ADDRESSING BULLYING AT WORK: TOWARDS EVIDENCE- BASED RISK MANAGEMENT Dr Michelle Tuckey WORKPLACE BULLYING Bullying occurs when: a person or a group of people repeatedly behaves unreasonably towards a worker or a group of workers at work AND the behaviour creates a risk to health and safety. Bullying does not include reasonable management action carried out in a reasonable manner. See: Fair Work Commission Guide: Anti-workplace bullying Safe Work Australia Guide for preventing and responding to workplace bullying WorkSafe NZ Best practice guidelines: Preventing and responding to workplace bullying 1
WORKPLACE BULLYING A single incident is not bullying, but should not be ignored Conflict or aggression Conflict or aggression Counteraggression Enabling signals Bullying Bullying maureen.dollard@unisa.edu.au 2
WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE CAUSES OF WORKPLACE BULLYING? Evidence on Workplace Bullying Risk Factors KEY MESSAGES FROM THE EVIDENCE BASE Bullying is not primarily a problem of interpersonal relationships Nor does bullying risk seem to be related to type or work or job activities Rather, bullying is a symptom of (poor) functioning in a specific domains (or contexts) within the organisation The culture of the organisation plays an important role in shaping whether or not bullying can occur, and how well it can be addressed 3
BULLYING IS NOT A PROBLEM OF INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS Meta-analysis of 90 studies (1987-2005) Key finding: Organisational factors are more important than individual factors as antecedents Job demands increase likelihood of bullying Role ambiguity Role conflict Role overload Work constraints Job resources decrease likelihood of bullying Autonomy Source: Bowling, N.A., & Beehr, T.A. (2006). Workplace harassment from the victim s perspective: A theoretical model and metaanalysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91, 998 1012. BULLYING IS NOT STRONGLY RELATED TO JOB ACTIVITIES ONET Occupational Requirements (974 occupations) Job title (SOC) AWB Workplace Bullying & Harassment (4772 workers) Result of matching 209 occupations 3829 workers 4
BULLYING IS NOT STRONGLY RELATED TO JOB ACTIVITIES Level 2: Objective job analysis ratings for 209 jobs (O*NET).005 **.006 * ONET Occupational Requirements Computer-related technical skills Medical job hazards Conflictual contact with others Protective safety equipment.009 **.002 * AWB Harassment AWB Workplace Bullying Level 1: Subjective ratings by 3829 individual workers (AWB) BULLYING IS A SYMPTOM OF ORGANISATIONAL FUNCTIONING Sample of 342 bullying complaints lodged with SafeWork SA from 2010-2013 Thematic analysis of all case materials (complaint form, evidence, inspector reports, outcome letters, etc) Over 5000 pages of information 5
BULLYING IS A SYMPTOM OF ORGANISATIONAL FUNCTIONING Sample of 342 bullying complaints lodged with SafeWork SA from 2010-2013 Thematic analysis of all case materials (complaint form, evidence, inspector reports, outcome letters, etc) Over 5000 pages of information Key finding Supervisor-employee interface creates fertile soil for bullying and its perception Supervisory behaviour during interactions in key functional areas (e.g., performance management, role clarification) shape perceptions of both job and work characteristics and workplace bullying 6
WHAT ARE THE FUNCTIONAL RISK AREAS? Illegitimate tasks Misuse of hierarchical power Pay, rostering, entitlements Favouritism Supervision Performance management Insufficient supervision Inadequate training Role ambiguity WHAT ARE THE FUNCTIONAL RISK AREAS? Risk management efforts should target these areas Illegitimate tasks Misuse of hierarchical power Pay, rostering, entitlements Favouritism Supervision Performance management Insufficient supervision Inadequate training Role ambiguity 7
ORGANISATIONAL CLIMATE SHAPES WHETHER BULLYING CAN OCCUR Source: Bond, S.A., Tuckey, M.R., & Dollard, M.F. (2010). Psychosocial safety climate, workplace bullying, and symptoms of posttraumatic stress. Organization Development Journal, 28, 37-56 ORGANISATIONAL CLIMATE SHAPES RESPONSES TO BULLYING Victim High PSC Low PSC Voice Neglect and avoidance Status quo Resolved Can t withstand the bullying Voice Source: Kwan, S., Tuckey, M.R., & Dollard, M.F. (in press). The role of Psychosocial Safety Climate in coping with workplace bullying: A grounded theory and sequential tree analysis. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology. Unresolved Turnover 8
