The role of human resource departments in addressing bullying behavior

Workplace bullying affects both organizations and individuals. At the individual level, workplace bullying affects the safety, welfare, and health of employees. Studies have found that targets (i.e. individuals who are bullied) reported higher levels of anxiety and depression (Namie, 2003) than did non-bullied workers. Individuals who are persistently bullied for an extended period of time also exhibited symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Individuals who are not bullied but are witnesses to such aggression reported higher levels of stress and lower work satisfaction than individuals who were not witnesses (Lutgen-Sandvik et al., 2007). At the organizational level, workplace bullying results in reduced productivity, low morale, high absenteeism, escalating staff turnover, and costly workers compensation claims or legal actions (Einarsen and Mikkelsen, 2003; McCarthy and Mayhew, 2004; Zapf and Einarsen, 2001; Zapf et al., 2003). Workplace bullying can also lead to adverse publicity for a company and/or affect the company’s public image (Bassman, 1992). As a consequence, workplace bullying is increasingly being recognized as an important workplace issue by researchers, managers, human resource (HR) departments, and HR professionals