MANAGEMENT BY BULLYING.

The Legal Consequences

You think of yourself as a strong and effective manager who knows how to keep employees in line. You believe that to get the most out of your staff you need to push them hard and you regularly readjust the goals you set for staff to make them more challenging. You micro-manage the tasks you assign and you yell at your employees when they don't perform up to your exacting standards. You also take pleasure in patronizing and insulting your subordinates during staff meetings so that they will know their place. So are you a good manager or just a workplace bully?

What is Bullying?

Broadly defined, bullying is any behaviour that intimidates, humiliates or demeans a person. Sometimes it's directed at one employee in particular; other times it's part of a hostile or poisoned work environment.

Although bullying is a form of harassment, only discriminatory harassment (that is, harassment related to a protected ground of discrimination such as race, sex, religion, age, sexual orientation etc.), is prohibited under human rights laws.

Bullying can range from physically abusive or aggressive behaviour to persistent, excessive and unjustified criticism and constant scrutiny. (For examples of bullying, see "Are You a Bully?")

Bullying has historically gone unchecked and has been dismissed as a personality conflict, an employee attitude or a strong management style. At other times the bully (who can be quite adept at charming senior management) simply alleges that the victim is incompetent or insubordinate and senior management accepts this characterization without question.

Effects of Bullying

Bullying has some serious consequences. For example, victims of bullying may:

* blame themselves and doubt their self-worth;

* be less productive;

* suffer from stress-related illnesses, including headaches, inability to concentrate, sleeping and eating disorders, depression, muscle pain and panic attacks;

* be at greater risk of alcoholism or suicide;

* be fired, miss out on a promotion, or quit their jobs without having a new job in place.

For employers, allowing bullying behaviour in the workplace can lead to higher turnover and absenteeism, decreased morale, losses in productivity and legal costs incurred to defend claims brought by employees.