Workplace Bullying and Its Implications on Organizations

Workplace Bullying and Its Implications on Organizations

It is important for employers to ensure that they provide employees with a safe and inclusive workplace environment giving everyone an equal opportunity to achieve both individual and organizational goals. Psychologists argue that bullying is often verbal or psychological in nature, thus victims tend to suffer for long due to the lack of tangible evidence (Carbo, 2017). There is an urgent need to stop workplace bullying because it affects the ability of victims to give maximum input in their work, thus lowering productivity. In addition, organizations tend to lose their competitive edge because of mistrust among employees and high turnover rates.

Prevalence of Workplace Bullying

Identifying and managing workplace bullying should be a priority for organizational leaders. Studies have shown that a significant number of people have experienced workplace bullying at one point in the places they have worked, as either a victim or a witness (Cobb, 2017).

Workplace bullying is more prevalent in workplace environments characterized by intense workloads, unclear policies to guide the behavior of employees, poor change management strategies, lack of effective communication structures, as well as employees with low levels of their job satisfaction. In terms of gender, women are more prone to being victims of workplace bullying compared to their male colleagues. Existing federal and state laws in the United States provide some of the gaps that perpetrators of workplace bullying exploit to their advantage. The laws only offer protection to workers who show evidence of physical abuse or behavior targeted to members of protected groups such as those living with disabilities.