Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER February 6, 2017 NEWS 9 And the award goes to… Nominate a colleague whose contributions deserve your recognition. 2017 AWARD OF EXCELLENCE Celebrate an unsung HR champion — recognize someone who brings innovative thinking, people-driven strategy, and true business value to their organization with a nomination for their outstanding work. Nominations are open to any CHRP, CHRL or CHRE in good standing. The nomination process is simple, find out how at: hrpa.ca/awards Men more likely to quit work due to workplace bullying: Study Research highlights different reactions men, women have to harassment BY MARCEL VANDER WIER MEN AND WOMEN react dif- ferently to workplace bullying, with women being more likely to take sick leave while men are more prone to quit their job, according to a study out of Denmark. Men are less likely to report harassment, while women take double the sick leave of non-bul- lied workers and are more likely to use antidepressant medication, found the study Long-term Conse- quences of Workplace Bullying on Sickness Absence, drawing data from a 2006 study of 3,100 Danish workers, as well as the country's registry database. "I was surprised," said Tine Er- iksen, co-author of the study and assistant professor at the depart- ment of economics and business at Aarhus University. "I actually thought men and women would react in the same way to bullying, especially when you think of bul- lying having a negative effect on health. I think these results indi- cate that health is actually nega- tively affected by being subject to bullying." "Whether people then go on to claim sickness absence benefits or not depends on the scheme that they're under. But the negative health consequences will still be there and that could very possibly affect both labour force partici- pation later on, or productivity as their health has deteriorated." On top of the mental health is- sues that result from workplace harassment, the time Denmark workers spend annually on sick leave costs the national GDP 0.8 per cent, confirming the problem is costly and there are economic gains to be had by eradicating bul- lying from the work environment, she said. But Lisa Barrow, a workplace bullying consultant and professor at the Lawrence Kinlin School of Business at Fanshawe College in London, Ont., has found women tend to quit their jobs more often than men. "ey may not leave right away. ey tend to stay in the bullying situation a bit longer than men," she said. Women tend to be more re- lationship-oriented as opposed to men who are more focused on performance, said Barrow, noting bullying often occurs subtly through avenues such as isolation. "What happens with isolation is the individual begins to feel hopeless, helpless or as if they're not wanted. ey might not even understand that they're being so- cially isolated, so this can lead to anxiety issues." Men often bully other men physically, or cause public hu- miliation in the form of assault or name-calling, which may result in victim silence or response-in- kind, she said, noting male bullies typically harass men and women equally, while female bullies tend to bully other women. Still, the Denmark study is im- portant because it provides peo- ple with an opportunity to look at workplace bullying from a differ- ent perspective, she said. "However, there has been quite a bit of research regarding workplace bullying and gender over the last 15 to 20 years," said Barrow. "e efforts to address it are constantly evolving, because so many people experience it and more and more people are be- coming aware of it." "Oftentimes, individuals in the workplace are not even aware of the characteristics of workplace bullying. ey may be confused, thinking that if their boss tells them they have to perform at a certain level and holds them ac- countable, that's workplace bully- ing. But it's not. Workplace bully- ing has to do with public humilia- tion, isolation and behaviour that seeks to devalue others." HR's role Men may not admit to, or realize, they're actually being bullied, said Eriksen. "is could especially be im- portant from an HR perspective. How do you detect these prob- lems? Should you wait for people to come by themselves?" A lingering culture of male HR > pg. 12 "e individual begins to feel hopeless, helpless, isolated."

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