Addressing Workplace Bullying through Organizational Strategies

by Sep 16, 2015

Addressing workplace bullying through organizational strategies involves implementing organized approaches and policies to prevent, identify, and address instances of bullying within the workplace.

In this blog post, let’s explore how some of India’s organizations have created strategies to tackle this issue.

Some of India’s companies have started various programs to tackle the issue of workplace bullying.  In the country, roughly 55 percent of Indian employees are said to have experienced being bullied at work. The data is based on a survey conducted by Career-Builder.

This was one of the hard lessons learned by a 22 year old professional who recently joined a global environmental organization based in India.  The new hire was the only female in her team and she was constantly taunted by co-workers because of her age.  She was also reportedly prevented from joining a prestigious international fellowship.  This prompted her to file a complaint.

This just one example of the many instances that an employee can become target of workplace bullies.  The good news is that organizations are starting to take action by coming up with programs to address this.  Some of the workplace bullying services that companies have set up included an anonymous employee hotline, as well as coffee chats with the HR team so that employees can raise their concerns.  These services are separate from the training sessions being held to prevent workplace bullying and harassment.

Fortunately, multinational corporations and other large companies have established such measures to prevent employees being bullied at work.  It also helps the companies programs are there to assure workers that they have zero tolerance for bullying at the workplace and that a process in place to help protect the employees.  However, it still is worrying how some organizations would have policies and protocols in place but it still doesn’t help to make the employees feel that they are cared for should they fall victim to work place bullies.

Meanwhile, some of the companies in India with workplace bullying prevention programs included Genpact, Lenovo and Manipal Health Enterprise.

Click here to find out how these companies are dealing with workplace bullying.

Do you know how much money chronically bad behavior costs your company? Spoiler alert – it’s a LOT higher than you want it to be. Download our data and worksheet to see how it’s costing your organization and what you can do to fix it.

 

About Catherine Mattice

Catherine Mattice, MA, SPHR, SHRM-SCP is President of consulting and training firm, Civility Partners, and has been successfully providing programs in workplace bullying and building positive workplaces since 2007. Her clients include Fortune 500’s, the military, several universities and hospitals, government agencies, small businesses and nonprofits. She has published in a variety of trade magazines and has appeared several times on NPR, FOX, NBC, and ABC as an expert, as well as in USA Today, Inc Magazine, Huffington Post, Entrepreneur Magazine, and more. Catherine is Past-President of the Association for Talent Development (ATD), San Diego Chapter and teaches at National University. In his book foreword, Ken Blanchard called her book, BACK OFF! Your Kick-Ass Guide to Ending Bullying at Work, “the most comprehensive and valuable handbook on the topic.” She recently released a second book entitled, SEEKING CIVILITY: How Leaders, Managers and HR Can Create a Workplace Free of Bullying.

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