For many businesses, there has been an increased focus on harassment in recent months, particularly sexual harassment, following the introduction of the new sexual harassment preventative duty. Whilst harassment is a key area that businesses need to address, it’s also important that preventing and tackling bullying remains on the radar.
It will come as no surprise that workplace bullying can have a detrimental impact not only on those who are subject to it but on organisations too. A mistake businesses sometimes make is to fall into the ‘out of sight out of mind’ trap:
- Believing that because an issue of bullying hasn’t been raised, it isn’t happening in that business or could never happen
- Managers becoming complacent regarding bullying, making it less likely that issues will be spotted – this can contribute to an environment where bullying can thrive
- Employees not having the confidence that bullying complaints will be taken seriously and dealt with appropriately – a lack of reporting can mean the issue is driven further out of sight creating a vicious circle
So, what are some simple steps businesses should be taking?
Practical Steps
- Inform – Make sure everyone in your business knows what bullying behaviour looks like. This will help to reduce the risk of bullying occurring, raise awareness of the issue and support managers to identify undesirable behaviour at an early stage. Whilst there is no set legal definition of ‘bullying’ it’s often described as the repeated less favourable treatment of a person by another or others.
- Communicate – Clearly conveying your business’s anti-bullying stance and your anti-bullying policy sends out a clear message about what is and is not acceptable in your business. Not only does this contribute to a positive workplace culture where employees feel valued and respected, but it can alongside your grievance policy, help to give employees the reassurance they need to come forward and report concerns, enabling your business to deal with the matter.
- Educate – Giving anti-bullying training to staff, including managers, can help to reduce the risk of incidents of bullying occurring. Don’t overlook the importance of refresher training and including key policies such as anti-bullying and harassment as part of your induction process for new starters.
- Support – Remember to make sure your managers are appropriately resourced and well-supported when it comes to handling bullying issues if they arise. This in turn will enable them to appropriately and effectively deal with bullying, and where necessary, to provide support to those affected. For many managers, bullying won’t be something they commonly deal with or will have had much experience of handling. This can sometimes lead to a reluctance to deal with issues, often due to a lack of confidence or uncertainty about how to approach it. Preventing and tackling bullying isn’t something that should be shied away from. Seeking appropriate advice on the facts of a situation before acting is key as is ensuring your managers have the training they need to deal with workplace bullying. If you are interested in training for your managers, please get in touch with your employment law specialist to discuss your training needs and for more information on this additional service.
If you have an employment law matter you would like assistance with, please do not hesitate to contact Kingfisher Professional Services Ltd as we are happy to help.