In 2015, the TUC said 29% of people reported being bullied but our question was, what does the grievance data show?
We’ve analysed actual grievance data from 81 local government organisations for a period of 6 years totalling over 300,000 employees – shocking results!
See our Infographic
If you have an issue with staff not willing to complain, call us to help
No Bullying Problem? Think Again!
Jo Brown
DignityWorks met with lots of HR Professionals at last week’s CIPD Annual Conference and I was surprised there were quite a few people say they don’t have much bullying or it’s not a problem in their organisation. Of course there were many who agreed there was, we heard disturbing cases and even got a flipchart overnight to start recording some of them – the pic was tweeted @DignityWorks if you want to read them
Of those saying there’s no bullying problem, they broadly fitted into three camps – the first were smiling and we heard from two people how they work at really lovely places, they’d worked hard to create the right environment and were genuinely happy. That is so refreshing to hear and certainly somewhere where most people would love to work!
The second were those who said ‘we don’t have a problem’ in a hushed breath, looked down and scurried off. They’re likely the most desperate in need of our help but often stifled by the culture and the pressure from the top. It’s sad that at these kind of organisations if you’re affected by bullying and nothing is being done, the harsh reality is put up, shut up or get out. For your sanity and financial/career health I’d suggest the latter. It doesn’t make it right and it’s not fair but sometimes it’s the best you can do in a bad situation.
The third camp were the HR professionals who said ‘we have a policy’ or ‘we don’t get many complaints’. These are the perfect audience for my latest research that we announced at CIPD and in advance of Anti Bullying Week.
A year ago, the TUC announced the results of their research with YouGov which said 29% of people report being bullied at work, with 72% of bullying being from the line manager. That’s great but I don’t see the complaints internally matching that but wondered what statistics or research was available to show that.
I noticed someone had submitted the same Freedom of Information request to UK local authorities in Nov/Dec 2015 based on ‘All councils have very similar anti-bullying/dignity at work policies, but there seems to be a difference in the level of bullying’. It asked the same set of questions including, among others, the number of formal grievances, how many were upheld, how many appealed, how many appeals were upheld and the number of staff.
I’ve collated consistent and complete responses for 81 organisations, covering over 300,000 staff over a period 6 years (don’t worry I enjoy statistical analysis!). The key result is that statistically for every 1,000 employees, less than 1 person annual will make a formal grievance.
Over the 6 year period 0.5% of staff made a formal grievance and that’s so disconnected to what was reported to YouGov/TUC a year before. It just shows that for those complaining, it really is the tip of the iceberg of those being bullied. There are many reasons for not speaking out but the key ones are people are afraid, they believe nothing will change or things will get worse and be seen as a troublemaker.
It’s such a hard step to speak out and raise a formal grievance. Many see no other way of dealing with it and take that leap of faith. So how do they fare? The results from over 1600 formal grievances, is that only a quarter are upheld or partially upheld. That’s 75% of people find their allegations are not upheld. Obviously some of those genuinely won’t be bullying and quite rightly not upheld, but 75%? It certainly sends out the message to the rest of the employees not to bother making a complaint and reinforces silence over this very serious health hazard. Of those not upheld, just less than 1 in 5 went to appeal but 85% of those were also not upheld. It’s certainly not encouraging that this is a good way to resolve bullying and harassment.
The range for the results in individual organisations for the formal grievance outcome, the number of appeals and the appeal outcome ranged from 0% – 100% eg some organisations upheld all of the grievances, some upheld none; some organisations had no appeals, some had every grievance not upheld go to appeal; and some organisations upheld all of the appeals, some upheld none. This clearly highlights differences in culture and is a true postcode lottery for employees whether their employer takes bullying seriously and is open to true resolution.
Some organisations refused to respond with comments including “it would take 18 hours to collate the information”, “we don’t maintain these records centrally” and “it’s not the sort of information we need for our day to day business”. I challenge that if you don’t measure it, you can’t manage it. Even if these complaints are just the tip of the iceberg, how do you as HR professionals or your Board lead and manage your organisation and its resources if you don’t know what’s happening? What is the true cost of this?
If you’d like more information on the research please let us know. Our infographic is below, please feel free to download and share it widely.
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It’s been reported in the news that The Pope has approved measures to sack bishops who mishandle child sexual abuse cases. And I wonder, why was that not the case already?
The BBC report “Bishops who are “negligent” in dealing with priests committing abuse will be removed under the new legal procedures. The decree comes in response to long-running demands by abuse victims and their supporters to hold bishops accountable if they fail to protect their flocks from paedophiles.”
Is any big problem in society only so big because we don’t deal with the problem very well?
Let’s look at workplace bullying. I hear far too many stories of instances of bullying being ignored because people don’t want to intervene or be the next target. They don’t complain because they should be able to deal with it or worry about how to pay the mortgage if it all goes wrong. What about when it’s washed over with the catch-all ‘personality clash’?
Those responsible within the workplace, line managers, leaders and HR sometimes don’t do what they should when they get complaints for a multitude of reasons – they genuinely don’t know what to do, there’s not the right systems or support in place or they’re scared to act. Or in one case I heard they know it’s completely a waste of time as ‘that’s how things are round here’.
