And so over the last couple of weeks, Gordon Brown has found himself at the centre of a bullying scandal and his allegedly abusive behaviour to his staff.
The Director of an anti-bullying helpline has made public claims that Downing Street aids have contacted the helpline with issues and concerns about Gordon Brown’s bullying culture.
Bullying in the workplace is more common than you may think according to Bullying UK, and if you perceive it to be a problem at work or not, there are a few simple steps that you can take to ensure you are safeguarding your organisation.
What is bullying?
According to the HSE, bullying may be characterized as offensive, intimidating, malicious or insulting behavior, an abuse or misuse of power through means intended to undermine, humiliate, denigrate or injure the recipient.
How do you manage bullying?
ACAS has produced a practical Guide to Bullying for managers.
The main point to effective management is to;
- ensure a policy is in place that clearly explains what bullying is and the consequences of bullying
- train your management team to understand what bullying actually is and how to use the policy
- communicate the policy to your organisation so that everyone understands
- manage teams to ensure that standards of behavior are set and your management team actively takes action if bullying is reported.
OK, but what if someone actually reports an incident?
Initially it is always worth trying to informally fix the issue with the person making the compliant and the alleged bully – it could always be just a conflict of personality.
If you feel the issue needs to be elevated then a formal complaint needs to be raised and you need to investigate this following your bullying policy and your discipline & grievance policy.
So as the Downing Street debate continues you may think this is a storm in a teacup but it is worth while protecting yourself by having a policy in place and proactively managing this aspect of health & safety just in case.