Every year workplace bullying causes untold harm to the health and wellbeing of Australian workers. It also costs businesses countless millions of dollars in lost productivity and human resource management.
So where does it start and how does bullying take hold?
"Bullying often begins with low-level incivility," says UNE researcher Dr Natasha Loi, "and includes any subtle but nevertheless rude or disrespectful behaviour that's repeated."
"It might be a colleague coming into your office and taking something off your desk without asking, or speaking over the top of you in a meeting without apologising.
"Incivility also includes gossiping and sarcastic comments, even giving a colleague the cold shoulder.
"Not turning off your mobile phone in a meeting can be considered uncivil behaviour, because it's showing a lack of respect for others."
Natasha says the problem with such behaviours is that they can be ambiguous, excused as 'personality conflicts' or the victim accused of being 'overly sensitive'.
Managers might view such examples as insignificant and either ignore the behaviour or sweep it under the carpet, leaving victims questioning the validity of their concerns.
"A lot of incivility comes down to perception, so fellow staff and managers may not recognise it as bullying behaviour," Natasha says.
"But if an individual perceives it as bad behaviour and it makes them feel uncomfortable, then it is bad behaviour. And staff should never be expected to just get over it or sort it out between themselves."
Persistent low-level bullying can create considerable pain and stress and, at its worst, compel a person to quit their job.
"Research has shown that the accumulation of daily hassles like this in the workplace can lead to more stress than the experience of one major, traumatic experience like being in a car accident, especially if the victim believes the organisation is tolerating the behaviour," Natasha says.
"It can produce all sorts of negative psychological outcomes, including depressive symptoms, even the person becoming a bully themself and seeking retribution."
A study Natasha conducted concluded that women will tolerate bad behaviour significantly more than men.
"It is a lot to do with power," she says.
"Females tend to feel that they don't have the same degree of social power in the workplace as males, so they just have to accept it.
"More women are in casual employment than men and simply can't afford to up and leave; there's also the shame and loss of confidence they feel.
"Instead, they double-down and commonly try to get back at their perpetrator by just working harder to give themselves more power, if that's possible."
But it's not only the individual that suffers.
"One way that victims cope is through work withdrawal - quitting outright or actively looking to leave their employment, which can cause all sorts of headaches for the manager," Natasha says.
"But there is also job withdrawal - the things a victim might do within the workplace to remove themselves from the situation or attempt to exact some control. They might take frequently long morning tea or lunch breaks or come to work late or leave early.
"These are all ways that they might seek to get back at the perpetrator or employer."
If managers fail to address bullying, then it's ultimately seen as acceptable.
"This thinking can then permeate the entire organisation and create a toxic environment where nobody behaves well and nobody is getting punished for it," Natasha says.
"Then not just the victim but potentially the whole organisation and the bottom line is affected. Managers ignore bullying at their peril."
Follow the link for more information about studying Psychology at UNE.
Natasha Loi PhD, from the School of Psychology at the University of New England, teaches Organisational Psychology (https://www.une.edu.au/study/units/organisational-psychology-psyc306) to Bachelor of Psychological Science, Bachelor of Psychology (Honours), Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Social Science, Bachelor of Science, and Graduate Diploma in Psychology students.
