Bullying and poor workplace cultures: Case studies

• Introduction

  Workplace bullying affects the health and wellbeing of staff and the productivity of organisations. It is hard – but not impossible – to tackle.
  
  

• Organisation A – Be willing to ‘send a strong message’ to your organisation

  ‘Organisation A’, a Melbourne based organisation with fewer than 100 staff, had its bullying levels peak in 2014. One in five staff reported they had experienced bullying.
  
  

• Organisation B – ‘Walk the talk’ the importance of leaders living the values

  The small organisation with fewer than 100 staff once had very low rates of perceived bullying (11 per cent) – half its sector’s average rate of 22 per cent. However, the rate spiked suddenly.

• Organisation C – Making sure ‘every voice has the same volume’

  This metropolitan Melbourne entity with fewer than 200 staff, had nearly a quarter of employees experiencing bullying. The problem was coming from the highest levels.

• Organisation D – ‘Communication, Communication, Communication’

  ‘Organisation D’ and its 500 plus mainly Melbourne based staff have been through considerable change and long periods of uncertainty, which affected workplace culture.
  
  

• Organisation E – Redefining the ‘symbols and rituals’ of organisation culture

  Bullying had fluctuated in ‘Organisation E’ for a while but when one in three staff started experiencing bullying, the issue could not be ignored.