Workplace Bullies Take a Toll on Office Life

We may feel like workplaces have become too hyper-sensitive, making mountains out of molehills. But a significant percentage of organizations still report incidents of workplace intimidation, threats and other forms of unacceptably confrontational behavior, according to new research from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). The office bully has not gone the way of the typewriter, and, in some cases, harassment has escalated into physical violence. Bullying and harassment can take a toll on performance, impacting employee morale and stress levels. Despite that, relatively few companies address bullying in the workplace in their personnel policies. SHRM has produced two separate surveys on these topics. More than 400 HR professionals took part in the research on bullying, and the same number took part in the research on violence. For more about the surveys, click here.