Workplace bullying is displayed by actions or verbal statements that could isolate or psychologically harm a person at work. It can arise as a result of personality variations, unfulfilled needs at work, bad job implementation, change in management, and unclear workplace positions among others (Karatuna et al., 2020). Poorly comprehended words and comments that have been taken out of context are examples of poor communication and disagreements due to age, sex, or upbringing on work practices, goals, or attitudes.
Leadership Skills When Dealing with Workplace Bullying
When people with diverse backgrounds and priorities work together, conflict can happen in any work setting. In this case, leadership is a critical component in the management of bullying behavior. As a leader, a high level of competency is needed when dealing with the issue from ascertaining the bullying allegation to dealing with the issue if it is confirmed to be true (Mills et al., 2019). The healthcare manager, who is their leader, therefore needs to meet with the two involved parties and mediate a conflict resolution meeting. During the meeting, the leader should maintain the following skills;
The leader must act responsibly remembering their obligation to the welfare of their team while managing conflicts. They should maintain composure, rationality, and choose wisely. For instance, if blame is assigned to the incorrect party, they will be held accountable for their mental health and their position in the organization would be severely compromised. They should maintain boundaries by making sure they assist and encourage others to respect limits. Leaders should encourage others to respect appearance, status, and all innate differences associated with fellow workers. This is important in preventing personality-related conflicts in the future hence maintaining a conducive working environment for every worker.
The leaders should also focus on facts and maintain neutrality when handling disputes as it is crucial that neither of the two parties involved feels like there is favoritism involved. It’s beneficial to let both sides know that the leader is keeping impartial while seeking a resolution. While the two conflicting parties may be more concerned with the emotions involved rather than the details and root causes, concentrating on the facts can help everyone to find remedies that will improve their circumstances.
The leader should assess the situation after the allegation report is made. The health manager should evaluate the situation and determine forehand which way the case will take if the allegations turn out to be true. The leader in this situation should work to reduce conflicts. Before addressing the matter, a leader must identify the misbehavior (Mills et al., 2019). The team members may believe that the leader is deliberating slowly; thus, leaders must take care to move quickly when handling disputes.
The manager should document a summary of the conflict, its origin, suggested resolution, and next steps in writing. This will enable them to have a detailed record of the issue in the event that it does develop into a greater issue. The documentation process will also help develop a recommendation policy addressing bullying in the workplace and the organization’s recommended code of conduct. Therefore, the organization will have developed a mechanism to avoid a similar issue in the future, and if it arises, it will have an already set regulation governing the behavior.
Policy Recommendation on Workplace Bullying
Workplace bullying
Workplace bullying is the persistent unfavorable treatment of a person by another person or people at work, which may be regarded as an unjustified and improper workplace practice. It involves actions that humiliate, offend, or intimidate a worker in public possibly in front of clients, customers, or other workers (CivilRightsActLBJ_000.Pdf, n.d.). The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 is a law passed by the US Congress adopting workplace regulations to safeguard workers from dangers that compromise their health and safety. It applies to the majority of employers in the private sector as well as some in the public sector (Aziz & Anggraeni, 2021). Shannon and Hunter (2020) write “Title vii of the civil rights act of 1964 forbids discrimination against any person based on their race, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity), or religion” (Shannon & Hunter Jr, 2020, p. 3). Discrimination includes harassment based on race, color, national origin, sex or religion.
Policy Brief and Purpose
Our organization’s Employee Code of Conduct policy explains our expectations for how employees should act toward their coworkers, managers, and the firm as a whole. We support open communication and the right to free speech. However, we need our code of conduct to be followed by all employees. They should refrain from offending, taking part in contentious arguments, and interfering with our workplace. We also anticipate them to promote a structured, civil, and cooperative workplace.
Scope
This policy documents the behavior deemed acceptable by the organization’s management and it applies to all of our employees regardless of their job status or rank.
