This post is written by Susan Broomhall, CEO Bright Research and Insights, and author of ‘Bullying & Harassment – Understanding the Psychological and Behavioural Tactics of the Toxic Leadership Stronghold’.

  • The problem: Current anti-bullying policy is ineffectual.
  • Why it matters: Bullying is an emotive and complex issue about human behaviour. Without understanding the emotional and psychological aspects of bullying, prevention will continue to be unattainable.
  • The solution: When we approach incidents of bullying as a compassionate human being rather than an organisational employee just doing a job, we move closer to preventing bullying from occurring at all.

Bullying and harassment continue to be problematic both in organisations and in society in general. Attitudes toward bullying vary greatly depending on personal perspective ranging from those that have been exposed to bullying, those who have bullying prevention responsibilities, to those who have very little to do with bullying at all.

Everyone understands that bullying is unacceptable in any context and therefore organisations will often have anti-bullying policies and protocols for complaint handling. Organisations often default to the belief that posters, websites, apps, programmes and seminars about bullying prevention will help to deter or manage harmful behaviour. However, despite all these being in place, bullying continues to be a problem. Why?

Bullying is a highly emotive subject that relates to abuse, suffering and pain, making the application of policy to manage incidents of bullying appear to be heartless and cold to those that have been targeted by bullies. Unfortunately, too often organisational policies fail to meet the needs of targets.

The policies and resources associated with bullying prevention are ineffectual human behaviour intervention strategies that are often seen as lip service to a highly traumatic situation. This in turn can lead to many people not raising the issue of bullying and, thus, bullying may be left to continue to cause harm.

For there to be trust, there needs to be prior proof that what is being trusted has been evidenced by past action. Where there is no proof, there is no trust.

Why policy isn’t the answer

There are many reasons why policy is an inappropriate intervention for bullying, including:

  • Bullying refers to abuse and not everyone is willing or (psychologically) able to report that they have been abused. Targets of bullies may be feeling shame, guilt, fear, abandonment, pain, embarrassment, and any number of emotions that prevent speaking up.
  • Lack of trust. Reporting will not occur if there is no trust – trust that something will be done, trust that it’s safe to report, trust that there won’t be repercussions for reporting, trust that the report will be believed, trust that the perpetrator will be punished etc. For there to be trust, there needs to be prior proof that what is being trusted has been evidenced by past action. Where there is no proof, there is no trust.
  • Definitions and boundaries on what can be reported as ‘bullying’. Too often organisations will determine “that’s not considered bullying”, leading it to be put under a different category, being trivialised and not being actioned.
  • Privacy and confidentiality. Reporting systems and procedures often fail to provide adequate privacy and confidentiality to those reporting, exposing targets to further harm.
  • The overuse of technology as the solution. Having a technological system that records personal data opens the threat of data breach. Too often the application of technology is used as the solution rather than a tool. Apps, websites, databases, and the like do not solve the problem. Resources allocated to technological solutions detract from real solution development and don’t prevent or stop bullying.
  • Whistleblowers and those that speak up are seen to be “punished” for raising bullying issues.
  • Clandestine directives to “keep quiet”, especially in the form of threats from senior management about career implications.
  • Conflicting policies and regulations preventing speaking up such as protected disclosure agreements.
  • Social norms indicating the notion that it’s inappropriate to speak up, including that “nothing ever happens” when you do.
  • Maladministration. There is no room for error with sensitive issues of bullying. If reports are being poorly handled, the number of people raising the issue drops.
  • Toxic leadership. Where the leader is considered toxic, it will be understood that speaking up will be of detriment to a subordinate.
  • The reporting system is corrupted or perceived to be corrupted. No one can speak up if those that are deemed responsible for handling complaints are considered corrupt. This includes where the reporting system fails to be independent of the system where the bullying is occurring.

Bringing the human into it

In essence, bullying is a social behaviour and policy does not prevent bullying, people do. Moreso, bullying prevention is not a job, it’s an ethical and moral stance which requires compassion not organisational resources and policies.

Instead of depending on inadequate organisational policies to prevent bullying, what if being more compassionate as human beings could create harmony? What if, instead of deferring to organisational policy, we:

  • Checked our own behaviour first to see if we are contributing to the problem or the solution.
  • Called out inappropriate and harmful behaviour whether it was directed at us or someone else.
  • Listened, without judgement, when someone expressed their emotions and feelings.
  • Offered each other emotional support.
  • Collectively worked to find win-win solutions.
  • Offered to help where we could, when we could.
  • Let go of the ‘us vs them’ narrative. This is a ‘divide and conquer’ war tactic that causes harm to everyone leaving no ‘winners’.
  • Leave. Ultimately, organisations have the final say on the organisational culture. If the organisation continues to condone harmful behaviour by failing to prevent it, and you feel ethically and morally misaligned to the organisational ethos, leaving the organisation becomes the most sensible option. This is oftentimes the hardest thing to do but, unfortunately sometimes the only way not to be harmed is to get out of harm’s way.

Solving the problem

At its core, bullying is about a person feeling so inadequate about themself that they need to inflict pain and suffering on another to validate their existence. The shortcoming of the bully is that they know no other way to feel good about themself other than to tear someone else down to their level.

A shortcoming of a target or a bystander oftentimes is the belief that organisational policy is the only option for bullying prevention. Each person has a personal responsibility for how they choose to behave, irrespective of company policy, including how each of us manages our well-being.

Could being more compassionate, rather than depending on policy, be the way to finding harmony and preventing bullying?

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