Workplace Bullying - Case Study Example

The paper 'Workplace Bullying ' is a great example of a Management Case Study. Workplace bullying is the behavior that makes the employees feel they are intimidated and frightened. Sometimes, the managers may behave in a way that will frighten the junior employees or even the employees can bully other employees. The effect of workplace bullying includes creating a bad relationship among the employees, and between employees and management. Workplace bullying can lead to the poor performance of an organization, hence should be discouraged. Due to global competition, organizations should discourage workplace bullying so that there will be a good relationship among the stakeholders of the organization (Australian Institute of Project Management 2010). Despite workplace bullying having many negative effects, there are also positive effects of bullying like discouraging restless behaviors among the employees. This paper therefore will discuss the nature of the issue, the importance of bullying to organizations, and how organizations are dealing with workplace bullying.

• Nature of workplace bullying

As we have seen, workplace bullying is the behavior at the workplace which influences the wellbeing of the employees. Workplace bullying is a result of a single individual who acts without the influence of other people. Due to the position in an organization, an individual can take advantage to bully other employees who are under his or her commands (Hirigoyen 2000).

Workplace bullying can take many forms. To start with, bullying can be in the form of shouting to an employee (Hirigoyen 2000). This is where a manager or an employee shouts at another manager or employee. This frightens the individual being shouted at and make her/him feel intimidated.

The use of language that embarrasses the employees is another form of workplace bullying. The use of a language that is not ethical can embarrass the other party and will feel ashamed and intimidated. This will obviously lead to the stress of the employees and can lower productivity (Hirigoyen 2000).

Sexual harassment is another form of bullying in the workplace. Sexual bullying can be the use of comments which are sexually suggestive which can shame an employee (Hirigoyen 2000). Further, unwelcome touching can also be workplace bullying. For instance, a manager can ask for romantic affairs in exchange for promotions. This can frustrate the efforts of an employee.

• Importance of workplace bullying to an organization

Workplace bullying is important as it acts as a sign of some arising factors with the organization like job insecurity, inadequate supervision, change of ownership, the introduction of new technology, inadequate support/training, and poor skills among the employees (Lencioni 2007). This will help to manage the organizational behavior with the aim of achieving the goals and objectives of an organization.

It is important to address the issue as it has effects on employees resulting to effects like poor morale, erosion of employee loyalty/commitment, increased cost due to training and recruitment, increased employees compensation claims and employers stress, anxiety, incapacity to work, suicide, depression (Lencioni 2007). Managing these effects will enable organizations to manage the productivity of employees by managing their morale.

• How organizations are dealing with workplace bullying

Organizations are designing various strategies with which they can apply to manage workplace bullying. The first thing that organizations are doing to manage workplace bullying is setting appropriate policies that will guide the employees against workplace bullying (Were 2004). There should be policies that should be strictly followed by the employees so that they do not become victims of workplace bullying. Any employee who found bullying another will face disciplinary action.

In addition, each employee should be encouraged to behave in a way that is not in any way form of bullying. The employees should be taught about the best ways they can recognize workplace bullying and how they can avoid them (Were 2004).  This will help to manage workplace bullying as the employees will be able to identify workplace bullying so that they can avoid them.

Another way in which organizations are managing workplace bullying is by holding regular meetings with the employees and training them on the importance of stopping workplace bullying. This will enable the employees to recognize the need of upholding ethical principles (Were 2004). As a way of encouraging the employees to abandon workplace bullying, the employees who observed better the policies against workplace bullying are rewarded and this will encourage other employees to stop workplace bullying.

Workplace bullying is a behavior that makes other employees feel that they are intimidated. Workplace bullying takes various dimensions like sexual harassment, deliberate change of timetables, shouting at employees, and using a language that frightens other employees. Tackling workplace bullying is important as it helps to address arising factors in organizations such as insecurity and managing the effects of the issue on the employees. However, workplace bullying can lead to low productivity and low morale among employees. It can be managed by setting clear policies against workplace bullying and holding regular meetings with the employees to discuss workplace bullying issues.