SHRM Survey Findings: Workplace Bullying

1. SHRM Survey Findings: Workplace Bullying February 28, 2012

2. Definitions • Workplace bullying: Persistent, offensive, abusive, intimidating or insulting behavior or unfair actions directed at another individual, causing the recipient to feel threatened, abused, humiliated or vulnerable. Workplace bullies and targets may be employees, clients or vendors of the affected organization. • Target: The person toward whom the bullying behavior is directed.

3. Key Findings • Are organizations experiencing workplace bullying? About one-half (51%) of organizations reported that there had been incidents of bullying in their workplace. Compared with two years ago, most organizations indicated that incidents of bullying had either stayed the same (48%) or decreased in frequency (34%), while 18% reported an increase in frequency of bullying. • Which bullying behaviors are most common? Among organizations that experienced incidents of bullying, nearly three-quarters (73%) reported verbal abuse, three out of five (62%) reported malicious gossiping and/or spreading lies/rumors about workers, and one-half (50%) reported threats or intimidation. • Do HR professionals experience bullying? About one-quarter (27%) of HR professionals reported having been bullied in the workplace. Of those who had been bullied, more than one-half (57%) had reported their experiences to someone in the organization. • What are the outcomes of workplace bullying? The three most common outcomes of bullying incidents that organizations experienced were decreased morale (68%), increased stress and/or depression levels (48%) and decreased trust among co-workers (45%).

4. Workplace Bullying • Incidents of Bullying in the Workplace • Policies and Prevention/Awareness Training • Response to Incidents • HR’s Responsibility • Typical Reporting Channels/Mechanisms • Bullying Behaviors and Targets • Outcomes of Bullying

5. Has your organization ever experienced an incident of workplace bullying? Note: n = 265. Respondents who answered “don’t know/not sure” were excluded from this analysis.

6. Has your current organization ever experienced an incident of workplace bullying? Comparisons by organization staff size Larger organizations (500 -2,499 employees) are more likely to have experienced an incident of workplace bullying than smaller organizations (1-499 employees).

7. Compared with two years ago, have incidents of workplace bullying in your organization...? Note: n = 105. Respondents who answered “not sure/don’t know” were excluded from this analysis. Only respondents whose organizations had experienced an incident of workplace bullying were asked this question.

8. Does your organization have a formal (written, documented) workplace bullying policy? n = 400

9. How is your organization’s workplace bullying policy communicated to employees? Note: n = 166. Only respondents whose organizations had a workplace bullying policy were asked this question.

10. How is your organization’s workplace bullying policy communicated to employees? Comparisons by organization staff size Larger organizations (2,500-24,999 employees) are more likely than smaller organizations (1-99 employees) to communicate their workplace bullying policy through the company intranet or website. Comparisons by organization sector Publicly owned for-profit organizations are more likelythan privately owned for-profit organizations to communicate their workplace bullying policy through the company intranet or website. Privately owned for-profit organizations are more likely than publicly owned for-profit organizations to communicate their workplace bullying policy in the employee handbook.

11. To what employees does your organization provide bullying prevention and/or awareness training? Note: Respondents who answered “not applicable” were excluded from this analysis.

12. To what employees does your organization provide bullying prevention and/or awareness training? Comparisons by organization staff size Larger organizations (25,000 or more employees) are more likely than smaller organizations (1-499 employees) to provide bullying prevention and/or awareness training to nonmanagement employees.

13. How does or would your organization respond to alleged perpetrators of bullying? Note: n = 305. Respondents who answered “N/A, the organization typically does not respond to allegations of bullying and/or has not had any reported incidents of bullying” were excluded from this analysis. Percentages do not total 100% due to multiple response options.

14. How does or would your organization respond to alleged perpetrators of bullying? Comparisons by organization sector Government agencies are more likely than privately owned for-profit organizations to respond to allegations of bullying by placing an alleged perpetrator on paid administrative leave.

15. Who is responsible for handling the organization’s response to workplace bullying? Note: n = 316. Respondents who answered “N/A, no set responsibility” were excluded from this analysis. Percentages do not total 100% due to multiple response options.

16. Who is responsible for handling the organization’s response to workplace bullying? Comparison by organization staff size Larger organizations (2,500 or more employees) are more likely than smaller organizations (1-99 employees) to report that legal counsel is responsible for handling the organization’s response to workplace bullying.

17. Who is responsible for handling the organization’s response to workplace bullying? (continued) Comparisons by organization sector Publicly owned for-profit organizations and privately owned for-profit organizations are more likely than government agencies to report that the HR department/function is responsible for handling the organization’s response to workplace bullying. Government agencies are more likely to report that legal counsel is responsible for handling the organization’s response to workplace bullying compared with privately owned for-profit organizations. Government agencies are more likely to report that the security department is responsible for handling the organization’s response to workplace bullying compared with privately owned for-profit organizations.

