensure that it does not continue. In these days of increased awareness of the issues, it is to be hoped that organizations will become increasingly enlightened in dealing with the issues – for example, through developing appropriate policies and procedures which make it clear to all concerned that bullying and harassment are unacceptable and will not be tolerated; 50  B ea t in g the b ul l y providing training and development opportunities; offering support to people who suffer at the hands of bullies; and so on. Legal remedy The law relating to bullying and harassment is complicated and far from straightforward. However, it should be noted that there are several potential avenues for staff affected by bullying to seek remedy or redress through the legal system, although not all sets of circumstances are covered by the law. It is advisable to seek specialist legal advice if you are considering taking a case to court, and your trade union or professional association is likely to be your best bet for your first port of call. However, it should be remembered that taking a case to court can be extremely stressful, not least because the whole process can be very longwinded and is potentially fraught with a number of difficulties. This is not to say that you should be discouraged from doing so, but it is certainly advisable to explore all other potential avenues for seeking redress if at all possible, before taking the major step of pursuing litigation. Conclusion It is very sad indeed that, in the twenty-first century, we still have to contend with the problem of people being bullied and harassed in the workplace, but we have to recognize that we are still a long way from eliminating the problems. The concept of ‘dignity at work’ is a relatively new one that has been introduced to describe a commitment to ensuring that staff are treated with respect and dignity in the workplace. It is to be hoped that this can become more than a slogan and actually be a basic part of working life. Beating the bully, then, is a challenge that anyone can face, as it is certainly a myth that only inadequate or incompetent people get bullied. In tackling the problem of bullying, much depends, as we have seen, on team and organizational responses and even on the courts. However, it should also be recognized that there is much each individual can do to tackle the issues. This refers to individuals who are on the receiving end of such ill-treatment but also to their colleagues who can be in a position to take a stand. A hurried, simplistic, ill-thought-through approach to tackling the problems can make matters worse and can walk all over the sensitivities and sensibilities of complex and potentially very painful situations. There is therefore much skill to be deployed in dealing with these matters carefully and judiciously – making the most of the various people skills needed to tackle complex problems in organizations. 51  Pe rs on a l e ffe ct ive n e s s Exercise 6 Getting support If you were being subjected to bullying and/or harassment, who could you call upon for support? List the individuals and organizations who are likely to be of help to you. In particular, consider who would be helpful in assisting you in maintaining your confidence and self-esteem, as it has been shown that these can be seriously undermined by bullying. Questions Build your knowledge, practise your skills What do you see as your main strengths in relation to the skills discussed in this chapter? What can you do to build on these strengths? What do you see as your main areas for development in relation to the skills discussed in this chapter? What can you do to bring about improvement in these areas? Who can help you build on your strengths and build up your areas for development? How will you know that you are improving? What will success look like? 52