Feb 24, 2015 | News
Workplace bullying can have long lasting mental and physical effects on workers. Bullying can be anything from ostracizing victims to spreading rumours and betraying trust. But studies are showing that the younger generation of workers may be changing the attitudes towards workplace bullying.
Millennials (aka Generation Y) have grown up with anti-bullying campaigns in school. Because of this, they are more aware of what bullying is, its effects and how to prevent it from occurring.
“The younger generation is quite intolerant of bullying,” Dr. Gary Namie, a psychologist and co-founder of the Workplace Bullying Institute, told Forbes.com. “We’ve found they’re less likely to believe they have to continue to stay in that environment. Many know they’ll hold multiple jobs in their lifetime, so they’re quick to get out of a bad situation [compared to the older generations].”
In time, Namie says, the intolerance to bullying will trickle down to other generations as companies face employee turnover from it.
Dspite the rise of Internet trolling and reputation damage through social media, Dr. Namie says the internet has actually had a positive impact on the case against workplace bullying. Online forums dedicated to sharing stories have generally been supportive, he says. A whopping 72% of people surveyed had never heard of “workplace bullying” before reading the term online.
Employers have a duty to address bullying, preferably before it begins, with employee training.
“Employers have the power to nip bullying in the bud,” Namie said. “I’m always surprised when small companies don’t address a bully. If you have six employees and one is a bully, that’s a significant percentage of your workforce that’s unhappy. In a bigger company, one bully out of a hundred wouldn’t make as big a dent.”
A survey by the Workplace Bullying Institute found that only six per cent of businesses said their organizations had a defined policy enforceable against bullying.
The WBI offers these suggestions for addressing workplace bullying:
1.) Define what is workplace bullying at your company. Have a firm commitment that it is unacceptable. Use company-specific illustrations to define it. “Clearly state what it is and what it’s not,” says Dr. Namie.
2.) The target must show the consequences of the bullying. Work-related consequences of the bullying like absenteeism and drop in productivity are just as important and quantitative as impact on health.
3.) Enforce procedures to tackle it. An informal, pre-emptive measure could be to facilitate team training on anti-bullying. A formal procedure would be to insist on “restorative rather than punitive” action. “Even the bully should be treated with dignity as they get counseled,” says Dr. Namie.
4.) In other words: don’t have a zero-tolerance policy; find ways to create a culture of inclusion.
ILScorp offers two anti-bullying courses – one for employees, another for employers. These online workplace bullying courses can be an important part of your workplace bullying policy. Visit www.ilscorp.com for more info or call us at 1-800-404-2211 to get started.
May 16, 2014 | News
Saturday, May 17, marks the International Day Against Homophobia. According to Research from British group Stonewall, nearly one in five lesbian and gay people, almost 350,000 employees in Britain, have experienced bullying from their colleagues because of their sexual orientation. Almost four million people (13 per cent of the British workforce) have witnessed verbal homophobic bullying in the workplace and over one million people have witnessed physical homophobic bullying at work.
According to a 2013 study by Leger Marketing, 80% of Canadian surveyed report that in their daily lives they have witnessed derogatory remarks about homosexual people or homosexuality in general, 10% say they have witnessed this often.
Nearly six out of 10 Canadians (58%) who use social media, say they have witnessed derogatory remarks about homosexual people or homosexuality in general on social media – 45% of respondents said they witnessed this type of remark on Facebook, 43% on a blog and 33% on Twitter.
Stonewall’s pioneering research on the productivity of lesbian and gay staff in the workplace, Peak Performance, found that gay staff who can be out at work in a safe environment are more productive than their gay colleagues who have to hide their sexual orientation at work and/or work in less inclusive environments.
What can you do?
Several Canadian provinces have enacted anti-bullying legislation, which requires workplaces to include anti-bullying training for their employees.
Ontario, Manitoba, Québec and Saskatchewan have already introduced legislation against bullying and B.C. recently enacted Bill 14 [Workers Compensation Amendment Act] to address the effects of bullying at work.
Are you compliant with the anti-bullying laws?
Complete ILScorp’s “Understanding Workplace Bullying” & “Tools for Safeguarding an Organization from Bullying Behaviour” courses.
With these anti-bullying courses you will:
- determine whether a problem exists in a workplace
- learn how to prevent incidents
- gain tools for safeguarding your organization from bullying behaviour
- develop a workplace bullying prevention program
These courses are included free of charge as part of your group membership. This course is General and Adjuster CE accredited, however ILScorp recommends that all employees receive this training for law compliance.
