Workplace bullying : what do we know, who is to blame and what can we do?

Workplace bullying is an area that has attracted significant press attention throughout the last decade. A variety of well publicized surveys have revealed that this is an issue endemic in working life in Britain; and, at a conservative estimate, over half the working population can expect to experience bullying at work (either directly by being bullied, or through witnessing it) at some stage in their careers. This is now seen to be a disturbing event, with something like a fifth of witnesses and a quarter of direct targets leaving their organizations.This serious damage to individuals has been accorded little direct research in Britain, although it has resulted in court cases brought under health and safety and equal opportunities legislation. The recognition of the problem and the emergence of court cases, have both served to focus employers on the need to deal with the issue. The recent strike vote at Ford in Dagenham, asking the employer to enforce existing anti-harassment policies, highlights the fact that having paper policies is not enough. Workplace Bullying is derived from the largest survey ever carried out on workplace bullying, supported by the CBI, TUC, Federation of Small Businesses, IPD, and the HSE among others. This study covered 5,500 people, but the book goes beyond it to explore all the issues associated with what is becoming a major issue in organizations. Workplace bullying is an area that has attracted significant press attention throughout the last decade. At a conservative estimate, over half the working population can expect to experience bullying at work at some stage in their careers, either directly by being bullied or through witnessing it, and 20 percent of witnesses and 25 percent of direct targets will leave their organizations. Workplace Bullying is derived from the largest survey ever carried out on workplace bullying, supported by the CBI, TUC, Federation of Small Businesses, IPD, and the HSE among others. The book goes beyond the study to explore all the issues associated with what is becoming a major issue in organizations. Book Cover......Page 1 Title......Page 4 Contents......Page 5 List of figures......Page 10 List of tables......Page 11 Foreword......Page 12 Introduction......Page 16 The targets of bullying......Page 34 Outcomes of bullying......Page 58 Who bullies?......Page 78 Bullying and corporate culture......Page 100 What causes bullying: the instigators......Page 116 What is bullying?......Page 136 Who is to blame?......Page 150 What can individuals do?......Page 160 What can organisations do?......Page 178 Future developments......Page 200 Sampling for surveys......Page 208 Negative behaviours at work......Page 210 Useful contacts......Page 212 References......Page 214 Index......Page 222 A variety of well publicised surveys have revealed that bullying in the workplace is an issue endemic within working life in Britian. This book goes beyond the studies to explore all the issues associated with what is becoming a major problem. A variety of surveys have revealed that bullying in the workplace is an issue endemic within working life in Britian. This study goes beyond the studies it draws from to explore all the issues associated with what is becoming a major problem A variety of surveys have revealed that bullying in the workplace is an issue endemic within working life in Britain. This book goes beyond the studies it draws from to explore all the issues associated with what is becoming a major problem This book sets out to examine the phenomenon of workplace bullying.