Bullying gets political!
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A quick search for the term “bullying” on Google will return over 10 million results, but clearly the focus of attention this week will be on the allegations made against the management behaviour and style in 10 Downing Street. The current debate offers plenty of opportunity to debate acceptable workplace behaviour.
The media frenzy concerning allegations of bullying by Gordon Brown will inevitably throw this week’s spotlight on what sort of behaviour is appropriate in the workplace, regardless of whether that workplace is 10 Downing Street or the neighbourhood children’s nursery.
The decision of Christine Pratt of the National Bullying Helpline to claim that members of the Prime Minister’s staff had contacted her charity not only politicises the issue of bullying, but also demonstrates the importance of confidentiality in such cases, together with the damage that can be done when breaches of confidentiality occur.
It’s also inevitable that questions will be raised over how altruistic such anti-bullying services can be, especially when they are linked to legal practices deeply involved in potentially lucrative litigation against employers.
Over the past few years in the UK, not only has the reported number of instances of seriously bullying behaviour rocketed, but also there has been a significant - and perhaps confusing - growth in organisations offering various types of support, counselling and legal advice to those who believe thay they have been the recipients of bullying behaviour.
The current formal guidelines for organisations to follow in how to deal with allegations of bullying are contained in the excellent ACAS Guide to Bullying and Harassment at Work which is free to download.
A number of high-profile cases of bullying have featured in the national press over recent months, links to which can be accessed below
HR Case Studies: Bullying gets political
HR Case Studies: News of the World fined £800,000 for bullying
HR Case Studies: It’s not been a good week for the bullies
HR Case Studies: Taking bullying seriously - the Church of England
HR Case Studies: The real bullies - older women
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