Administrative Assistant's Update

JUNE 2017 4 One of those willing to be candid is Munro, who has worked for a number of employers over a 20-year-plus pro- fessional career, occasionally enduring other forms of on-the-job bullying. Two years ago, she landed happily at Yellow Pages where she is a Toronto-based executive HR administrator as well as senior executive assistant (serving Montreal-based senior executives and directors when they meet in Toronto). Be your own advocate Munro says she learned a valuable lesson from confronting her first workplace bully. "It was me personally knowing I actually was important," Munro told AAU. "And that nobody can walk on me like that and that I really had to be an advocate for myself." She adds: "you can't wait for anyone else or even HR to deal with it." Odette's Power is also skeptical about turning to the human resources department. "I would not go to HR if you feel you are being bullied because I have never heard a good story associated with that," she says. "People email me with stories and I have never heard a good one." Legislation may not help Power says provincial legislation on workplace bullying is generally weak, including Ontario that sets a high bar for determining a bully's intent. In a successful 2012 workplace harass - ment suit against Walmart, an On- tario plaintiff was awarded $1.4-mil- lion (later reduced to $400,000) using the law on constructive dismissal rules instead of Bill 168 on workplace violence and harassment. Munro says her experience with a bully helped her handle other inci- dents of harassment that came later in her career. On one occasion, she dealt with a boss who lied to her. "I called him on it," she says. "If I hadn't had the previous experience maybe I wouldn't have, so it helps every time you go through something like this." When confronted with the facts, her boss recanted his statements and apologized. "It was very empow- ering to know that I was in the right." At another company, she operated in a toxic work environment that eventually spurred several manag- ers to leave abruptly. Munro felt she could not leave for financial reasons, but managed to relieve her stress by taking up kickboxing. "I took out my frustration in a physical sense and that was very liberating," she says. Take an exercise break Her exercise strategy wins praise from Power. "That's brilliant," says the professor. "Many people I have spoken to join a gym instead of going straight home to their family...You need to give yourself a break and stop blaming yourself." Asked to reflect on the risks and rewards of confronting a workplace bully, Munro says each person must find her or his own voice. "When you listen to that voice, it is amazing what you can accom - plish," she says. "It is about building that confidence." Bullies: A workplace blight Continued from page 1 Options for dealing with bullying behaviour By Jennifer Lewington When dealing with a bullying boss, what options are open to admin professionals? Here are a few tips to help guide your decision on what (and what not) to do: Know yourself. Figure out the risks and rewards of confronting a bullying boss based on your tolerance for conflict and your available options, such as seeking a departmental transfer or leaving the employer. Make friends at work. "You have got to maintain your peer support," says Sue Munro, senior executive as - sistant and executive HR administrator at Yellow Pages. "Approach a mentor you can talk to and bounce off ideas and different strategies for how to deal with that [difficult] person." Explore other work options. "The absolute first thing to do is sit down and look at the situation and say 'how can I get out from under this person,'" says Jacqueline Power, associate professor of management at the University of Windsor's Odette School of Business. "Can you transfer to another position?" Look after yourself. Relieve stress through exercise or other outlets to give yourself a break. "Low control stress - ful situations are particularly dangerous for things like high blood pressure," says Power. "You need an exercise program and you need to eat well and give yourself a treat." Report a complaint (or not). Opinion is divided on whether or not to report a complaint to the human re - sources department. Any complaint should be fact-based and well-corroborated. Even so, there is a risk that no action will be taken. "If you can leave, do so," says Power. "Bullying rarely follows you because it is not you [who is the cause]." Anti-bullying tactics may vary depending on one's stage of career. "I don't think there is a one-size-fits-all," says Power. "With different aspects of your life you should be using different strategies."

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