Alarming Rise of Workplace Bullying in New Zealand

by Oct 6, 2015

It seems that workplace bullying is becoming a big problem in New Zealand, with more than one in five people being bullied, according to an expert.

This blog post exposes the escalating issue, highlighting cases, including workplace bullying, and the urgent need for taking action to address workplace bullying in New Zealand.

Allan Halse, Director of CultureSafe NZ, a consultancy firm that represents workplace bullying victims, shared that information during a public meeting recently held in Palmerston North.  His pronouncement was based on a study conducted in 2013 by the Public Service Association, wherein one third of the 16,000 respondents reported they experienced bullying in the previous six months.  Meanwhile, one out of the four survey participants said they were bullied every once in a while.

Halse added that his firm has handled over 120 cases of employees being bullied at work since CultureSafe opened its doors 18 months ago.  Currently, the firm has around 50 cases and most of them are workplace bullying complaints.  The CultureSafe founder also shared that 75 percent of his cases involved management bullying their employees.

Unfortunately, management bullying their employees is a sad but brutal fact, given that some of today’s highly competitive organizations have adopted a tough and sometimes cruel work culture just to keep up with competitors,or to stay on top of their game.  Rising expenses either on product cost, manpower and other expenditures needed to keep a company running, has forced some organizations to tighten their purses, with some demanding more work for the same budget or even the same pay.

The responsibility of ensuring that employees are not bullied at work does not only fall upon the shoulders of human resource professionals, organization leaders also need to take a stand against workplace bullying.

To read more about the rising number of workplace bullying in New Zealand, click here.

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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