Have you ever wondered how would things be if all situations were dealt with?
People listen. People care. People act. People then learn that others are willing to listen, care and act. And so drives the behaviour next time of speaking out because there’s hope. Would bullying be as rampant at work as it is now?
Next time you see it please listen, care and act. You might just make the world a better place.
The Other Elephant in the Room
Everyone talks about a bully being the elephant in the room. But there’s a bigger one – what flummoxes most people is seeing a particular person, usually well known for bullying and who causes havoc and discontent, yet the organisation do nothing about it. We’ve all seen that, right?
Often those affected leave the business, losing their job while the cause of it stays. If the one affected chooses to stay they usually take more sick leave, are less engaged, not as productive and make more mistakes. The career and health detriment is on those who seem to do nothing wrong but be in the wrong place at the wrong time. And the organisation lose out all ways.
If that’s true, why do nothing? Is the person too powerful and seen as untouchable? Is no one brave enough (or supported enough) to deal with the person and situation? Or is it that organisations genuinely don’t have a clue what to do?
Some people are simply unaware of their behaviour and its impact on others. Some people once aware can change, others can’t or won’t. And often the real cause is that the culture supports bullying and allows it to flourish. Which one resonates in your organisation?
We deal with both transforming individuals and organisational culture with dignity and have created a simple flowchart showing the options and process of dealing with someone who bullies.
I’d love to talk it through with any HR practitioner or leader looking for a way to manage bullying in their organisation. Alternatively it can be presented to local HR groups so if you’re looking for an interesting topic that will inspire and generate ideas and discussion please let us know.
Jo Brown
Director/Consultant
DignityWorks
Bullying is a symptom
Bullying is a symptom and it’s time to get to the real root cause if we as a society want real lasting change.
I went to the osteopath on Monday – it’s relevant so bear with me – my knees were hurting and felt out of alignment. I thought the cause was my feet, the skin had cracked wearing flip flops with the sunny weather last week and I’d been in the pain when I walked. To me the symptom was bad knees and the cause was cracked feet but the osteopath said no, cracked feet are also a symptom. I’ve recently been juicing but the program was more fruit than veg and she said that’s where the real root cause was – too much sugar in the body leads to dry feet. Really? I never knew that!
So the diet causes dry feet, which causes cracks, which causes me to walk funny, which causes my knees to be misaligned. It’s easy to think something is the cause when actually it’s just another symptom of something more underlying.
It’s the same with bullying.
Bullying is a symptom and we need to focus on only two things – people and culture. Sounds simple but each is a challenge.
I often see cultures where the organisation says they don’t tolerate bullying but the reality is somewhat different. A policy is a great start but that’s all it is – don’t walk the walk and it’s a meaningless piece of paper and your staff lose faith in speaking out. This is backed up by a recent survey that said only 6% of people said the anti-bullying policy in their organisation stopped bullying. Not only that but the implicit message to anyone who wants to bully is ‘go ahead, it’s ok around here!’
I’ve come across many cases where speaking out, whether complaining of being bullied or being a witness to it has resulted in the loss of their job; sadly bullying seems to provide job security.
So why do we not tackle the bully? Often because of fear. And it’s often difficult when it’s a he said/she said/they said scenario. Carrying out an investigation is like X-raying my knees – seeing they’re out of alignment is all well and good but does it actually show you the root cause and identify how to solve it?
Mediation can sometimes help resolve a particular situation but doesn’t change the underlying reason someone uses bullying behaviour. A warning, where bullying is proven, doesn’t actually give someone the tools to change behaviour.
And on the flip side, its easy to blame the target for poor performance – if they truly are a poor performer then manage that, don’t bully, the two are very different! It’s also easy to blame the person for not being strong enough; being too sensitive, misinterpreting things, the list of blame is extensive. That fails to help the damage to self esteem, to help with the shame attached to being bullied.
There is a better way. Take all parties to a situation and work with them in groups and one on one – educate them, help them understand their behaviour, find better ways to meet their needs, strengthen their resilience, coach them, help them work with others.
Set a standard for your organisation and enforce it. If bullying continues, the organisation has the choice to act on that – or not. Actions speak louder than words – show your staff there is a better way, show them it’s ok to speak out, that you provide a better way to deal with bullying, you can and will act, and better can come from it. Sometimes difficult decisions and action need taking. It isn’t easy but it can be done. The culture will be improved if you do the right thing consistently.
Be kind. Be compassionate. Understand, be firm but fair. When we label and judge we lose our ability to influence. Use a bullying situation as an opportunity to empower people to be stronger and fitter for purpose. The organisation will benefit far greater than the current status quo of how we handle bullying.
We’ve talked about the problem for too long now. It’s time to talk about the solution and act on it. I’m reminded of a photo I saw posted to Facebook. Let’s stop medicating the symptoms, instead let’s focus on the root cause and provide a real solution. Otherwise we’re just going to keep using sticking plasters that, lets be very honest, helps no one and changes nothing.
Further information www.dignityworks.com/020 088 9888
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