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Lori E. Solyom
a reflection
Workplace Bullying
Workplace bullying is bad for business, writes David Yamada, Suffolk
University Professor of Law and President of the New Workplace Institute. (Yamada)
Before reading Yamadas article in the January 9, 2012 edition of the Worchester
Business Journal, I had not heard the term workplace bullying, but I was struck by
the implications this issue holds for todays Human Resources professional. Upon
reflection, I realized that I had not only seen this bad behavior in practice, but had
been on its receiving end.
Yamada defines workplace bullying as the deliberate, health-endangering
mistreatment of an employee by a supervisor or co-workers.

(Yamada)

He

characterizes this as including the yelling and screaming boss who regularly inflicts
high-decibel tirades upon a subordinate as well as those who deliberately
sabotage the reputation of a co-worker by spreading lies and rumors about his or
her performance and character. (Yamada)
On-the-job harassment of any type on the job presents a sticky situation for
Human Resources professionals. The victimized employee is often not only dealing
with bad behavior by a supervisor, but often reluctant to confront the abuser, in fear
of retaliation. It is incumbent upon Human Resources to work with management to
foster a business environment that is intolerant of any form of abuse or harassment.
Human Resources serves a business by helping to attract, develop, and retain
the right employees to bring efficiency to the process and profit to the bottom line.
Part of that mix includes serving as the employee advocate and doing what can
be done to elevate job satisfaction. A worker who experiences on-the-job hostility is
not going to be satisfied and a department in which harassment regularly occurs in

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not one that is well-managed. Any occurrence of hostile behavior is unacceptable,
but a recurring pattern can damage a company indelibly.
Yamada, who is also a licensed attorney, explains that businesses allowing
bullying persistently reap lower productivity and morale, struggle with higher
absenteeism and turnover

rates, and face greater risk of employee retaliation and violence. He points to
secondary cost increases in health care, employee benefits, workers compensation
insurance, and potential lawsuits. (Yamada) As author of the Healthy Workplace Bill,
Yamada lobbies fiercely for worker rights, but he is not the only one concerned
about workplace hostility. A quick internet search reveals dozens of articles
addressing verbal and emotional abuse on the job.

StopWorkplaceAbuse.com

details workplace civil rights law, discusses whistleblowing and retaliation, and
urges employees to demand results and fair labor practices. (Oliver)

Business

Leadership Coach Shelley Holmes conducts workplace climate surveys and

concludes that verbal abuse in the workplace is one of the major causes of people
leaving their organization. (Holmes)

Writer-researcher Karen Stephenson has

documented numerous occurrences of employer-created hostile environments in the

Quebec area that the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety have
deemed hazardous to worker health. (Stephenson)
The root causes for career place hostility are varied ranging from economic
to social to psychological, but whatever the source, the Human Resource
professional is best posed to address the situation.

Yamada offers a three step

approach companies can take to address workplace bullying, one that is in line with
Human Resource best practices:
1. Send a message that bullying is unacceptable.

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Some of the ways that Human Resources can communicate intolerance of
bad behavior include distributing a written code of ethics and conduct standards,
provide ethical behavior training and advice, and establish confidential reporting
systems for ethical misconduct. (Mathis, Jackson) Regular impartial observation and
evaluation of all employees could also help to foster an expectation of civility.
2. Empower Human Resources to handle bullying situations fairly and
forthrightly.
Consistent, nonjudgmental listening, along with investigation of complaints is
one way dispel the myth that Human Resources is either impotent or complicit with
supervisors when handling hostility issues.
3.

Remove destructive bullies.

When hostile and other unacceptable behavior is confirmed, addressed, and

continues, its time to show the offender the door. To do otherwise could damage
employee relations companywide, and call into question the health and safety of
the workplace.
Yamada suggests that even if an abusive individual happens in key in
attracting business, the loss of morale, productivity, company image, and
department respect that will follow make retention of a bully a losing proposal from
a purely cost-benefit standpoint.
In closing, I reflect back on myself as a young professional woman who
arrived at a new communications post eager to serve as ombudsman between
employer and the various publics.

I remember how the long time supervisor,

unofficial queen of the office, looked me up and down with a disapproving smirk,
and sent me off to do a stationery inventory in a dark, dusty closet. I knew then
that I would not be easily receiving the older womans respect.

Was I a victim of

workplace bullying? Perhapsin retrospect, the managers motive for derision

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remains unclear. Certainly, however, that supervisor missed an opportunity to
motivate and positively influence a new employee, one she could have used
effectively and efficiently to accomplish organizational goals.

Works Cited
Holmes, Shelley. "Verbal Abuse in the Workplace." Leadership-and-MotivationTraining.com.
Leadership and Motivation Training, 2012. Web. 25 Jan 2012.
<http://www.leadership-andmotivation-training.com/verbal-abuse-in-theworkplace.html>.
Mathis, Robert L., and John H. Jackson. Human Resource Management. 12.
Cincinnati, Ohio:
South-Western College Publishing, 2007. Print.
Oliver, Brook. "Stop Workplace Abuse." StopWorkplaceAbuse.com. Stop Workplace
Abuse,
2011. Web. 25 Jan 2012. <http://www.stopworkplaceabuse.com/>.
Stephenson, Karen. "Emotional Abuse in the Workplace: Hostile Work Environments
Created by Employers Causes Undue Stress. Suite101.com. Suite101.com Media
Inc., 18 Oct 2008.
Web.
25
Jan
2012.
<http://karenstephenson.suite101.com/emotional-abuse-inthe-workplace-a73977>.
Yamada, Dave. "Workplace Bullying Is Bad For Business." Worcester Business
Journal. Jan.9
(2012):
n.
page.
Web.
25
Jan.
2012.
<http://www.wbjournal.com/news50516.html>.