The Workplace Bullying Institute released one of the best, perhaps the best ever, national survey of workplace bullying over the Labor Day weekend. This is a representative national sample of nearly 8000 adults. The interviews were conducted in mid-August. Check out this detailed report about the study, which was conducted by Zogby, a polling firm.
A few findings were especially striking to me. Here is the main question and the answers:
Question: At work, have you experienced or witnessed any or all
of the following types of repeated mistreatment: sabotage by others
that prevented work from getting done, verbal abuse, threatening
conduct, intimidation, humiliation?
Responses
Yes, I am experiencing it now or have in the last year, (12.6) 13%
Yes, it has happened to me in my worklife, but not now or in the last year, (24.2) 24%
I’ve only witnessed it, (12.3) 12%
I’ve been the perpetrator myself, 0.4% (n=22)
Never had it happen to me and never witnessed it, (44.9) 45%
This research confirms prior findings that bullying is common, but that it is not something that just about everyone always faces at work on a daily basis– 13% of American’s report facing current bullying. I also suspect that the self-reports that less than 1/2% of Americans have been or are bullies are underestimates, as not many people are willing to admit "I am a workplace asshole." But these findings do confirm that nasty and demeaning behavior is a huge problem in the American workplace.
Three other findings also strike me. First, men are more likely to be bullies than women: 60% of bullies are men, 40% women. In contrast, 57% of the "targets" are women and 43% are men. Given that men, on average, still hold more powerful positions than women, this is not a surprise. As I’ve discussed, there is lots of evidence that power turns people into assholes.
Second, 40% of targets leave their job voluntarily, 23% are terminated, and 13% are transfered to another job in the same organization. But only 14% of bullies are terminated and another 9% are punished but not fired. So it seems, as we have seen on this blog and in The No Asshole Rule, that too many of these creeps are getting away with their dirty work. And these findings also show (like prior research) that employers who are allowing bullies to do their dirty work aren’t just hurting victims, these creeps are driving out good people. As this report shows in detail, and I show with a vivid case of just one asshole from one organization, the total cost of assholes can be staggering. These researchers estimate that, if these findings can be generalized (and it is a representative sample) that bullies have driven over 20 million people out of their jobs.
Finally, this survey found that 72% of the bullies were bosses, people who were positions of authority over targets. When people ask me why The No Asshole Rule focuses more attention on bosses, and less on people who abuse peers or superiors, I reply that it is because so much research shows that workplace assholes "kick down." Of course, that is not to dismiss the damage done by people who "kick" peers and superiors — it is also a huge problem. But the lion’s share of abuse does roll down the hierarchy.
As I say in the book, one of the best tests of a human being’s "goodness" is how well he or she treats people with less power. Unfortunately, this survey suggests that too many people are failing that test.
Take a look around the Workplace Bullying Institute’s web site, which has excellent resources. You can also see this interview that was played on CNN this weekend, with the WBI’s Dr. Gary Namie talking about this study and the problem of bullying — and I am on briefly at the end. Frankly, it is nice to have a plug for the book, and I suppose all the snippets of various opinions from lots of different people are nice. But I would have rather seen CNN talk more about this study. They barely touched on it even though it is one of the most important, and most rigorous, studies on this problem.
Finally, I am more ambivalent than Dr. Namie about the need for anti-bullying legislation, as I worry it will just add more work for lawyers and not provide much real protection. Plus I worry that the only way to collect a lot of financial damages in court is to suffer a lot of physical, emotional, and financial damages– so it may encourage people to stay who really ought to get out now. But I agree with Namie 100% about the damage done by these demeaning creeps, and frankly, even if these laws (now introduced in 13 states) don’t pass, the threat of litigation may inspire some firms and leaders to stop tolerating the assholes in their organizations. So it may cause some to do the right thing for the wrong reason.
I confess that, however, when I heard the argument by a business leader on the CNN story that modern workers are essentially too smart to take it from bullies and will leave, and that employers who allow bullies to suffer will be at a competitive disadvantage, so there is really no need for the laws, I started drifting a bit more toward being in favor of anti-bullying laws. I’ve never believed that "the market" will take care of everything — it didn’t work for gender and racial bias (or harassment), so why should it work for bullying? I still worry about anytime when the lawyers rush in, that all sorts of bad things will happen. Perhaps that is unfair to lawyers, but I keep hearing this argument from lawyers!
Laws aside, this poll adds compelling evidence that when organizations allow asshole poisoning to flourish and spread, their leaders not only have suspect human values, they are engaging in bad business practices. Also, as an advocate of evidence-based management, it is nice to see such a careful study.
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