In the story 'Fear and loathing in the workplace' that was published in the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend, Kirsty Connell of Tauranga-based Stress Solutions, speaks of workplace bullying.
"Workplace bullying in New Zealand workplaces is a very real and costly issue, and one that has a significant impact on individual employees, as
well as organisations and businesses," Ms Connell told Bay of Plenty Times Weekend.
Read the full story here...
In addition:
WHAT IS WORKPLACE BULLYING?
- Being overloaded with work, or not being given enough work to do.
- Being required to perform tasks without proper training.
- Unreasonable overtime, unfair rostering.
- Being excessively supervised or criticised.
- Being subjected to constant ridicule and being put down in front of other workers.
- Damage to or interference with personal belongings, sabotage or undermining of work.
- Being subjected to loud and abusive language in front of others.
- Open or implied threat of the dismissal.
- An oppressive work environment used to coerce or intimidate workers.
- Intimidation or threats not to report, or complain about incidents.
- Offensive messages left on email or voicemail.
- Malicious exclusion or isolation from workplace activities.
- Humiliating gestures, or sarcastic, racist or derogatory comments.
WHAT ISN'T WORKPLACE BULLYING?
- Providing detailed job instruction or direction (being told what to do).
- Decisive leadership.
- Making management decisions staff don't like.
- Performance management.
- Isolated incident of work behaviour that may be contextually inappropriate.
- Short duration conflict at work.
- Harmless fun.
- Political correctness gone mad.
WHAT CAN A WORKER DO ABOUT BULLYING?
- Get support - talk about it with someone they trust.
- Talk to the person about their behaviour, or if that's too difficult, report the issue to a manager, health and safety representative, health and wellness coordinator, or human resources.
- Document incidences including dates, times, and details - memories are fallible.
- Get support on the way through the process.
- Know that it's not their fault - the person bullying is the one with the problem, not them.
Source - Kirsty Connell, Stress Solutions
