Some of you will know that Jason and I were meant to be at home in Ireland right about now.  In fact, we were supposed to fly on Monday but our flight was cancelled and the next available seats aren’t until Boxing Day.  Christmas plans thwarted.  I was bitterly disappointed as you can imagine but I’ve been forced to see past the disappointment because of the generosity and kindness of others.  No sooner did the news filter through to friends and family but we started receiving offers of drinks and Christmas dinners.  Genuine offers from people who would have made the turkey stretch that little bit further to make sure we weren’t on our own and feeling miserable on Christmas Day. 

It never ceases to amaze me that people can be so kind and generous and I think it’s a sad reflection on society that the majority of stories we hear are about man’s inhumanity to man.  Working in HR, some of the saddest cases we deal with are to do with bullying and the desperation and unhappiness of the person being bullied always saddens me immensely.  It’s one of the reasons why I encourage bosses never to tolerate such behaviour and to ensure that they themselves are above reproach as far as their own behaviour is concerned.

Are you being bullied at work?  Most people think of this question applying to employees and it’s one of the reasons why it’s a long-held belief that employment law works in favour of the employer.  No one bullies the employer… or do they?

I was recently told about a company where employees were taking unlimited smoking breaks.  The non-smokers were unhappy about this situation and went to the MD to complain.  Their solution was for him to allow everyone to finish early on a Friday – that, they believed, would redress the balance.  They argued the point so much that the MD gave in.  Everyone now finishes early on a Friday and the smokers continue having unlimited breaks.

I was horrified to hear of this situation and I thought it was a real shame that the employer felt he had no choice but to give in.  We hear so much in the press about employees being bullied and made to feel uncomfortable at work but at least the employee has the option to claim constructive dismissal.  The employer in this case felt he had no choice but to give in to the demands of his workforce. 

The conciliation service Acas reported at the beginning of this year that 1 in 10 employees experience workplace bullying and harassment.  The knock on effect is that employment solicitors have reported that bullying features highly in the cases of unfair dismissal and discrimination they handle.  As an employer, you have a zero tolerance approach to bullying and harassment.  It says so right there in your employee handbook.  You know that workplace bullying can be a problem.  But what happens when you ARE the problem?

You may not even be aware of it.  You may think that’s just your sense of humour and tough luck if your employees don’t get the joke.  You’re entitled to your opinions and well, let’s face it, you’re the employer after all.  You pay their wages and if they don’t like it, they know where the door is.  And why wouldn’t you be angry, shout at people and slam doors?!  You’re so stressed and they just don’t understand what it’s like having all the pressure of running the business.  If any of these sound like you, stop and think about how your employees are feeling.  There’s a strong chance that at least one person will feel bullied by your behaviour.  Most of them will feel a little uncomfortable but they won’t say anything because they’ve gotten used to it.  Does upsetting that one person make you a bully?  Yes, it does.

If you're seen as a bully, what does that mean for your carefully-worded zero tolerance policy?  If you're seen as a bully, what does that say to other managers in your business?  If you're seen as a bully, bullying will thrive in your business and your policy won't be worth the paper it's printed on.