Did you know that April is National Workplace Violence Prevention month? Workplace violence doesn't just involve criminal intent and irate customers. Employees bullying each other is another form of workplace violence that needs more acknowledgment. Recent research shows that 75% of workers are affected by workplace bullying, whether as a target or a witness. Bullying isn't just something that happens in a schoolyard, although that's what most people think about when they hear the term. It is a prevalent problem in the workplace as well.
What does bullying look like in the workplace? Workplace bullying includes physical abuse, verbal abuse, cyber abuse, and work-related harassment and interference. The psychological and verbal nature of workplace bullying makes it more subtle and harder to see than the more physical tendencies of schoolyard bullying. However, there are still situations where a worker may be physically abused as well.
According to the Workplace Bullying Institute (WBI), bullying is four times more common than either sexual harassment or racial discrimination on the job. What happens if you don't have policies and procedures in place to discourage workplace bullying?
- Often the productivity of the target declines.
- The culture on the job becomes toxic.
- The target will often leave to find another place of employment.
- The cycle is likely to repeat itself.
- Litigation is possible
How can HCP help prevent workplace bullying?
As part of our course library, we offer a Workplace Violence course and a Harassment and Discrimination in the Workplace course. The Workplace Violence course includes an introduction to workplace violence, workplace violence policies and procedures, how to identify characteristics of violent persons, and how to deal with violent persons. Our Harassment and Discrimination in the Workplace course provides training on different types of harassment, unlawful discrimination, facts about sexual harassment, reporting harassment, management responsibilities, and workplace bullying.
Additionally, we recommend creating a Workplace Bullying Policy and have resources to help. We have recently added a Sample Workplace Bullying Policy and a Workplace Bullying Investigation Guide to our Forms section.
If you would like more information about our Workplace Violence course or our Harassment and Discrimination in the Workplace course, please send us an email at [email protected] or call by phone on our toll-free number, 855-427-0427.