September 1st, 2012

2012 Canadian Workplace Bullying Survey Results

On Aug. 29 CareerBuilder-Canada released results of their Workplace Bullying survey of 552 full-time employed Canadians (non-government, not self-employed). Here are the results and comparisons to the statistics from WBI studies.

The major results (and comparisons to results of WBI studies):

- 45% of respondents said they were bullied (survey did not provide a definition allowing people to use their own) (compared to the U.S. prevalence of 35% from a larger scientific sample)

- Source of bullying: 24% coworker, 23% immediate boss, 17% higher manager, 17% external to company (e.g., customers) (in the U.S. 72% from bosses at all levels, 18% coworkers, 10% from lower-ranking worker)

- 54% of those bullied reported that they confronted their bully (a 2012 WBI study of targets found that 70% did confront)

- 46% of those who believed the target confronted their bully said the confrontation effectively stopped the bullying (compared to the perspective of bullied targets themselves in our 2012 study who reported that confrontation was effective in only 3.6% of cases!)

- Only one-third of workers reported the bullying to HR. Obviously most Canadian targets of bullying suspect that little help from HR is forthcoming or there is a realistic anticipation of retaliation for daring to complain.

(In our two most recent WBI studies related to the reporting, the percentages vary. In one study, 88% told HR, but there was a positive resolution in only 1.9% of cases. In another study, 42% of targets filed a formal complaint of a policy violation with HR. HR effectively resolved only 4.7% of cases. It is rare that employers have policies that address bullying in addition to illegal forms of discrimination (at most 5.5% of employers). So, when HR is effective, it is most likely effective when law-compliant policies are violated.)

- One-third of bullied workers said it caused them health problems. (See the detailed health consequences of bullying in a 2012 WBI study. 49% suffered clinical depression and 30% had PTSD.)

- 26% of bullied workers stopped their bullying by quitting their jobs. (This rate is one-half the rate reported in a large-sample 2012 WBI study. According to that survey, 28% of targets voluntarily quit but another 25% quit after being forced out (constructive discharge: conditions made so unbearable by the employer, the person quit making it appear to be voluntary), and another 25% were involuntarily terminated.)

- Bullying tactics and the reported frequencies of each in the Canadian study.

Used different standards/policies toward me than other workers – 50%

Ignored – 49%

Falsely accused of mistakes – 47%

Constantly criticized – 36%

Belittling comments were made about my work during meetings – 30%

Someone didn’t perform certain duties, which negatively impacted my work – 30%

Gossiped about – 29%

Someone stole credit for my work – 25%

Yelled at by boss in front of coworkers – 24%

Purposely excluded from projects or meetings – 22%

Picked on for personal attributes – 20%

A more comprehensive list of bullying tactics was used in a 2003 WBI study which you can download for comparison.

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Tags: Canada prevalence, CareerBuiilder.ca, employee health, workplace bullying

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 1st, 2012 at 12:42 pm and is filed under Bullying-Related Research, Social/Mgmt/Epid Sciences. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.