Thursday, September 07, 2006
‘Workplace Bullying - Employers in the Frame’ - says Motivational Speaker Carole Spiers
‘Vicarious’ liability confirmed in court, as City woman wins £800,000
Two recent court cases have confirmed the ‘vicarious liability’ of employers in cases of workplace bullying, and highlighted the need for corporations to institute and operate a formal anti-bullying strategy.
In one case, an audit co-ordinator at Guy’s and St. Thomas’s NHS Trust managed to get his line manager suspended after she imposed unrealistic performance targets on him, as well as abusing him in public and treating him differently from other staff. She later chose to resign.
In another case, which really hit the headlines, a woman bank worker won more than £800,000 in damages after a bizarre campaign of bullying by four women colleagues, which witnesses described as ‘slow, systematic mental abuse’ and ‘extreme bitchiness and mob culture’. (Those who feel this was excessive might note that she suffered several nervous breakdowns and has had to abandon her City career altogether.)
Her case was helped by a recent House of Lords decision that employers were ‘vicariously liable’ for bullying by employees in the course of their work, even if management was unaware of it.
This means that anti-harassment procedures are only a start. Employers must now be seen to take active steps to impose good practice on their staff in order to eradicate bullying from the workplace altogether.
So What Does Bullying Behaviour Look Like?
Bullies will typically:
· Make life at work constantly difficult for their targets
· Make unreasonable demands: constantly criticising
· Insist that their way of carrying out tasks is the only way
· Shout at victims, publicly, in order to get things done
· Give instructions and then change them for no apparent reason
· Allocate tasks which they know the person is incapable of achieving
· Refuse to delegate when appropriate
· Humiliate their targets in front of others
· Block promotion, refuse to give fair appraisals or refuse to endorse pay increases or bonus
awards
· Exclude the victim from meetings or other legitimate business activities
· Constantly make attacks on the professionalism or personal qualities of their targets
If this type of behaviour is being exhibited by any of your staff, it’s important to stop it in its tracks, because research shows that once bullying behaviours become established, they are far more difficult to break.
Your First Move – Our Specialist Trainer Toolkit
Whether you’re an HR specialist or a general manager, you’ll benefit immediately from this one-stop training pack with PowerPoint slides and downloadable manual.
'Back Off!': Combating Bullying and Harassment in the Workplace, is produced by international stress guru Carole Spiers - trainer, broadcaster and keynote motivational speaker to blue-chip corporations.
It sets out a clear overview of the causes, symptoms and techniques through which to defuse unacceptable behaviour - including case studies, quotes from victims, procedures for monitoring bullying situations, and special do’s and don’ts for particularly sensitive areas such as sexual harassment.
Get A Clear Overview Of The Management Interventions You Should Be Implementing
Policies and procedures
· The value of a clear written policy produced in co-operation with the unions.
· Handling complaints and appeals.
· How to encourage whistle-blowing.
Monitoring and mediation
· How to use exit interviews for information gathering.
· Choosing and using an impartial investigator when informal resolutions fail.
Standing up for your employees
· Evaluating a bullying charge against a highly-rated staff member.
· Assessing the odds of a malicious false accusation.
Even if you've never analysed bullying and harassment before, you'll soon acquire a workable knowledge of this important subject, with the help of easy-to-understand charts, diagrams and listings written with the authority of a leading international consultant on bullying and harassment.
To download your trainer toolkit, go to http://tinyurl.com/ldurw.
PS Book Carole as a motivational speaker on the subject of workplace bullying at your conference or symposium.
Carole Spiers is a motivational speaker and founder of Carole Spiers Group, one of the UKs leading stress management consultancies, whose psychological insights have improved productivity for clients such as Sainsbury’s, Unilever, the Bank of England and many others. www.carolespiersgroup.com gives authoritative advice on both the human and the legal aspects of workplace stress, including workplace bullying, violence, post-trauma, redundancy, absenteeism and stalled negotiations.