SKILLS AND ACTIONS OF MANAGERS SHAPE ESCALATION Source: Kwan, S., Tuckey, M.R., & Dollard, M.F. (in press). The role of the Psychosocial Safety Climate in coping with workplace bullying: A grounded theory and sequential tree analysis. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology. SKILLS AND ACTIONS OF MANAGERS SHAPE ESCALATION What makes the difference? Workers feel comfortable talking to their managers and expect that their managers will effectively resolve the problem Managers personally take responsibility for the resolving the issue; they do something to stop the bullying behaviour before it escalates Source: Kwan, S., Tuckey, M.R., & Dollard, M.F. (in press). The role of the Psychosocial Safety Climate in coping with workplace bullying: A grounded theory and sequential tree analysis. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology. 9
WHAT CAN WE DO TO ADDRESS BULLYING AT WORK? Prevention and Intervention Evidence KEY MESSAGES Existing interventions (in practice, and as evaluated in the literature) mostly treat bullying as a problem of interpersonal relationships We need to develop and evaluate more organisational -level prevention strategies that have concrete implementation plans, as there is very little published evidence on these inter ventions 10
Employer actions Employee actions Monitor the impact of corrective measures Prepare staff to appropriately manage bullying complaints Identify and reduce the risk conditions for bullying Develop and publicise a bullying policy and code of conduct Train staff in conflict management Appoint contact officers Investigate complaints and take corrective action (punitive, reconciliatory) Provide support to targets (counselling, transfer) Report bullying when it occurs Educate employees about bullying and harassment Undertake bullying awareness training Behave appropriately Employer actions Employee actions Organisational system focus Monitor the impact of corrective measures Prepare staff to appropriately manage bullying complaints Identify and reduce the risk conditions for bullying Develop and publicise a bullying policy and code of conduct Corrective measures Train staff in conflict management Appoint contact officers Investigate complaints and take corrective action (punitive, reconciliatory) Provide support to targets (counselling, transfer) Report bullying when it occurs Individual focus Preventive measures Educate employees about bullying and harassment Undertake bullying awareness training Behave appropriately 11
PREVENTION-INTERVENTION EVIDENCE Total published studies Met criteria 12 Quality Moderate 3 Low 9 Effectiveness Effective 2 Partially effective 1 Inconclusive 9 No data 1 Source: Hodgins, M., MacCurtain, S., Mannix-McNamara, P. (2014). Workplace bullying and incivility: A systematic review of interventions. International Journal of Workplace Health Management, 7, 54-72. PREVENTION-INTERVENTION EVIDENCE Total published studies Met criteria 12 Quality Moderate 3 Low 9 Effectiveness Effective 2 Partially effective 1 Inconclusive 3 Inconclusive 5 No data 1 Organisational system focus / multi-layered Individual level focus Source: Hodgins, M., MacCurtain, S., Mannix-McNamara, P. (2014). Workplace bullying and incivility: A systematic review of interventions. International Journal of Workplace Health Management, 7, 54-72. 12
AN EFFECTIVE INTERVENTION Civility Respect and Engagement in the Workplace (CREW) Weekly facilitated group meetings for six months Structured group exercises and discussion (using a tool kit) Embodies some of the PSC principles / organisational focus Management show commitment during the preparation phase (e.g., public announcement, notices; signed statement; commit resources to process) Employees are actively involved and set the meeting agendas; meetings draw on employees experiences Exercises explore the organisational context for civility Drawbacks Extremely intensive process Decreases in incivility many not be sustained over time Focus on incivility, which is less intense/severe than bullying WHERE SHOULD EFFORTS BE DIRECTED? Improving key organisational contexts that function as the underlying risk conditions, through a risk management process Illegitimate tasks Pay, rostering, entitlements Favouritism Performance management Role clarity Inadequate training Monitoring a range of indicators Bullying rates Other indicators (e.g., absenteeism, sick leave, turnover, grievances) Risk contexts (above) 13
WHERE SHOULD EFFORTS BE DIRECTED? Identifying negative behaviours early (and informally) Workers must feel safe to raise concerns, and confident that a meaningful solution will be reached Resolve them quickly before the situation escalate Responding to bullying complaints Resolve complaints early Avoid escalation of the situation Key role for HSRs Evaluating preventative and corrective measures Provide feedback into the system Enhance the organisational climate 10 th International Conference on Workplace Bullying and Harassment 20 th 22 nd April 2016 Auckland www.bullying2016.com @IAWBH2016 14