Positive/Effective Work Environment & Workplace Bullying Awareness & Prevention

1. Positive/Effective Work Environment &Workplace Bullying Awareness & Prevention Jacinta M. Kitt

2. Positive / effective work environment Definition A work environment that provides a high quality service in an atmosphere of respect, co-operation, openness & equality.

3. Creating and maintaining positive relationships at work • Positive language and behaviour • Encouragement and recognition • Listen as well as talk • Beware of non-verbal messages • Discuss and resolve conflict • Address and challenge inappropriate behaviour without personal criticism • Show compassion warmth and good humour • Don’t take yourself too seriously

4. The Manager’s Role • Being an effective manager • Modelling appropriate interpersonal behaviour • Using effective communication skills to deal with difficult situations

5. Emotional & Social Intelligence • Fine-tuned and insightful Self-awareness and Self-Management • Positive and productive relations and interaction with others

6. Good Self Managers • Have good emotional self control • Tend to be even tempered • Can be passionate • Think clearly when they are experiencing strong feelings • Make decisions based on their hearts & their heads

7. Stress as a Social Issue • Toxic relationships are considered to be as major a risk factor for disease & death as smoking, physical inactivity, obesity, high blood pressure or cholesterol.

8. Social Stressors at Work • Workplace bullying or harassment • Poor management practices • Toxic inter-personal behaviours

9. What is inappropriate interpersonal behaviour in the workplace? • Inappropriate interpersonal behaviour is behaviour that impacts negatively on a person’s ability to do their job.

10. Why managers don’t intevene: • Don’t know what to do & lack skills • Have skills (been trained) but lack confidence • Choose to ignore because it will detract from time & energy spent on task • No point because they (the manager) will not be supported by the organisation • Haven’t done anything in the past - why now? • Fail to identify behaviours as problematic Rayner & McIvor, Uk Dignity at Work Project, 2006

11. What is bullying? Heinz Leymann Bullying is the systematic erosion of: • a person’s possibility of communicating • their reputation • their relationships • the quality of their work/school/family life • health

12. Organisational Responses to Bullying Dismissive Minimum Compliance Reactive Proactive

13. Organisational Beliefs & Attitudes • Bullying is a form of abuse, with serious individual & organisational effects. • We have to do something. • Creating a bullying free environment will have knock on beneficial effects on effectiveness & productivity. • The organisation’s culture & climate can prevent or promote bullying. • Bullying will not thrive in an organisation with a positive effective work environment. • The organisation’s response must cover prevention, intervention & minimisation. • Problems are more quickly resolved when aired & dealt with than when repressed or hidden. • It is the organisation’s responsibility to provide a psychologically safe working environment. Proactive

14. Safety, Health & Welfare at Work ActCode of Practice Prevention & Resolution of Bullying at Work • Policy & Procedures (formal & informal) • Clear responsibilities (re prevention) • Communication • Monitoring (incidents) • Training & supervision • Review • Access to “contact person”

15. Preventing Bullying • Anti- Bullying Policies & Procedures important & necessary. • Anti-Bullying Philosophy absolutely vital.

16. Inter-personal Behaviour • Performance issue • Professional standards • Potential for stress • Prevents bullying • Psychologically safe environment • Positively good for you