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Psychological harassment or emotional abuse involving the conscious repeated effort to wound and seriously harm another person has its shameless name – bullying.
Workplace bullying was recently described by Financial Post as ‘a silent epidemic in North America, the one causing huge hidden costs in terms of employee well being and productivity.
Two independent surveys conducted by the Workplace Bullying Institute and Zogby International, has provided statistics on bullying being a serious workplace problem in Canada and the USA.
According to the surveys’ findings, 35% of workers experienced it first hand. 62% of the bullies were described as men mostly in middle-managerial, supervising or executive roles.
According to Harrison Psychological Associates reports, the costs of bullying to employers where people are being harassed, within a two-year period, is more than $180 million in lost time and productivity.
The bullying causes:
So what’s being done about workplace bullying? In the U.S., 20 states are working on legislation that would put bullying on the legal radar screen. In Canada, the provinces of Ontario, Saskatchewan and Quebec have passed legislation that addresses workplace bullying, although both countries are far behind some European countries and New Zealand.
What is that you could do to stop bullying at your workplace?
While many organizations invest in Time and Attendance systems to better track employee hours, as well as absences, there may be even more valuable information for senior managers and company directors locked within the statistical attendance data collected.
Your Time and Attendance system could not only highlight idle employees, but also establish a link between absenteeism and workplace bullying or bad management.
The system monitors and records patterns of absenteeism, sick leave, and productivity, allowing you to establish any regular patterns or sudden unexplained changes.
Does your company have a department that appears to be more efficient than the rest? Does that efficiency stand up once you factor in lost time due to illness, injury, and disability? Have you seen a spike in turnover in an area of your business where you’ve recently promoted a new manager?
Using this type of data can identify potential workplace bullying or manager/supervisor issues early on, allowing you to address the problem before it damages your business and your bottom line.
For more information on how a Time and Attendance system can benefit your business, why not give us a call today on Toll Free: (866) 610-7603
© 2012 Mitrefinch Canada