Apr 23, 2014 | News
If a manager or supervisor is told that one employee is bullying another, they must address the issue. But before company leaders can confront the person responsible, they need to identify that bullying has indeed taken place and confirm the facts. The following is a basic three-step plan of action:
Step 1: Identify what is considered bullying in the workplace. Workplace bullying can be described as repetitive, deliberate verbal, non-verbal and even physical actions directed against a co-worker or subordinate for the sole purpose of dominating and controlling. Such behaviour is damaging and can result in severe psychological or physical harm to the victim.
Step 2: Confirm the facts and develop a plan to confront the bully. Once bullying has been identified, it is the supervisor/manager’s responsibility to confirm the facts, prepare documentation, and develop a plan to confront the bully. Confirming facts will help you understand the extent of damage that may have been done to the victim. If there are enough facts to confront the bully, prepare a plan.
Consult any appropriate partners such as human resources personnel and determine what consequences – anything from written discipline to termination – may be considered. The plan must be sensitive to the needs of the victim, who may need support through an employee assistance program.
Step 3: Schedule a meeting to confront the bully. Determine the time and location of the meeting, as well as who will be involved, and prepare a script. In a private space, facilitate the following conversation:
- Explain the purpose of the meeting. In a clear and assertive tone, explain that the employee has been linked to bullying and that this conversation is to address that. For example: “John, I have asked to meet with you to discuss the following facts … and our position on this matter. Do you understand why you’re here?”
- Verify with the employee why they are there. This gives the individual time to understand the seriousness of the conversation and allows the leader to evaluate how the employee is going to manage their emotions. If the employee or leader becomes overly emotional, stop the conversation and start again only when everyone is calm.
- Present the facts and concerns, and outline the consequences. This is to ensure that the employee understands that this is not a negotiation; it’s a reporting of the facts. The ultimate goal is for the employee to accept responsibility for his or her actions. Facts: “John, you were observed … ” (Share the facts, history, evidence and the organization’s position.) Concerns: “John, bullying behaviour is not acceptable in this organization and it will not be tolerated. Do you understand the concern and expectation to stop any behaviours that could be perceived as bullying?” Employee’s response: Give the employee a chance to admit responsibility, ask questions about what they need to do, show remorse, apologize and commit to changing their behaviour. Consequences: Inform the employee how the matter will be dealt with. A union representative may need to be involved.
- Frame an action plan. Outline the steps the employee must comply with to continue their employment. “John, the first step is to stop bullying X immediately. You will be expected to …” Leave nothing to assumption. Get the employee to agree to those expectations.
- Review the plan. Review the expected behaviour, how the plan will be monitored, any disciplinary action, the impact on the employee’s record, future consequences if there is a relapse, and the frequency of follow-up. A written plan may help the employee follow the guidelines.
Effective leaders must embrace the challenge of making sure their workplace is free of bullying. ILScorp offers additional resources to help both employers and employees prevent and manage bullying in the workplace, and ensure compliance with workplace legislation.
Ontario, Manitoba, Québec and Saskatchewan have already introduced legislation against bullying and B.C. recently enacted Bill 14 [Workers Compensation Amendment Act] to address the effects of bullying at work. Become compliant with existing laws. Complete ILScorp’s “Understanding Workplace Bullying & Tools for Safeguarding an Organization from Bullying Behaviour” courses.
This course is included free of charge as part of ILScorp your group subscription. This course is General and Adjuster CE accredited, however ILScorp recommends that all employees receive this training for law compliance.
Excerpted from the Globe and Mail, written by Bill Howatt, the president of Howatt HR Consulting and founder of TalOp, in Kentville, N.S.
Mar 24, 2014 | News
Cyberbullies have grown up. Research from Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, BC, suggests that the online abuse that has been so prevalent among teenagers is carrying through to Canadian universities.
Research papers presented at a recent symposium in Vancouver say that undergraduate students are harassing their peers on social media, instructors are on the receiving end of student-led online smear campaigns, and faculty members are belittling their colleagues in emails.
“When you look at cyberbullying among younger kids, or kids in middle and high school, usually by age 15, it dies off,” said education Prof. Wanda Cassidy, who worked on the study with two others. “What was surprising was the fact that it is happening in universities to the extent that it is.”
While many studies have been done on cyber abuse involving adolescents, research on the behaviour among adults is limited. Cassidy and her colleagues looked at whether teens who bully others online still do it after entering university. The research team also wondered whether faculty staff are being targeted in cyberspace. They surveyed over 2,000 people and interviewed 30 participants from four Canadian universities — two in British Columbia, one on the Prairies and one in Atlantic Canada.
