It’s emerged that Westminster, and British workplaces more widely, have harassment: Key dates The halls are alive, with Abeleaguered home secretary, a
press briefing war, explosive
December 2018
The government announces it will work
with the EHRC on statutory code of
resignations, grievance payouts and
a lawsuit – accusations of a toxic
culture in government are rife. Home
secretary Priti Patel faces allegations
of bullying and belittling staff across
Whitehall, which she denies.
So what can we learn from the
government’s culture crisis? And what
HR policies will reduce the risk of
bullying and harassment in workplaces?
In the past three years 15% of
workers have suffered from bullying
and 8% from harassment at work,
according to the CIPD’s 2020
report Managing conflict in the
modern workplace.
There is no legal definition for
bullying. Acas defines it as ‘offensive,
intimidating, malicious or insulting
behaviour’ or an abuse or misuse of
power to ‘undermine, humiliate,
denigrate or injure’.
Bullying becomes harassment when
it is linked to a protected characteristic
of the Equality Act, such as gender,
race or religion. It can lead to a
financial settlement through a
meditator, such as Acas, or to an
employment tribunal.
Bullying and harassment often
thrive in a toxic culture where they are
not challenged. A worrying four in five
respondents (83%) to an audience poll
taken during a 2018 HR magazine and
O.C. Tanner webinar reported having
worked in an organisation they would
describe as having a toxic culture.
A toxic culture stems from fear,
manipulation, control, interrogation
and poorly-regulated behaviour, says
Tom Cassidy, head of executive
coaching at interpersonal skills
training provider Working Voices.
Toxicity can also be exacerbated by
excessive competition, pressure,
ambiguity, change, a culture of
blaming and no clear goals. He adds:
“An ‘eat or be eaten’ environment
creates a vicious atmosphere.”
Not all conflict is bad argues
Rachel Suff, senior policy advisor for
employment relations at the CIPD.
“People should be able to express
their views respectfully. Diversity of
thought can enrich discussion and
broaden perspectives, ultimately
improving decision-making,” she says.
But even seemingly innocuous spats
or banter can fester if unresolved and
subsequently contribute to creating a
toxic culture, she adds. Therefore HR
should identify and manage conflict to
nip it in the bud as quickly as possible,
asserts Suff.
Investing in training is critical to
this, but only 40% of managers polled
by the CIPD said their organisation
had trained them in overseeing people.
“It’s not enough to do a one-off
exercise, either. They need ongoing
support from senior leadership to
learn how to monitor relationships, be
aware of simmering tensions and feel
confident to challenge bad behaviour,”
Suff says.
The significance of investing in
people management skills was
highlighted by Downing Street seeking
to hire an HR policy chief in February.
This reflects concerns over the
treatment of ministers’ special
advisors, or spads.
One of former-chancellor Sajid
Javid’s advisors was escorted from
Downing Street by police after being
sacked by the prime minister’s top
advisor Dominic Cummings. Javid
dramatically resigned when Number
10 later demanded he fire all his spads.
Unfair treatment can affect staff
wellbeing and organisational
performance – and poor people
management is often to blame. The
University of Manchester Business
School found that people with toxic
bosses (leaders high in narcissism and
psychopathy) were more depressed
and then more likely to bully others.
“Unhappy workers are also less
productive and more likely to quit,”
News and analysis Bullying in the workplace
Bullying and
October 2009
Trade union Unison andCompany
Magazine launch the Bully Busters
campaign, which lobbies the government
to revise the Dignity in the Workplace bill
to include an anti-bullying policy
February 2010
Prime minister Gordon Brown is
accused of bullying after four
Number 10 staff call an antibullying
help line to complain
February 2013
The government announces an
amendment to the Enterprise and
Regulatory Reform Bill, which protects
whistleblowers from bullying or
harassment from co-workers after
they’ve made a disclosure
November 2015
Acas’ report Seeking better solutions
reveals bullying is a serious issue in
Britain’s workplaces. Its help line receives
around 20,000 calls related to bullying
and harassment in one year
October 2017
Former executives accuse Harvey
Weinstein of decades of psychological
abuse and bullying while he was cochair
of Miramax. This is on top of multiple
allegations of sexual harassment
practice on sexual
harassment in the workplace
July 2019
Two separate reports nd
bullying and harassment are rife
in both Houses of Parliament
March 2020
Home secretary Priti Patel is accused
of bullying employees in her
former role as secretary of state
for international development.
Allegations from other of ces
where she has worked
also surface
12 HR April 2020 hrmagazine.co.uk
/hrmagazine.co.uk