Bullying - not strong management - weak leadership
Featured in the Valuing Diversity at Work training manual
By Ken Birkett & Val Rowland
Category: Diversity
Credit price: 3 download credits (Single user)
When there is a sharp focus on results, staff are more effective if encouraged towards them rather than driven to unhappiness. Bullying is an increasing form of employee harassment. Stressed managers are passing on their pressure to subordinates. A bully is defined in Collins English Dictionary as ‘a person who hurts, persecutes or intimidates weaker people’. Managing diversity means valuing people regardless of differences, and not using such differences to take advantage. The institute of personnel and development has published a survey showing that one in eight workers say they have been bullied at work during the last five years. More than 1,000 people were interviewed. Of those who were bullied, over half said it is common in their organisation and a quarter said it worsened during the last year. Seventy-two per cent of victims said they had suffered from stress as a result of the bullying. One-third had not raised the issue with anyone at work and those who had were generally dissatisfied with how it was handled. A similar study of over 1,000 employees by the University of Stafford found that 78 per cent had witnessed bullying at work. The MSF (Manufacturing, Science and Finance Union) found that union representatives in companies’ employing up to 140,000 said that 30 per cent said bullying was a problem. Advisory bodies who offer assistance in such cases are reporting that enquiries are increasing.
You begin this training activity by asking the participants to consider what bullying is and its effects on an organisation. Bullying is defined, those who are likely to bully and reasons for bullying are identified, and how the bullied person feels is described. The participants next analyse a bullying situation and reflect on the steps that could be taken to prevent such a situation. Examples are given of the measures an organisation can take to prevent bullying and you close the training activity with a summary review of the key learning points.
Who is it for: This training resource is intended for use by trainers to enable participants to look closely at the nature and effects of bullying in the workplace and what measures should be in place to prevent such situations.
- Themes:
- Managing diversity,
- Management skills,
| Resource Type: | Activity |
| Min Group Size: | 4 |
| Max Group Size: | 12 |
| Typical Duration: | 01:10:00 |
| No of Pages: | 13 |
Resources: View standard resources for Fenman training activities
Purpose: This training resource is intended for use by trainers in any training situation relating to people management. It would be of particular use for organisations introducing managing diversity policies.
Download the training activity, Bullying - not strong management - weak leadership as featured in the Fenman training manual; Valuing Diversity at Work