Identifying and Addressing Executive Bullying & Harassment

diversity and inclusion training canada

Do you know the signs of toxic leadership within your workplace? If your business or organization seems to have a higher than usual attrition problem, but your team seems to get along well with one another, you may have a toxic leader in your rank. Bullying and harassment is a major issue within today’s workforce, with many HR blogs and seminars focusing on dealing with peer-to-peer relationships and creating harmony within our own teams.

While there’s certainly no denying that peer-based bullying is a significant point of concern, one of the lesser addressed matters is how to identify and address toxic management in the workplace. Poor leadership can spell disaster for your company or organization, and left unchecked you could find yourself facing an employee shortage — or worse. From belittling to ignoring, harassing, and alienating, bad bosses make for bad business, with 75% of employees saying they are more apt to leave their job due to a bad manager rather than the position itself. At Pivot HR, we know just how important it is to create and foster positive, inclusive workspaces that allow everyone to grow equally. Below, we’ll cover 6 ways you can eliminate bullying within your leadership. Read on to learn more!

Set the Bar

As with any form of leadership, the best way to inspire change is to set initiatives that influence from the top down. When it comes to removing the potential for the abuse of power or harassment in the workplace, you need to ensure that your leadership, as well as the rest of your employees, are held to a clear standard that even the highest-ranking members of your team adhere to. Have a clear set of rules and guidelines, and be prepared to enforce them as needed.

Hire and Promote With Care

Sometimes, bullying can be the result of a poor cultural fit with an external leadership role being brought in from outside the company, a member of the team transferring over from another department, etc. Make sure that any new managers or executives are aware of your expectation when it comes to maintaining a positive and safe atmosphere and have a set of values and leadership goals to hold them accountable.

Zero Tolerance

It’s not enough to talk the talk; if you really want to tackle bullying and harassment head-on (and you should), there’s no room for exceptions. Implementing a very clear zero-tolerance policy will make your stance apparent to all members of your leadership team, as well as more junior employees as well. If someone steps outside the lines of what’s acceptable, be prepared to address things quickly and in alignment with the standards you’ve laid out.

Foster Communication

A healthy office environment is one full of transparency and communication. One of the best ways to reduce the occurrence of bullying is to ensure that your leadership is focused on fostering healthy communication with their team members and that they have the training they need to do so effectively. Clarity often removes the chance for conflict before it has time to set in, saving everyone time and promoting better well-being for the whole team.

Self-Awareness and Emotional Intelligence

Finally, challenge your managers and executives to practice their self-awareness and emotional intelligence skills. Effective leaders not only know how to identify how they feel and how their emotions may be affecting them, but they also know how to anticipate and react to the emotions of their team. If you notice a growing disconnect between management and the rest of your staff, it might be time to do a ‘reboot’ where empathy and awareness is concerned.

Addressing Bullying in the Workplace

Whether it’s peer-to-peer or on the executive level, bullying in the workplace is never acceptable. You need to take any and all accusations of bullying or harassment seriously and conduct a thorough investigation to get to the matter as soon as possible. Doing so will provide you with a clear path forward, protect everyone’s best interests, and ensure that you are in compliance with all workplace regulations. If you’ve already begun to see the signs of discontent growing in your office, the time to act is now. Don’t wait for things to “work out”, support your team by taking a collaborative approach to conflict management and partnering with an experienced HR firm like Pivot HR that can help you navigate the situation efficiently.

Need Help With Workplace Bullying?

Contact Pivot HR to learn more today.

What Our Clients say about us

“Robin and Mia were both exceptionally professional and responsive and understood our needs. Their work was of great quality. We are a small non-profit organization and we found them very easy and wonderful to work with. Great value and highly recommend.”

~ Joy Masuhara , Co-Chair Women Transforming Cities International Society

“Cindy is a remarkable professional coach, who goes well beyond expectations in supporting her clients’ development. She knows how to ask the right questions and uncover the real and deep issues that contribute to the limitations we put on ourselves. This type of personal exploration is tough work to do alone and remain committed to necessary change. Cindy’s approach and support made this process one of the most impactful experiences of my life, professionally and personally.”

~ Monique Cotton, Firm Administrator, JFK Law Corporation

“As a medium size business with over 100 employees working in very different areas of our operation, Pivot was able to quickly understand our HR needs and offer practical solutions. Robin and the Pivot team worked closely with our Leadership group to implement effective turnkey solutions on time and on budget. We will continue to use Pivot for our ongoing HR needs and would highly recommend their services.”

~ Adam Zubek, General Manager, Point Grey Golf & Country Club

Pivot HR Services provides personalized solutions for our organization’s human resources needs. By engaging their services, we have been able to successfully outsource our HR function, as the Pivot team has demonstrated their ability to understand the HR priorities of our workplace culture and industry.

~ Areef Abraham, Chief Executive Officer Community Power

“Robin developed our employee policy manual with the goal of engaging and retaining our current staff as well as attracting new ones in this highly competitive marketplace. Her in depth knowledge of current legislation and HR policies proved to be of significant benefit. I would highly recommend Robin and the team at Pivot HR Services.”

~ Christopher Soles, President, Nextgen Technologies Ltd.

“Robin has been and continues to be an outstanding resource for our organization to navigate HR issues as we grow. She always approaches problems with professionalism and a keen eye for our best interest. I’d certainly recommend Robin to anyone looking to elevate their HR processes.”

~ Karim Abraham, CEO, Kambo Energy Solutions

“Our firm turned to Robin for advice and guidance at a time when we faced a period of serious difficulty in managing our human resources. She assisted us through the process of putting our relationship with our staff on a stronger, more stable footing and helped us implement a complete overhaul of our human resources policies. We could not be more pleased with the work she has done and continues to do with us.”

~ Robert Janes, QC, Managing Principal JFK Law Corporation

Read more testimonials