Canadian Employment Law Today

CELT July 24 2013:celt 467.qxd 13-07-09 2:44 PM Page 4 July 24, 2013 CASE IN POINT: WORKPLACE BULLYING Four proactive steps to bully-proof your workplace Taking the right approach to workplace bullying can be a key strategy in running a successful business | BY JODI ZIGELSTEIN-YIP | TURN ON the evening news virtually any night and it seems the issue of bullying — whether in the school yard or the workplace — is front and centre in the public realm. Explaining the underlying social causes behind this phenomenon is perhaps a job better suited to sociologists, but it's safe to say that in the workplace, at least, there are some key causal factors behind bullying's emergence as a major challenge for executives and HR practitioners. We should begin by noting that perception plays a huge role — greater recognition and an evolution of workplace legislation have brought an already pervasive issue to the forefront like never before. Bullying has gone on forever, but we're only now beginning to assess its impact on everything from workplace culture to profitability. It's not surprising workplace bullying continues to be a hot-button HR issue with the emergence of legislation crafted to protect employees. Similar to their schoolyard counterparts, adult bullies subject their targets to unjustified criticism and look for trivial faults upon which they can capitalize. They have an inherent need for control and work hard to humiliate, ignore, overrule and isolate their targets, which emerge at all levels and in all industries. Leaders are not immune to their attacks, as bullies often target their superiors. Bullying bosses are also in ample supply across Canadian workplaces, typically setting up staff by burdening them with unrealistic job performance goals or deadlines, then all-too-often denying information or resources they need to succeed. 4 As employees gain an increasing understanding of their rights, beginning with the right not to be intimidated or harassed in the workplace, bullying is now on the radar of more employers and HR professionals. The good news: organizations across industries are working harder than ever to nurture workplace environments where employees can do their jobs without risk of harassment or intimidation. The reasons aren't simply altruistic, of course. There's a clear, quantifiable business case for curbing bullying before it threatens to overwhelm and poison a workplace. Studies — both anecdotal and empirical — have proven bullies waste time at work, spur productivity and efficiency losses, boost absenteeism, drive increases in employee turnover, and force increases in benefit costs due to stress-related illnesses and leaves of absence. A recent study by the Canada Safety Council found bullied employees waste between 10 and 52 per cent of their time at work doing everything from networking for support to trying to overcome bully-laid obstacles that prevent them from doing their job. Negative impact on business Business owners are also starting to take bullying seriously because of the potential impact to their bottom line. Workplace bullying can lead to an increase in customer complaints, missed deadlines and decreased competitiveness. The impact is impossible for an executive or HR professional to ignore. That's not even factoring the impact on workplace culture. It's no secret bullies tend to kill engagement across a workplace by targeting capable, dedi- cated employees who are well-liked by their co-workers, then working to undermine their ability to work effectively and in turn making it difficult for them to remain engaged on the job. Even worse than a single bully at work are multiple bullies who can poison an entire work environment by creating fear, anger, depression and desperation. In extreme cases, a violent incident may result. Just such a scenario took place in the offices of Ottawa-based OC Transpo in April 1999. A former employee went on a shooting rampage that left four of his peers dead before taking his own life. A subsequent investigation discovered the former employee had been a victim of workplace harassment. Although an extreme — and thankfully rare — example, the OC Transpo case highlights the potential havoc bullying can cause in a workplace. Which brings us back to the question why bullying emerges in the first place. One of the key factors behind workplace bullying is competition, which may be a little counterintuitive. A little competition is a good thing, right? It is, but not when an entire workplace is constructed — often inadvertently — in a way that pits employees against each other in a drive for advancement or, in some cases, to simply meet expectations. These workplaces allow, and even encourage, the emergence of clear winners and losers. This sort of workplace culture zero-sum game tends to breed head-to-head battles and the emergence of workplace cliques — not to mention the kind of employees who feel they need to tear each other down for a chance to Published by Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2013 Continued on page 5

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