18. To what extent does your current organization: Note: Respondents who answered “not applicable” were excluded from this analysis. Percentages do not total 100% due to rounding.

19. In your opinion as an HR professional, to what extent should it be HR’s responsibility to step in (to investigate, document, discipline, etc.) when bullying is reported or suspected in the workplace? n = 338

20. Through what channels or to whom within your organization are incidents of bullying typically reported? Note: n = 129. Only respondents whose organizations had experienced an incident of workplace bullying were asked this question. Percentages do not total 100% due to multiple response options.

21. Through what channels or to whom within your organization are incidents of bullying typically reported? Comparisons by organization staff size Larger organizations (25,000 or more employees) are more likely than smaller organizations (100-499 employees) to typically report incidents of bullying to othermanagement-level staff (nonexecutive). Smaller organizations (1-99 employees) are more likely than larger organizations (500-2,499 employees) to typically report incidents of bullying to the CEO, president or owner. Larger organizations (25,000 or more employees) are more likely than smaller organizations (1-99 employees) to typically report incidents of bullying through a hotline or other reporting system.

22. Through what channels or to whom within your organization are incidents of bullying typically reported? (continued) Comparisons by organization staff size (continued) Larger organizations (25,000 or more employees) are more likely than smaller organizations (100-499 employees) to typically report incidents of bullying to the security department. Comparisons by organization sector Publicly owned for-profit organizations are more likely to typically report incidents of bullying to the security department compared with privately owned for-profit organizations.

23. Which of the following bullying behaviors have occurred in your workplace? Note: n = 129. Only respondents whose organizations had experienced an incident of workplace bullying were asked this question. Percentages do not total 100% due to multiple response options.

24. Which of the following bullying behaviors have occurred in your workplace? Comparisons by organization staff size Larger organizations (25,000 or more employees) are more likely than smaller organizations (1 -499 employees) to have experienced use of technology for bullying (bullying behaviors occurring via email, text messages, Twitter, Facebook, etc.). Comparisons by organization sector Government agencies and privately owned for-profit organizations are more likely to have experienced cruel comments or teasing, such as about appearance or lifestyle, compared with nonprofit organizations.

25. What relationships have been involved in reported incidents of bullying in your organization? Note: n = 127. Only respondents whose organizations had experienced an incident of workplace bullying were asked this question. Percentages do not total 100% due to multiple response options.

26. What has your organization experienced as outcomes of the bullying incident(s)? Note: n = 104. Only respondents whose organizations had experienced an incident of workplace bullying were asked this question. Respondents who answered “N/A, not aware of any effects or outcomes” were excluded from this analysis. Percentages do not total 100% due to multiple response options.

27. What has your organization experienced as outcomes of the bullying incident(s)? Comparisons by organization sector Nonprofit organizations are more likely than privately owned for-profit organizations to report experiencing complaints about increased stress and/or depression levels as a result of workplace bullying incidents.

28. Workplace Bullying Targeted at HR Professionals • Incidents of Bullying • Perpetrators • Incident Reporting

29. Have you ever been bullied in the workplace in your role as an HR professional? n = 332

30. By whom were you targeted? Note: n = 90. Only respondents who had been a target of workplace bullying in their role as an HR professional were asked this question. Percentages do not total 100% due to multiple response options.

31. Did you report your experiences to anyone in the organization? Note: n = 90. Only respondents who had been a target of workplace bullying in their role as an HR professional were asked this question.

32. What was the level of the person(s) in the organization to whom you reported the incident(s)? Note: n = 50. Only respondents who had reported being a target of workplace bullying in their role as an HR professional were asked this question. Percentages do not total 100% due to multiple response options.

33. Demographics

34. Demographics: Organization Industry Note: n = 326. Percentages do not total 100% due to multiple response options.

35. Demographics: Organization Sector n = 322

36. Demographics: Organization Staff Size Note: n = 319. Percentages do not total 100% due to rounding.

37. Demographics: Other • Is your organization a single-unit company or a multi-unit company? • Does your organization have U.S.-based operations (business units) only or does it operate multinationally? n = 327 n = 331 • Are HR policies and practices determined by the multi-unit corporate headquarters, by each work location or both? • What is the HR department/function for which you responded throughout this survey? n = 226 n = 226 Note: Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding.

38. SHRM Survey: Workplace Bullying Methodology • Response rate = 15% • Sample composed of 401 randomly selected HR professionals from SHRM’s membership • Margin of error +/- 5% • Survey fielded May 9-27, 2011 For more poll findings, visit www.shrm.org/surveys Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/SHRM_Research