According to a recent report by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), a quarter of employees think that their company turns a blind eye to workplace bullying and harassment.
The report, based on two online surveys, one for more than 2,000 workers and the other for HR Professionals and decision-makers, revealed that more than half of those who have experienced bullying in the past three years (15% of the respondents) did not report it to the firm.
Approximately 4% of employees said that they had been sexually harassed over the past three years, a problem which was described as stubborn by the CIPD despite decades of equalities legislation.
However, a positive change was noted in the last two years with 33% of employees feeling more confident to challenge sexual harassment. Some of the people who responded said that they had suffered from stress, anxiety, insomnia, heart palpitations and suicidal thoughts.
One respondent said that fear is the biggest factor and you are singled out when something happens to you. A manager who took part in the survey said that some people who did not report bullying and harassment because they were scared they might be “overreacting,” which is something they were told on numerous occasions.
CIPD stated that:
“It can take a lot of courage for someone to speak up about inappropriate behaviour at work, but there are very disappointing results on the ability of organisations to deal compassionately and effectively with complaints.”
They added that firms should encourage a speak-up culture with a well-publicised complaints procedure and, that managers should also be aware that such issues might sometimes be best resolved informally, especially if the behaviour was unintentional.
Finally, they urged firms to train managers to handle such conflicts better.
Rachel Suff, Senior Employment Relations Adviser at the CIPD said that the survey was a “wake up call to employers to put training managers at the heart of efforts to prevent inappropriate workplace behaviour”.
She went on to say that “our research shows that managers who’ve received training can help to stop conflict from occurring and are much better at fostering healthy relationships in their team and, when conflict does occur, they can help to resolve the issue more quickly and effectively.”
Further reading
ACAS – DIscrimination, bullying and harassment
WHAT TO DO NEXT
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According to a recent report by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), a quarter of employees think that their company turns a blind eye to workplace bullying and harassment. The report, based on two online surveys, one for more than 2,000 workers and the other for HR Professionals and decision-makers, revealed that more…
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