Findings
from exclusive research by anti-bullying charity the Andrea Adams Trust and Personnel Today show more than
three-quarters of HR professionals have been bullied at work Here are the results
Have you ever been bullied?
a. In
your current job Yes: 22.55%
b. In a previous job Yes:
52.63%
c. Never been bullied 24.82%
If yes, who bullied you?
a. Your immediate superior 57.62%
b. A manager in the company 29.52%
c. Other members of the workforce 15.71%
d. Union
official 1.75%
e. Other 5.23%
How did you respond?
a. Confronted the bully 27.60%
b. Went to a senior manager 32.06%
c. Made use of the organisation’s
grievance procedure 7.62%
d. Made use of specific procedures on
bullying 3.97%
e. Approached a professional body 8.61%
f. Left the organisation 41.26%
g. Took legal action 2.86%
h. Other 16.19%
Have you ever observed work colleagues in
your own department being bullied?
a. Yes 49.54%
b. No 50.46%
Does bullying occur elsewhere in your
organisation?
a. Yes 71.07%
b. No 28.93%
Over the past two years have the number of
incidents of bullying in your organisation:
a. Increased 34.71%
b. Stayed the same 42.56%
c. Reduced 20.66%
d. Don’t know 2.07
In your opinion, has tackling bullying in
the workplace become a higher priority for you as an HR professional than it
was two years ago?
a. Yes 74.78%
b. No 25.22%
Does your organisation have a formal policy
for tackling bullying?
a. Yes 70.85%
b. No 29.15%
If yes, did you notice an increase in cases
coming forward as a result of introducing a formal policy on bullying?
a. Yes 31.07%
b. No 68.93%
Have you been aware of a reluctance on the part of the victims of bullying
to formally report their case?
a. Yes 55.74%
b. No 10.57%
c. In
some cases 33.69%
Do you feel that the existing procedures
(formal/informal) enable your organisation to resolve incidents of bullying
satisfactorily?
a. Yes 43.70%
b. No 56.30%
Which of the following factors contribute
to the weakness of your organisation’s approach to handling incidents of
bullying?
a. Inadequate procedures 30.31%
b. Lack of cooperation from management 44.76%
c. Unwillingness to acknowledge a problem
by management 69.77%
d. Prevailing management style 63.46%
e. Lack of training in how to deal with
bullying 53.54%
Does your organisation offer training on
any of the following:
a. Avoiding bullying 12.30%
b. Dealing with incidents of bullying 24.17%
How long, on average, does it take/has it
taken your organisation to resolve cases of bullying?
a. Less than a month 26.74%
b. Between 1 and 3 months 33.53%
c. Between 3 and 6 months 18.22%
d. Between 6 and 12 months 8.91%
e. More than a year 12.60%
Which of the following penalties does an
employee face, who has been found guilty of bullying at your company?
a. Dismissal 48.25%
b. Individual making the allegations moved
to another job 18.26%
c. Individual accused of bullying is
relocated 26.94%
d.
Other (please state) 28.16%
Is bullying:
a. endemic
in the workplace 14.90%
b. undesirable
but occurs in all workplaces to some extent 65.68%
c. a
very rare occurrence 19.41%
Do you work in the public or private sector?
a. Public 39.68%
b. Private 60.32%
Which of the following best describes the
main business, product or service of the organisation you work for?
a. Construction, Mining, Agriculture,
Forestry, Fishing 2.83%
b. Energy and Water Supply Industries 1.24%
c. Manufacturing, Engineering, Processing 13.45%
d. Catering, Hotels, Transport, Travel
Industry 2.65%
e. Retail, Wholesale, Distribution,
Repairs 10.27%
f. Banking, Finance, Insurance, Business
Services, Property, Renting 8.67%
g. National government 3.36%
h. Local government 15.93%
i. Education/Training 9.38%
j. Health 7.26%
k. Electronics, IT, Communications 6.19%
l. Professional Services, Consultancy 8.14%
m. Charity 6.19%
n. Chemicals 1.06%
o. Media 3.36%
Source
– Personnel Today/Andrea Adams
Trust
