You Might Have a Workplace Bullying Problem If...

You know that saying, "𝘗𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘦𝘴?"

Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman were really onto something when they wrote about this in their landmark book, "𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵, 𝘉𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘴: 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥'𝘴 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘋𝘰 𝘋𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺." 

𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗮 𝗵𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 (and frankly I'm fed up to my eyeglasses with this nonsense)! 

People also leave 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 where 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘀—not the managers—are allowed to show their arses every damn day of the week with 𝗭𝗘𝗥𝗢 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀! It's not always an employee's direct supervisor who's the most critical factor in workplace engagement and retention. 

Terrible colleagues—the workplace gossips, the saboteurs who revel in subterfuge and drama, the liars, the backstabbing opportunists, the slackers—and the leaders who embolden them whilst ignoring the problem (despite being fully aware of it) are just as taxing, toxic, stressful, and downright 𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿𝗼𝘂𝘀 to the wellbeing of employees 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗲. 

Before you spend even an iota of energy or a dime on resources to develop training, create elaborate culture campaigns, or invest in personal development...𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗦, 𝗜'𝗠 𝗧𝗔𝗟𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗢 𝗬𝗢𝗨... you gotta ask yourself, "𝘢𝘮 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘋𝘖 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯?" 

Here are the STATS:

Workplace bullying has been linked to a 𝟭𝟯.𝟵%–𝟭𝟳.𝟰% 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆 per affected employee, equating to 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘅𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆 $𝟰,𝟭𝟴𝟮–$𝟱,𝟮𝟯𝟲 𝗨𝗦𝗗 𝗮𝗻𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀.

A major UK analysis estimated that workplace bullying cost organizations approximately £𝟭𝟯.𝟳𝟱 𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 through a) Absenteeism: £𝟯.𝟬𝟲 𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻, b) Turnover: £𝟭.𝟱𝟱 𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻, and c) Lost productivity: £𝟵.𝟭𝟰 𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻. The same UK report estimated bullying-related productivity losses at the equivalent of 𝟭𝟬𝟬 𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗱𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆.

Research cited by the National Workplace Bullying Coalition found that targets of workplace bullying take an average of seven additional sick days per year, 𝟮𝟬% 𝗼𝗳 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗲𝘆𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗯𝘂𝗹𝗹𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝟲𝟬% 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗷𝗼𝗯𝘀, and 𝟭𝟱% 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗹𝗲𝗳𝘁 their positions because of it.

Workers exposed to workplace bullying incur nearly 𝗱𝗼𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗺 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀, 𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 $𝟭,𝟱𝟱𝟳 in mental health expenditures compared to $792 for those unaffected by bullying. 

According to the Workplace Bullying Institute, organizations frequently lose high-performing employees, clients, and institutional knowledge due to bullying-related turnover, creating 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗵𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀.

A New Zealand economic analysis estimated workplace bullying, harassment, and related toxic workplace behaviors create 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘄𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀 through turnover, absenteeism, investigations, lost productivity, and psychological injury claims.

A 2021 study reported that workplace misconduct and toxic behaviors cost U.S. businesses 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘅𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆 $𝟮𝟬.𝟮 𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿 through productivity loss, turnover, and organizational disruption.

Reuters reporting on bullying in the legal profession found that 𝟯𝟵% 𝗼𝗳 𝗯𝘂𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗲𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝟱𝟰% 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹-𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀, 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻-𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀.

Considering these staggering statistics, and the reality they represent, dysfunctional companies have no right to demand loyalty and adherence to pep rally antics (merely paying lip service to culture) as they simultaneously allow people to suffer in silence, fearful of their future with their livelihoods in jeopardy because some office bully is making their work lives a living hell.

Bullying didn't get left behind on a schoolyard in middle school. Sadly, it's alive and well at a company near you and it's silently eroding culture, dampening people's spirits, and costing organizations dearly in ways of which they may not be aware.

References

Bartlett, J. E., & Bartlett, M. E. (2011). Workplace bullying: An integrative literature review. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 13(1), 69–84. https://doi.org/10.1177/1523422311410651

Einarsen, S., Hoel, H., Zapf, D., & Cooper, C. L. (Eds.). (2020). Bullying and harassment in the workplace: Theory, research and practice (3rd ed.). CRC Press.

Hoel, H., Sparks, K., & Cooper, C. L. (2001). The cost of violence/stress at work and the benefits of a violence/stress-free working environment. University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260246863_The_Costs_of_Workplace_Bullying

Kivimäki, M., Elovainio, M., & Vahtera, J. (2000). Workplace bullying and sickness absence in hospital staff. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 57(10), 656–660. https://doi.org/10.1136/oem.57.10.656

McTernan, W. P., Dollard, M. F., & LaMontagne, A. D. (2013). Depression in the workplace: An economic cost analysis of depression-related productivity loss attributable to job strain and bullying. Work & Stress, 27(4), 321–338. https://doi.org/10.1080/02678373.2013.846948

National Workplace Bullying Coalition. (n.d.). Workplace bullying research. Retrieved from https://www.workplacebullyingcoalition.org/workplace-bullying-research

Segal, E. (2021, December 16). Workplace misconduct cost U.S. businesses $20 billion in past year, new study says. Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/edwardsegal/2021/12/16/workplace-misconduct-cost-us-businesses-20-billion-in-past-year-new-study/

Trépanier, S. G., Fernet, C., & Austin, S. (2015). Workplace bullying and psychological health at work: The mediating role of satisfaction of needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness. Work & Stress, 29(2), 123–140. https://doi.org/10.1080/02678373.2015.1031850

Workplace Bullying Institute. (n.d.). Employer costs. Retrieved from https://workplacebullying.org/employer-costs/

Yang, L. Q., Caughlin, D. E., Gazica, M. W., Truxillo, D. M., & Spector, P. E. (2014). Workplace mistreatment climate and potential employee and organizational outcomes: A meta-analytic review from the target’s perspective. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 19(3), 315–335. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0036905