Their publications and sales CDs have been sold globally. To sign up for their FREE stress management updates and stress tips – click http://tinyurl.com/zxbgo or for more information email info@carolespiersgroup.com or telephone +44 (0) 29 8954 1593
Two recent court cases have confirmed the ‘vicarious liability’ of employers in cases of workplace bullying, and highlighted the need for corporations to institute and operate a formal anti-bullying strategy.
In one case, an audit co-ordinator at Guy’s and St. Thomas’s NHS Trust managed to get his line manager suspended after she imposed unrealistic performance targets on him, as well as abusing him in public and treating him differently from other staff. She later chose to resign.
In another case, which really hit the headlines, a woman bank worker won more than £800,000 in damages after a bizarre campaign of bullying by four women colleagues, which witnesses described as ‘slow, systematic mental abuse’ and ‘extreme bitchiness and mob culture’. (Those who feel this was excessive might note that she suffered several nervous breakdowns and has had to abandon her City career altogether.)
Her case was helped by a recent House of Lords decision that employers were ‘vicariously liable’ for bullying by employees in the course of their work, even if management was unaware of it.
This means that anti-harassment procedures are only a start. Employers must now be seen to take active steps to impose good practice on their staff in order to eradicate bullying from the workplace altogether.
So What Does Bullying Behaviour Look Like?
Bullies will typically:
· Make life at work constantly difficult for their targets
· Make unreasonable demands: constantly criticising
· Insist that their way of carrying out tasks is the only way
· Shout at victims, publicly, in order to get things done
· Give instructions and then change them for no apparent reason
· Allocate tasks which they know the person is incapable of achieving
· Refuse to delegate when appropriate
· Humiliate their targets in front of others
· Block promotion, refuse to give fair appraisals or refuse to endorse pay increases or bonus
awards
· Exclude the victim from meetings or other legitimate business activities
· Constantly make attacks on the professionalism or personal qualities of their targets
If this type of behaviour is being exhibited by any of your staff, it’s important to stop it in its tracks, because research shows that once bullying behaviours become established, they are far more difficult to break.
Your First Move – Our Specialist Trainer Toolkit
Whether you’re an HR specialist or a general manager, you’ll benefit immediately from this one-stop training pack with PowerPoint slides and downloadable manual.
'Back Off!': Combating Bullying and Harassment in the Workplace, is produced by international stress guru Carole Spiers - trainer, broadcaster and keynote motivational speaker to blue-chip corporations.
It sets out a clear overview of the causes, symptoms and techniques through which to defuse unacceptable behaviour - including case studies, quotes from victims, procedures for monitoring bullying situations, and special do’s and don’ts for particularly sensitive areas such as sexual harassment.
Get A Clear Overview Of The Management Interventions You Should Be Implementing
Policies and procedures
· The value of a clear written policy produced in co-operation with the unions.
· Handling complaints and appeals.
· How to encourage whistle-blowing.
Monitoring and mediation
· How to use exit interviews for information gathering.
· Choosing and using an impartial investigator when informal resolutions fail.
Standing up for your employees
· Evaluating a bullying charge against a highly-rated staff member.
· Assessing the odds of a malicious false accusation.
Even if you've never analysed bullying and harassment before, you'll soon acquire a workable knowledge of this important subject, with the help of easy-to-understand charts, diagrams and listings written with the authority of a leading international consultant on bullying and harassment.
To download your trainer toolkit, go to http://tinyurl.com/ldurw.
PS Book Carole as a motivational speaker on the subject of workplace bullying at your conference or symposium.
Carole Spiers is a motivational speaker and founder of Carole Spiers Group, one of the UKs leading stress management consultancies, whose psychological insights have improved productivity for clients such as Sainsbury’s, Unilever, the Bank of England and many others. www.carolespiersgroup.com gives authoritative advice on both the human and the legal aspects of workplace stress, including workplace bullying, violence, post-trauma, redundancy, absenteeism and stalled negotiations.
Their publications and sales CDs have been sold globally. To sign up for their FREE stress management updates and stress tips – click http://tinyurl.com/zxbgo or for more information email info@carolespiersgroup.com or telephone +44 (0) 29 8954 1593
# posted by Carole Spiers @ 8:08 PM 
