HR departments should be mindful of the fact that vulnerable employees are not reporting bullying incidents because they fear for their jobs.
That is according to research conducted by employment law firm Peninsula, which revealed that although half of those questioned had been bullied in the workplace many were scared to report the incidents.
Peninsula’s managing director, Peter Done, said that victims should not suffer unnecessarily and warned employers that bullying "is a serious problem".
Commenting on the problem, Mr Done said: "Employees are mindful of reporting incidents of bullying as they don’t want to be seen as troublemakers.
"They should realise that reporting any type of bullying will have no effect on the status of their employment."
According to Dr Tony Byrne, co-founder of the Awareness Education Office, incidents of bullying have increased as a result of the economic downturn, the Irish Times reports.
I would be interested to understand why incidents of bullying have occurred as a result of the economic downturn. Is Dr Byrne stating a causal relationship? If so, how has he concluded this?
I’ve just left a company where the Managing Director sought every opportunity to belittle his employees, be it by swearing, embarassing them, proving that they are not doing a good job and just making everyone’s life a misery. He would actually tell people he felt like smashing their heads against the wall – just short of actually doing that. He spent most of his working day with one mission – to break people – he did this to everyone from grown men to young girls – who all ended up leaving. I cannot believe this type of behaviour goes on in our day and age.
No-one felt like they could say anything, as if he even sensed dislike from someone, he would proceed to push them out the company. His way or the highway. The way he dealt with me in this way (since I couldn’t hide my dislike) was to ‘find’ that my work wasn’t adequate and make me work until late/weekends to re-write it. He also kept me on the same salary as the fresh graduates, despite having ten years more working experience and 5 years more in that particular industry.
Despite the company’s profits which it admitted to, the recession was used as an excuse not to give salary raises, and of course, they felt more free to treat employees as they liked, knowing that they were in a weak position work-wise.
They haven’t yet been sued and until they are, they will continue this disgusting behaviour.
My research into workplace bullying found that in high-pressured situations corporate bullying is more likely to happen. So, in an economic recession, when finances are tight, there is more pressure on people to keep their jobs and this can lead to bullying behaviour in the workplace. Sadly, the behaviour of the serial bully described by MC is absolutely typical and the company’s indifference to its own employees’ welfare all too common. We need more whistle-blowers in order to put an end to these destructive practices.