When we think of bullying in the workplace, we often picture a rogue manager picking on an employee. But more and more this traditional view around bullying is being flipped with employees, who have access to confidential information exploiting their privileged positions for self-gain. 

This upstream bullying trend is on a significant rise, with employers who don’t have appropriate HR processes in place at the greatest risk of being targeted. 

What drives upstream Bullying? 

Most cases of upstream bullying are driven by an employee’s desire to: 

• Prevent performance management 
• Gain a promotion/pay-rise 
• Avoid termination of employment 
• Force the termination of another employee or manager 

How does upstream Bullying occur? 

Knowing their value in the organisation, having key knowledge of financial information or having strong relationships with major clients, put employees in a position to bully management to meet their demands, leaving employers trapped not knowing what to do. 

Some of the intimidation may include: 

• Threatening to make financial information public 
• Threatening to take clients with them if they leave 
• Making false sexual harassment and/or bullying complaints 
• Any attempt to deal with a performance issue is met with claims that the manager was ‘talking down to me and making me feel anxious’ or  ‘always trying to find something wrong with my work’   
• Taking ‘stress leave’ if management attempts to deal with the situation

How you can prevent bullying in the workplace 

None of us should tolerate any type of bullying and if you own or manage a workplace you can prevent it from happening if you take the right preventative steps. 

Here are my top tips to stop bullying dead in its tracks  

• Ensure you have strong employment contracts in place 
• Ensure that all workers have clear Job descriptions with Key Accountabilities and Reporting lines 
• Establish policies dealing with expectations of employee conduct and prevention of all forms of bullying and harassment 
• Establish a clear procedure for dealing with conflict within your workplace 
• Make your workers aware of behaviours that constitute workplace bullying, harassment and reporting procedures  
• Ensure your policies and processes are clear in the event a staff member misuses confidential information or making false claims 
• Take complaints seriously and deal with them as soon as possible.  
• Keep notes of any verbal conversations and keep copies of written correspondence including emails 
• Have a support person in meetings with insubordinate employees 

 Important: If you are in any doubt about the motives of the employee making a complaint, engage an external and qualified workplace professional to investigate the complaint.  Once a report is prepared this can be relied upon to make an informed decision about further action. 

Need further advice on how to minimise the risk of workplace bullying? 

Cairns HR Services, offer a free consultation to discuss how you could prevent exposure. Call 0419 659 388 today for your consultation or contact us here.