What are the best practices for dealing with workplace bullying?

It's crucial to provide ongoing support for both the target and the perpetrator of bullying behavior, such as counseling services or mediation sessions, to address underlying issues and promote positive behavior change. Furthermore, regularly monitoring the workplace environment, fostering open communication channels for employees to voice concerns, and promoting bystander intervention training to empower employees to intervene and support colleagues who may be experiencing bullying can further reinforce a culture of respect and inclusivity while effectively addressing and preventing workplace bullying.

The first steps to deal with bullying in the workplace Get to know your company's policy. Your employer should have a policy on behaviour in the workplace, including information on bullying Start informally Make management or HR aware. Keep any evidence. Find someone to talk to. Make an official complaint.

Workplace bullying follows similar patterns in every workplace, but it is adaptive to the environment. If your workplace is serious about halting workplace bullying, it will develop an anti-bullying policy that addresses how bullying appears in that workplace and provides procedures and consequences to address it. A great number of workplace policies are " boilerplate" and do not really address these procedures about how the investigation will be handled, how the target and accused bully will be treated during the investigation, or the consequences. Access to an outside investigator or researcher in this area is also critical to receiving real justice in this process.

An entity outside of HR should handle reporting. Often, workplace targets report that HR is the problem, and workplace expulsion starts after they report the issue to HR.

Modern workplaces thrive on digital solutions. Consider encrypted messaging apps that empower employees to report bullying anonymously, fostering a safe reporting environment, especially in remote work setups.

This is exactly what workplace targets ask for but seldom receive. Workplace investigation steps should be defined in the policy, along with details about how the accused bully and the target will be treated during the course of the investigation and how the target will be protected after making the complaint.

Dealing with workplace bullying starts with leadership. The values represented and enacted by leadership are crucial to addressing the issues posed by bullies in the workplace. Too often, workplace bullying is dismissed as a "style of management" to avoid addressing the real health and financial problems caused by its occurrence.

Gamification and mobile apps can transform cultural norms. Rewarding positive behavior and collaboration through gamified experiences creates a workplace where respect is celebrated.

Failure to acknowledge the need for better policies perpetuates ineffective HR systems that fail the an organization’s people—often their top performers.

Unfortunately, this step is seldom practiced in most workplaces. I recently attempted to speak to workplaces about this issue but have yet to receive any positive responses. Workplace bullying remains a shadow abuse in most organizations because its existence is not recognized, and most bullies are protected or seen as "more important" than the target they are harassing.

Embrace data-driven insights by employing sentiment analysis tools. Continuously gathering feedback allows organizations to refine policies and practices, adapting to evolving needs.

Beyond the core best practices, organizations should consider innovative approaches such as leveraging technology for reporting and analysis, providing tailored training and support, and leveraging data-driven insights to address underlying issues and prevent future incidents.