Though some of the data from two universities is still trickling in, the available information so far indicates roughly one in five undergraduate students has been cyberbullied, mostly through Facebook, text messages and email, Cassidy said.
Faculty members — mostly women — also said they’ve been harassed online by students or colleagues. In one interview, a professor said she was bombarded with emails and text messages from a student who called her lousy, incompetent and useless.
“I am reporting you and they will take away your licence, you are so stupid,” the professor recalled from one message.
In another school, an instructor found herself fighting a losing battle against a colleague who was convinced she was gossiping about her. “She texted me 73 times in one day, and over a week it was about 180 messages. When I didn’t respond, it was worse,” the instructor said.
Cassidy said the emergence of cyberbullying in an older population comes with grown-up consequences, such as ruined professional relationships or reputations, anxiety, sleep deprivation and thoughts of suicide.
“There was a fair proportion of people — both faculty and students — who said it made them feel suicidal … which is quite frightening, particularly when you think of faculty members. There should be some element of security that they don’t have to worry about colleagues bullying them, but obviously they do feel like maybe there’s no way out, there’s no way getting around it.”
The sense of helplessness is not uncommon, Cassidy said. The anonymity granted to cyberbullies makes it difficult to go after perpetrators. Just over half of the surveyed students and faculty said they tried to stop cyberbullying. But less than half of them reported success. Cassidy said that’s partly because few university policies specifically address online bullying.
The research team examined 465 policies from 75 universities between November 2011 and January 2012. The study found most universities did have policies around student conduct, discrimination and harassment, but not all were specific to online venues.
Jackson said devising clear-cut policies is a good start, but universities should also put resources into counselling and prevention to reduce cyberbullying.
“I think there needs to be an appreciation on the part of faculty and students that there is an impact to their behaviour and they should be acting respectfully,” Jackson said.
Excerpted from the Canadian Press
At ILScorp we encourage you to take a stand against bullying at home, school and in the workplace. We have developed a Bullying awareness course, for both employers and employees, to help you understand the meaning and consequences of bullying. With up to 40 percent of Canadian workers reporting feeling bullied at work, the issue goes beyond the school schools.
Feb 25, 2014 | News
Tomorrow, Wednesday Feb 26, 2014, marks Pink Shirt Day in BC, an anti-bullying awareness project inspired by high school students in Nova Scotia, who wore pink t-shirts to school to support a fellow student who was bullied for wearing a pink-shirt. Aside from awareness, Pink Shirt Day has also become a fundraiser for the Boys and Girls Clubs, Big Sisters and Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver, The Canadian Red Cross, Kids Help Phone and many other charities.
At ILScorp we encourage you to take a stand against bullying at home, school and in the workplace. We have developed a Bullying awareness course, for both employers and employees, to help you understand the meaning and consequences of bullying. With up to 40 percent of Canadian workers reporting feeling bullied at work, the issue goes beyond the school yard.
Many countries and regions already have Workplace Bullying laws in place. Ontario, Manitoba, Québec and Saskatchewan have already introduced legislation against bullying and B.C. recently enacted Bill 14 [Workers Compensation Amendment Act] to address the effects of bullying at work.
ILScorp recommends that all employees receive this training. The courses are available as part of your group membership to ILScorp and can be accessed FREE via your General Insurance Course subscription.
The PinkShirtDay.ca website offers these eight suggestions for supporting their campaign:
- Purchase your official Pink Shirt Day T-Shirt at London Drugs or online at Shop.PinkShirtDay.ca
- Share our Pink Shirt Day Public Service Announcement (PSA) on your facebook wall or twitter account View it here:
- Follow us on Facebook and Twitter
- Visit our partners who are raising funds for Pink Shirt Day in Vancouver (more on this soon!).
- Challenge your friends and co-workers to commit to a bully-free lifestyle and wear pink on Feb 26, 2014.
- Upload a picture of you, your school, your work, your friends on Twitter wearing pink on Feb 26th and tag it with #pinkshirtday and mention @pinkshirtday – or email to photos@pinkshirtday.ca
- Download our posters, print and hang up at your school or work and share with everyone what is going on for Pink Shirt Day.
- Share and retweet messages from @pinkshirtday on Twitter and let us know what you’re doing to support Pink Shirt Day on Feb 26, 2014. Example tweet: On Feb 26 I’ll be wearing Pink. Make some noise against bullying! Support @pinkshirtday. #pinkshirtday
Net proceeds from Pink Shirt Day activities & t-shirt sales benefit the CKNW Orphans’ Fund in support of Boys & Girls Clubs Anti-Bullying programs.
