A new study published in the Journal of Business Ethics has highlighted a significant trust deficit among employees regarding the ability of Human Resources departments to handle workplace bullying effectively and impartially. The research, conducted by academics from Anglia Ruskin University and Bishop Grosseteste University, employed netnographic analysis to scrutinise online discussions where individuals shared their experiences of workplace bullying. The findings were stark: not one respondent reported a positive outcome when their HR department addressed their bullying issue.
Victims of bullying described their experiences as being overlooked and further victimised, often feeling that HR departments were biased in favour of managerial staff who were the bullies. This research is pioneering in its use of netnography to explore the dynamics of workplace bullying, demonstrating an apparent failure by HR departments to satisfy the affected employees, highlighting systemic issues within the organisational handling of such cases.
Factors contributing to these systemic failures include the potential legal and reputational consequences for companies acknowledging bullying incidents, a reluctance to lose high-performing individuals, and the extensive time required for investigations and decision-making processes.
Employees characterised workplace bullying as widespread and described it with terms such as harassing, tormenting, manipulative, undermining, devastating, stressful, toxic, nightmarish, hellish, and unconscionable. Conversely, their views on HR departments were overwhelmingly negative, with descriptions such as weak, complacent, cowardly, exploitative, complicit, corrupt, self-serving, ineffective, and colluding.
Dr Clive Boddy, the lead author and an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Business and Law at Anglia Ruskin University, commented on the findings, stating that the research indicates a critical view of the HR department’s role in managing the darker aspects of organisational life. He underscored the severe impact on mental health and productivity that arises when employees believe internal procedures will not protect them, leading to underreporting and silent suffering.
Dr Boddy suggested that it is crucial for both employees and employers that HR establish and enforce strict codes of conduct or develop alternative mechanisms for addressing workplace bullying. This is particularly important if HR is unable to provide the necessary support to those most in need, and it encourages further research and discussion on this pressing issue.
More information: Clive R. Boddy et al, HRM’s Response to Workplace Bullying: Complacent, Complicit and Compounding, Journal of Business Ethics. DOI: 10.1007/s10551-024-05755-3
Journal information: Journal of Business Ethics Provided by Anglia Ruskin University