Companies need more than lip service on office bullies

It’s not rocket science, so why do so many companies get it wrong when it come to addressing staff complaints?

Workplace consultant Saranne Segal. Picture: Supplied

Consider this. A woman is eating a muffin at her desk when her boss walks by and jokingly says: “Remember, a moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips.” The staffer is outraged, complains to HR and the manager is called in for counselling.

Too tough? Woke? Or reasonable?

Consultant Saranne Segal, who has just compiled a report that claims bullying is “thriving” in Australia, which is ranked sixth highest in the developed world in terms of bad workplace behaviour, admits the muffin story is a little tough. But she says that “people have to mind their Ps and Qs today”.

“We have become more politically correct and people have to be mindful of that.”

Segal, who runs her own conflict resolution consultancy gives another example which is easier to view as bullying – which is broadly defined as repetitive, ongoing behaviour that impacts the health and safety of workers.

This one is about the receptionist whose boss always says as she passes by: “Where’s your smile? Put your smile on.” Repeated so often, it made the receptionist feel uncomfortable enough to raise it with HR.

In general though, Segal is dealing with far more serious cases of bullying at work. She is amazed at how poorly even the most successful companies are managing bullying complaints, saying that even when processes are in place, it is often lip service, with little action taken.

Segal says people often don’t report bullying because they feel it will damage their careers and when they do report, they don’t feel supported. Investigations of complaints can drag on for months or even years, with the end result being a toxic culture in the organisation.

Segal argues for a 30-day window – a commitment by companies to deal with complaints within a month.

“People are really trying (to deal with bullying and change cultures) but more than that, they have to take processes in place and then they need to follow the process,” she says. “They are trying but it is often very disjointed. It’s just not happening, and I see it time and time again. People say it’s time to deal with these issues, after #MeToo, but nothing has really changed.” Segal says attitudes to what constitutes bullying have changed over the decade during which she has worked in this area: “The tide has turned.”

For her “white paper” Segal analysed Fair Work Commission and court decisions on bullying in the past two years, looking at how organisations fail in the complaint cycle. Based on interviews with more than 300 workplace bullying victims, she found exclusion, micromanagement, spreading rumours and gossip, being spoken to aggressively or shouted at with threats of demotion, and providing unjustified negative performance reviews are the most common types of bullying in Australia. Women are more likely to be bullied.

Segal says: “To date, organisations have focused on leadership and culture as both the source and solution for workplace bullying. However, my hypothesis is that organisations fail to deal with bullying complaints adequately, and the complaint cycle itself contributes to the victim’s injury and suffering, thereby increasing the organisation’s legal liability.”

She found that last year, 89 per cent of participants said they had lost trust in the company during the complaints process; 91 per cent did not feel supported during the process; 75 per cent said the matter was not resolved within 30 days; while 77 per cent said bullying continued or escalated during the process.

In 2020, 69 per cent of participants did not think HR fulfilled its role; 55 per cent stated their company did not have a comprehensive grievance procedure and only 8 per cent felt the process was procedurally fair to both parties. Her research found 48 per cent of those surveyed said bullying had increased in COVID, with 30 per cent reporting they could not talk to HR about the bullying because of the “problematic circumstances COVID had brought to the workplace.” Segal says stress has “skyrocketed” during COVID with managers micromanaging staff, for example.

“There is a level of meanness, and I am not talking about eating a muffin,” she said. “It’s not rocket science. You need to have a process and follow the process.”

segalconflictsolutions.com.au/workplace-bullying-whitepaper