July 05, 2010
Employees who regularly undergo bullying from colleagues and employers often display signs of psychological ill health in the future, a new academic study has revealed.
Carried out by the University of Sheffield with funding by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH), research found that bullying from ‘organisation insiders’, such as colleagues, subordinates and superiors, significantly increased levels of stress up to seven months later.
After collaborating with nine organisations between 2008 and 2009, more than 5,000 employees responded to the study.
Of those involved, 39% of employees reported frequent, weekly or daily, bullying in the past six months. Of the different types of unacceptable behaviour the researchers examined, it was bullying from people inside the organisation that had the most salient health effects for employees.
But, the study also found that higher levels of personal optimism and self-esteem and lower workloads helped to protect employees from the negative health consequences of bullying.
"Evidence of the relationship between employee ill health and workplace bullying is clearly shown by our data, but more importantly we find that there might be workplace interventions, for example working to boost employee self-esteem, that can help to lessen the impact of other people’s bad behaviour at work,” claimed Christine Sprigg, Lecturer in Occupational Psychology.
If you’ve been the victim of bullying in the workplace then make your voice heard. Employment law solicitors will listen to your case and fight your corner against bullying colleagues, with compensation a distinct possibility for unfairly targeted workers.
