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Towards Dignity & Respect At Work

Towards Dignity & Respect At Work. Maryam Omari School of Management Edith Cowan University m.omari@ecu.edu.au 0413 015 417. The Curtin-IPAA Fellowship. This study was sponsored by the Curtin-IPAA Fellowship in 2003

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Towards Dignity & Respect At Work

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  1. Towards Dignity & Respect At Work Maryam OmariSchool of ManagementEdith Cowan Universitym.omari@ecu.edu.au0413 015 417

  2. The Curtin-IPAA Fellowship • This study was sponsored by the Curtin-IPAA Fellowship in 2003 • The Fellowship was devised to encourage & facilitate applied research in public policy and management leading to a better understanding of contemporary issues for public sector organisations. • Sponsors:- Curtin University- The Institute of Public Administration of Australia (WA Div)- WA Commonwealth Heads Executive Committee- The Australian Public Service Commission

  3. The Topic Towards dignity and respect:An exploration of antecedents and consequences of bullying behaviour in the workplace.

  4. Study Questions • What behaviours can be considered bullying? • What are the factors that bring about and perpetuate bullying behaviour in the workplace? • How are individuals effected by bullying behaviour? • What are the implications of bullying behaviour for organisations?

  5. Terminology • Bullying • Mobbing • Psychoterror • Workplace terror • Workplace violence • Harassment

  6. Emergence • Professor Heinz Leymann • The work in Scandinavia • The UK • Australian research

  7. Legislative Recourse • Sweden (1993) and Norway (1994) • Dignity at Work Bill, The UK, 1996, 2001 • Failed to reach the statute books • Australia • Common law - duty of care • OH&S – providing a safe workplace • Anti-discrimination – covered under relevant grounds • Unfair dismissal - constructive dismissal • Criminal law - assault and threats • Worker’s Comp. - liability raised • Public Service Act – Code of conduct

  8. Background • Definition an issue • Therefore generalisations hard to make • The impact of culture • National culture • Organisational culture • Industry specific • Impact of organisational size • Public vs Private sector • Gender mix in the workplace • Constant change • Hierarchical settings

  9. Theoretical Framework - Bullying in the Workplace Antecedents Consequences Individual BullyingBehaviour Organisational

  10. Methodology • Exploratory • Applied • Descriptive • Field Study

  11. Methodology - Participants • Number = 30 • From 5 APS Departments of varying sizes • At all levels • Convenience sampling method used

  12. Methodology - Instruments • Triangulated research approach • All methods pre-tested for validity and reliability • 1 - Focus groups - qualitative • 2 - Questionnaire - qualitative & quantitative • 3 - Story/Stories - qualitative

  13. Findings - General • Occurs at all levels • Forms a cycle between home and work • Different people have different ideas about what it is • It is a lose/lose for the individual and organisation • The influence of the team and social support • It can be ‘for sport’ or ‘issue related’ • Once off or recurrent • It is about ‘power’ • People have different thresholds

  14. Demography • 69% female • 50% 40-49 yrs • 10% ESL • 60% Tertiary qualified • 45% APS 6 & EL 1 • 37% Client service • 87% of the 30 study participantsreported as being bullied(this finding should not be generalised)

  15. Contextual Issues • 52% bullied by supervisor, 37% by peers • 42% on a weekly basis • 46% of incidents in private and public • 70% didn’t lodge a complaint • Fine line between robust performance management and bullying • No regard for diversity

  16. Findings - What Behaviour What Overt Covert Rumours Undermining Verbal Physical By Implication/Actions Setting up toFail

  17. The 5 Dimensions Covert Overt Repeated Once off POWER Intentional Inadvertent Issue related For sport By group By individual

  18. Demographics (moderating?) Innovative people High potential/achievers Emotional intelligence Feeling threatened by victim Generational differences Stress/Personal issues Competitive environment Structure Technology Policies and practices Leadership/Role modelling CultureControl, Responsiveness, Risk tolerance, Airing conflict Findings - Antecedents

  19. Work Home Health Financial Attitude and Behaviour Reputation Future Performance/productivity Ethics Culture Costs None? Findings - Consequences

  20. Where To From Here? • Clear definition • More research needed • Multidisciplinary research • Cross cultural • Triangulated • Raising awareness of E’ees and E’ers • Appropriate policies and practices- supported by organisational culture

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