Workplace bullying: how to spot it and what to do about it

It’s a manager's job to make sure objectives are met. But, when under pressure to improve team performance, it is important to recognise the thin line that exists between exercising authority and bullying.

Pressure is inevitable because we live and work in an intensely competitive age. Often, organisational performance requirements are defined centrally by corporate management many miles away – which can add to feelings of stress for managers. 

But while pressure may be inevitable, bullying is not. It’s worth taking a few moments to consider what bullying looks like in the modern organisation and, as managers and leaders, how we can seek to minimise it. 

Bullying: an often invisible concept

As an HR professional, I spent over 40 years working in many complex organisations in a variety of senior management and consulting roles. I encountered bullying in several of these organisations – sometimes from senior management, sometimes from other managers and sometimes from groups of employees targeting a colleague. It was often subtle and invisible.

• “Inclusion is about everyone, not just marginalised groups”: inclusion expert Tanya McCalmon CMgr MCMI

I believe that most people in organisations are willing to reflect on their behaviour and how they could perform better. Unfortunately, this is not always the case, as others may decide that emulating a belligerent colleague is the best way to get results. I believe that this behaviour is a real threat to organisations, not only because of its damaging impact on an individual level, but because of its financial and reputational consequences.

Workplace bullying is difficult to spot and to stop. According to my research, in the modern organisation bullying generally takes psychological rather than physical forms. This means that bullying has become a nebulous, often invisible concept. It can include:

• ignoring or shunning people
• allocating them irrelevant or impossible tasks 
• failing to promote them or reward them with a bonus when this would normally be expected
• not inviting them to meetings where they would make a key contribution
• transferring them to a work location far from home.