By Christian Codrington, CHRP

Schoolyard bullies don’t go away. They grow up and get jobs… and continue to bully.

In fact, the incidence of workplace bullying is alarming. Despite the best in human resources practices, a variety of reports indicate that almost 50 per cent of the workforce will be subject to bullying at some point in their career. In nearly three-quarters of these cases, the victim of bullying will leave their job. And that impacts the bottom line; the cost of turnover ranges between 50 – 200 per cent of the annual salary of the person being replaced.

HR practitioners and business leaders are spending valuable resources—financial and intellectual—to ensure compensation systems reward employees for their contributions and that the “right” person is hired to fit into the needs of the business. Dollars and time are invested in training initiatives designed to help people succeed in their roles and grow with their organization. More so than ever before, employers are trying to positively influence the engagement of their workforce.

However, these significant efforts around good people practices can be instantly undermined by the offensive behaviours of a self-serving bully.

A bullied employee’s need for security, like steady pay, begins to conflict with their psychological and physical safety. Desires to self-actualize, give one’s best, and reap the benefits of personal growth fall to a secondary position. Now the organization begins to suffer: output and productivity decline; absenteeism increases; time and resources are dedicated to deescalating conflict, minimizing grievance, and avoiding litigation costs.

There are many examples of behaviours that could be classified as bullying. Some of the more subtle include continually undervaluing effort; refusing to delegate; frequently changing workplace rules; purposefully ignoring or excluding; withholding information; trying to intimidate; deliberately sabotaging or impeding work performance.

More obvious examples include public humiliation; personal insults and name-calling; over-monitoring with malicious intent; inconsistent application of workplace perks and benefits; constant criticism; spreading malicious rumours, gossip, or innuendo.

Employers need to:

• Encourage everyone at the workplace to be respectful of one another and our differences. Or, better yet, find ways to celebrate those differences.
• Declare that bullying is a serious matter and that the organization deems it unacceptable.
• Educate everyone about what the organization defines as bullying and provide resources that offer options for getting help.
• Deal with complaints promptly and confidentially. Ensure all members of your management team know how to deal with complaints and potential situations.

It is extremely difficult to “legislate good behavior”. Put differently, policy doesn’t always prevent people from acting disrespectfully. Even with the best preventative measures in place, harassment may still occur.  If it does, leaders should be prepared to act and communicate clearly with employees.  Take the situation seriously and send a message that all forms of mistreatment are unacceptable.

There are too many studies that demonstrate the cycle of bullying or violence tends to feed itself. And as dependencies on cyber communications increase, the computer and social networking provide a faster and more far reaching vehicle for inappropriate behavior. Let this month serve as a reminder that without the basics of people management the rest doesn’t matter.

Support Pink Shirt Day on February 29, 2012 and visit www.pinkshirtday.ca.

Christian Codrington, CHRP, is the senior manager of operations at BC HRMA. He has had the good fortune to contribute to the success of a number of organizations over his career in human resources including Human Resources Development Canada, Children’s and Women’s Health Centre of BC, Best Buy Canada and Starbucks Coffee Canada. Christian earned his business undergraduate degree from Simon Fraser University, specializing in organizational behavior.