Bullying at Work is here to stay…?

I reviewed the newspapers: The Metro and The Standard, in November 2015 and came across two particular articles which spoke about workplace bullying and the costs to industry. Sadly, services like mine which help workers rise above work stress are very much needed… The Metro states categorically that bullying at work is very much on the rise. In the last 12 months, ACAS, a conciliation service apparently received 20,000 calls about bullying and harassment. You can read more about this article here.

So how and why is bullying thriving?

Often, it is because with the fear of unemployment and the demands of household bills and mortgages, workers fear losing their jobs, so they tolerate intolerable situations. These include: verbal and physical abuse, humiliation and ostracism.

ACAS state that problems are so bad that some workers have considered taking their own lives.

Sir Brendan Barber, ACAS Chairman, states: “The annual economic impact of bullying-related absences, staff turnover and lost productivity is estimated to be almost £18 billion.”

Crises

With the cuts to budgets and staffing resources, redundancies and industries fore-closing, it is safe to say that many services are facing real crises. No industry is unaffected.

The Standard, 2015 wrote about a London hospital Mental Health Trust which in financial crisis. The trust’s budget has been cut by £8million and this will have a direct and negative impact on mental health service provision; staff will be further stretched and this will lead to demoralization and some of the bullying factors raised by The Metro article above. Many Trusts are facing such financial crisis, and in addition, staff are being made redundant and this leads to more fear around job security.

So with services being cut, where will vulnerable people and people in need of support go?

When work starts to feel like a battle ground, this is when workers begin to exhibit the signs of stress such as anxiety and panic attacks, inability to think straight and extreme fear. The atmosphere in these work environments can be cut with a knife ad there is only so much that people can bear – and this leads to stress-related sickness absences.

So if this climate of cuts and increasing targets is here to stay, workers require to be adept to deal with the range of problems that will come with this. Being adept will involve:

• Having a attitude of self-care and self-nurturing as a foundation point.
• Self-Awareness – Being clear of one’s boundaries of knowledge and skill.
• Asking for help when necessary
• Self-Protection -Being able to challenge unacceptable treatment

The consequences of bullying and harassment can be disastrous and if it is on the rise, it is important that workers have the tools to defend themselves and more than this, grow and thrive.

What does your experience say? – is bullying at work here to stay?

Awele is an experienced trainer who has worked nationally and delivered training for over 300 delegates – working successfully with over 30 companies and organisations. From goal setting, and planning skills to resilience and stress management, Awele has experience designing and delivering a range of programmes. If you have particular training needs, then do enquire to see how Awele can be of support to you. Workplace stress is not something you have to live with, contact Awele and make stress at work a thing of the past.

Call Awele on 07985 440014 or 0845 054 2781 or
email: awele@theworkstressbuster.co.uk.
See here for more information on the range of training services Awele provides.

photo credit: <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/51430986@N06/5713557780″>Take A Stand Agains Bullying</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a> <a href=”https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/”>(license)</a>