How employers are tackling bullying and harassment at work

While these findings are based on UK data, the broader trends and implications should be of interest wherever you are based.

Key findings

• Workplace climate: Employers are generally positive about the overall workplace climate in their organisation, with 76% rating the working environment and culture as ‘good’ or ‘very good’. But 25% of employees say they have experienced conflict or abuse in the last 12 months.

• Bullying and harassment: There’s a high level of confidence shown by employers in managing bullying and harassment (not including sexual harassment) with 81% thinking they do enough.

• Procedures for dealing with conflict: While 70% of employers agree that they have effective procedures for resolving interpersonal conflict, this confidence is not matched by employees who experience conflict, with just 36% reporting that it has been fully resolved.

• Managing and preventing sexual harassment: Just 2% of employees reported experiencing unwanted attention of a sexual nature in the last 12 months. While this low incidence of reported sexual harassment is welcome, there’s still a minority of employers that are not fostering inclusive workplaces. This view is backed up by 8% of employers reporting that their organisation is not doing enough to manage sexual harassment at work and 9% that not enough is being done to prevent it.

• Use and misuse of NDAs: 22% of employers use NDAs if dealing with allegations of sexual harassment, while over a third don’t know. Most respondents (65%) whose organisations use settlement agreements in cases of alleged sexual harassment didn’t know the extent of their use.

• Role of people managers: Employers report a good level of confidence in the ability of managers to deal with different aspects of conflict, with 77% reporting that managers both understand the organisation’s formal procedures for discipline and grievance and understand what kind of behaviour constitutes bullying. But, the seemingly positive role that line managers play in managing conflict is seriously undermined by the finding that half (49%) of employers agree that line managers can be a cause of conflict in their teams.

• Barriers to dealing with bullying and harassment: Employers experiencing barriers cite a wide range of reasons, with a lack of role-modelling and leadership by senior management, and managers not having the confidence to challenge inappropriate behaviour, both topping the table at 38%.

Recommendations for practice

• Build a positive employment relations climate.
• Promote inclusive policies and practices.
• Ensure leaders treat conflict resolution as a strategic priority.
• Communicate effective reporting channels.
• Implement a framework based on early conflict resolution.
• Develop employee relations (ER) skills for people professionals.
• Train and support people managers.