Workplace Bullying and Top Talent

Friday, September 27, 2013

 

According to The Healthy Workplace Campaign, workplace bullying takes the general forms of:

 

•Verbal abuse.

•Offensive behaviors that are threatening, humiliating or intimidating.

•Work interference or sabotage that prevents work from getting done.

 

Writing for the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), Roy Maurer reports that since 2003, two dozen states have established legislation which provide protection for bullied workers and allows them to sue without the need to first demonstrate discrimination.

 

The basis for workplace bulling behavior is complex and employers are generally not equipped to address or correct it.  However, failure to address situations of workplace bullying can have both a direct and an indirect impact on an organization’s efficiency and productivity.  This impact can include increased turnover, lowered levels of service, missed deadlines, and potential litigation against the employer for “allowing” a hostile workplace to persist.

 

An article in the Harvard Business Review for January-February 2013, “The Price of Incivility”, authored jointly by Christine Porath and Christine Pearson paint bulling as an infectious disease.  The authors conclude: “Incivility [bullying] is expensive, and few organizations recognize or take action to curtail it.”

 

Gary Belsky, writing for Time’s Business and Money, reported on a Canadian study in which it was found that “witnesses” to bulling may be as impacted as the intended target of the bullying event.  So visualize this, some of the organization’s top new talent are in a conference when Employee X berates the comments and questions of a co-worker.  What impact is there on the employer’s new top talent?  One, they will adopt that same behavior or two they will start looking for their next job.  Either way, it can be assumed that the unit’s productivity will suffer if such behavior is allowed to continue.

 

An employer’s “brand” is an essential part of the organization’s talent recruitment and retention toolbox.  Street rumors, even if unfounded, concerning an environment which tolerates bullying, can dull the sharpness of the ability of an organization to attract and retain the best talent.  As most organizations have sought to diversify their talent base, they have adopted policies which do not tolerate inappropriate verbal and non-verbal behavior towards women, minorities, and other protected groups.  Jackson Lewis, a US based law firm, dedicated to representing management exclusively in workplace law matters, recommends the adoption of workplace bullying policies.

 

In its efforts to source, recruit, and retain top talent, an anti-bullying policy sends a strong message to current and future employees that the organization will not accept such behavior.  In the same manner that employers have worked to foster a conducive work environment for women, minorities, and others, businesses desiring to attract and retain top talent need to consider the chilling impact that bulling has not only on their top talent, but on their customers and clients.