Transcript Slide 1
Addressing Bullying and Harassment in the Workplace Presentation for Capita Breakfast Briefing: Managing Stress in the Police Wednesday 25th April, 2007 Karen McIvor Ph.D. copyright 2007 [email protected] Evidence of links to stress • correlation between bullying/harassment and stress measures • correlation between bullying/harassment and physiological stress response • absence reports • case studies • HSE work HSE stress indicator tool (Cousins et al, 2004) • 12% of all police respondents had been bullied in the previous six months • 29% of all police respondents had been bullied in the previous five years • 45% of all police respondents had witnessed bullying in the past five years ‘Destructive Conflict and Bullying at Work’ Special version commissioned by Polfed. Hoel & Cooper (2001) In a recent exit poll conducted across ten Forces • 31% of resigning or transferring officers stated that bullying and / or discrimination was relevant to their decision to leave (Cooper & Ingram, 2004) • 21% of police support staff reported they were currently being bullied UNISON, 2000 • 37% of police staff subjected to or witnessed racial harassment, homophobia or bullying UNISON (2003) • Policing is in the top six occupations at risk of bullying Hoel & Cooper (2001) WORKING ENVIRONMENT EMOTIONAL High staff turnover High absenteeism High sickness rates: regular/prolonged Low morale Loss of initiative Tense atmosphere Depression Anxiety Loss of confidence Loss of self-esteem Lack of motivation Irritability/ aggression Anger Suicidal thoughts PHYSICAL Sleeplessness Sweating/shaking Palpitations Lethargy Skin complaints Stomach/bowel problem Headaches/ migraine Nausea Panic attacks Excessive tiredness Taken from Police Federation in England & Wales policy document on bullying Management Indicators of Bullying – Lots of Ideas Event Hierarchy RESTORATION and LEARNING Legal redress AMELIORATION Formal complaint Informal complaint INTERVENTION Informal enquiry PREVENTION Bad behaviour after Rayner & McIvor (2006) POLICIES • Not all Forces have a specific policy addressing bullying and harassment • The general thrust of policies is that bullying/harassment will not be tolerated • Responsibility for carrying out any such policy is variously located in managers, supervisors and all members of the Service Policy • Policies are good because they give the individual confidence that the problem will be dealt with. • if there aren’t procedures or policies then members of an organisation may think that they haven’t got a chance of talking about or dealing with bullying and harassment Policy – not all positive… • Policies may be interpreted in such a way that there is no room for manoeuvre. The policy is applied rigidly with no consideration of individual case requirements. • Policies can be seen as hollow gestures giving the impression that the matter is taken seriously and that the organisation cares about its members, but actually there in order to tick boxes and to protect the organisation Constructing a good policy 1. Analyse requirements and set criteria 2. Source the policy carefully 3. Development or adaptation through partnership 4. Short and simply written documentation 5. Communication with explanation 6. Evaluation and regular review Communication, Awareness Raising, Training • Policies by themselves are not much use if they sit on a shelf and nothing is done to draw attention to them. Applying the policy Even within highly controlled organisations, there are often slight differences in the way that the business of the day is conducted. Do not assume that all parts of the organisation will apply or disseminate the policies in the same way. How are you going to evaluate your policy? Tackling bullying and harassment requires a strategic approach Policy is a good start, but it is not the full solution Copyright Karen McIvor 2007 Karen McIvor, Ph.D. Bullying999.co.uk