How to Deal with Workplace Bullies

You might think that the only professionals who deal with bullying would be teachers, but unfortunately childish behavior doesn’t always stop when the child becomes an adult. 60.4 million Americans are affected by bullying in the workplace and 40% of victims are believed to suffer adverse effects because of what is happening to them, so this isn’t a problem that you can afford to ignore.

As a manager, the very worst thing you can do is to be passive when there is bullying going on within your organization, as studies have shown that taking a passive approach to leadership has a direct relationship with the bullying in the workplace. You need to act quickly and firmly to stamp out the problem, so call a meeting with the person being accused and document it clearly to ensure transparency.

After this, you need to establish clear consequences for bullying behavior. Make sure you have a policy covering these situations with the actions that will be taken as a consequence. Circulate these and no workplace bully will ever be able to say that they were not warned.

Workplace bullying is never easy to deal with, but these tips will help you navigate the stormy waters to lead your team back to a place of happiness and productivity.