April 2nd, 2013

Comprehensive vs. Incremental Piecemeal Approaches to Stopping Workplace Bullying

Let’s assume your organization (Executive Team, HR and Legal) WANT to stop bullying. One of the first questions the group must answer is whether or not you jump in with both feet or move more slowly. Here are the pros and cons of each approach.

Advantages of incremental steps

– avoids culture shock, minimizes resistance
– cheaper
– is compatible with style of most corporate decision makers

Disadvantages

– while the organization dithers, preventable bullying continues to drive out competent workers and harm the health of those who cannot escape
– raising awareness with a only a seminar risks raising expectations of staff that more is being done by the organization
– offenders use the interim to solidify personal support so that when a policy is created, executive sponsors will not allow it to apply to their favorite bully
– talk without taking preventive or corrective steps conveys the wrong message to employees

Advantages of a comprehensive (The Work Doctor Blueprint) approach

– no announcement until the supporting pieces are all in place
– optimizes coordination of the integrated pieces of the program
– provides the rationale for disciplining known bullies
– provides the impersonal reason to terminate once-favorite bullies
– creates the infrastructure for continuity for the initiative that survives changes in executives

Disadvantages
– the difficulty of gaining buy-in from individuals who benefit from the present system
– it will stop the bullying that has become a seemingly indispensable part of your organizational culture

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Tags: gary namie, management skills, prevention, solution, work, workplace bullying, workplace violence

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 2nd, 2013 at 8:00 am and is filed under Tutorials About Bullying. 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.