Policy Elements
A code of conduct is a policy that describes the behavior of employees deemed appropriate and which they are expected to follow in the workplace towards their colleagues, supervisors, and the organization in general. Examples of appropriate behavior in the workplace include respect in the workplace where each employee should be respectful of their coworkers. Any form of victimization, harassment, or discrimination won’t be tolerated. Employees are expected to abide by our equal opportunity policy in all facets of their employment, including hiring, performance reviews, and interpersonal interactions. The legality of our business must be upheld by all personnel. All regulations pertaining to the environment, safety, and fair trade should be followed. When it comes to our company’s finances, goods, alliances, and public image, we expect employees to act ethically and responsibly.
All workers are expected to conduct themselves with integrity and professionalism at work. This applies on matters pertaining personal presentation where all personnel is expected to adhere to our standards for appearance and dress code. Corruption where employees are not allowed to accept gifts from clients or partners. The organization forbids paying bribes to any individual or organization, external or internal. Responsibilities and authority at work where each employee is expected to carry out their responsibilities with honesty and decency toward clients, partners, and the community. Managers and supervisors must not misuse their positions of power.
Behavior in the workplace is considered not appropriate if the intended receiver does not want it or it violates the recipient’s dignity and/or fosters an environment that is frightening, hostile, demeaning, humiliating, or offensive. This may include harassment which entails any unwanted behavior connected to a relevant protected trait that violates a person’s dignity or results in an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating, or offensive environment for that person. Bullying is a more comprehensive term that is typically defined as offensive, intimidating, malevolent, or insulting behavior; abuse or misuse of authority through methods that undercut, humiliate, demean, or harm the recipient. In order for bullying to be established, there typically needs to be a pattern of incidents when one person exhibits improper behavior against another person.
Aggressive or violent behavior is unacceptable in the workplace and has an impact on the atmosphere and culture in which your employees work. Even if stress is becoming a typical workplace occurrence, employees should know when to stop being aggressive and violent at work. Throwing objects, hitting walls or desks, or yelling at coworkers are all unacceptable workplace behaviors.
Disciplinary Action
Our organization will subject employees who regularly or willfully violate our code of conduct to disciplinary action. Depending on the offense, different disciplinary measures will be taken (Salin et al., 2020). The disciplinary actions may include demotion, reprimand, suspension or termination for more serious violations, suspension of benefits for a set period of time or indefinitely and in instances of fraud, theft, embezzlement, or other illegal activity, our organization may file a lawsuit.
Conclusion
Workplace bullying is unethical in the corporate world. Since it has a significant effect on an organization, each individual should be aware of its implications. The culture of the company is factor that affects the prevalence of workplace bullying. To stop some forms of mental illness, workers must speak up and detect the warning signs of bullying. Employers have a legal responsibility to protect their employees’ health and safety in the workplace.
References
Aziz, A., & Anggraeni, R. D. (2021). The Implementation of Occupational Safety and Health Law Enforcement in According to Law Number 1 Of 1970 Concerning Work Safety And Act Number 36 Of 2009 Concerning Health (Study at PT. Yamaha Indonesia). Jurnal Surya Kencana Tiga (The Dynamic of Law Problem and Justice), 1(1), 46-64.
CivilRightsActLBJ_000.pdf. (n.d.). Web.
Karatuna, I., Jönsson, S., & Muhonen, T. (2020). Workplace bullying in the nursing profession: A cross-cultural scoping review. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 111, 103628.
Mills, C. B., Keller, M., Chilcutt, A., & Nelson, M. D. (2019). No laughing matter: Workplace bullying, humor orientation, and leadership styles. Workplace health & safety, 67(4), 159-167.
Salin, D., Cowan, R. L., Adewumi, O., Apospori, E., Bochantin, J., D’Cruz, P.,… & Zedlacher, E. (2020). Prevention of and interventions in workplace bullying: A global study of human resource professionals’ reflections on preferred action. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 31(20), 2622-2644.
Shannon, J. H., & Hunter Jr, R. J. (2020). The Civil Rights Act of 1964: Beyond Race to Employment Discrimination Based on Sex: The’Three Letter Word’That Has Continued to Vex Society and The United States Supreme Court. Journal of Social and Political Sciences, 3(3). Web.