Workplace Bullying: How Performance Management Can Help September 18th, 2009

Sean Conrad

I came across this seemingly random survey last week, showing how pervasive workplace bullying is in Australia. According to the study of more than 800 employees, 25 per cent revealed they had experienced bullying. Silence, isolation, verbal insults and sarcasm were the most common cases, with public humiliation ranking in second place. Bullying from managers or supervisors represented about 50 per cent of cases, while 25 per cent of respondents reported being targeted by other employees.

The story stayed with me and got me thinking more about the issue. A quick Google search showed me that public discourse about workplace bullying is heating up. Both in the last week, an article this week from DailyFinance cites a study from SLEEP finds that exposure to bullying in the workplace can seriously disturb sleep. That, of course, comes on top of the headaches, reduced productivity, and other problems that abuse at the office can cause.

Another article points to a study by the Workplace Bullying Institute in Bellingham, Wash., that shows bullying at work seems to have reached an all-time high.

How does this tie into performance management? At a top level, of course, the process of ongoing journaling and employee/manager feedback should expose any issues that are taking place. And the functionality of peer and multirater reviews included in a strategic talent management process should also illuminate any bullying that’s taking place.

But in a bigger picture, employee performance management can also address bullying at a systemic level. By engaging all employees and managers in a process that demands accountability, feedback and transparency, employers are publicly placing a value on a workplace that encourages collaboration and support. Many workplaces have anti-bullying policies, but haven’t thought about how some of their functional HR programs can also support the protection of a civil and tolerant workplace.

We’re just scraping the tip of this iceberg. Send us your thoughts about bullying in your workplace – any experiences you’ve had or how you think HR can help. We’ll be discussing this more as the season goes on.

Tags: employee engagement, performance management, talent management

Live from the Halogen User Conference: Kris Dunn on Social Media & HR September 15th, 2009

Heather McCulligh

We just wrapped up an awesome session with Kris Dunn, who you probably know from The HR Capitalist and Fistful of Talent. He joined us at the annual user conference as a keynote speaker on Social Media and HR. This session provided great insight into why HR pros should care about social media, including the top 10 reasons why they should invest time in social media tools – here’s the high level version:

10. Sucks to be a dinosaur…do you want to be left out of the conversation?

9. Rock and roll is dead….and so are print advertising and career sites.

8. Elvis, Tony, Soprano and the Internet…they were all “fads”

7. eLearning is turning into uLearning…don’t wait for third party content.

6. Do you want to push paper or be a player? (See Toby from the Office)

5. You’re so vain. What do candidates see when they Google you?

4. I trust people I meet on the net. I trust people with established online brands, and so will employees, candidates, and employers.

3. You can build professional authority without posting beer bong pics.

2. Social networks and connections will drive knowledge transfer.

1. There’s better food at the Marriott than at the Motel 6…HR jobs are a marketplace and social media can enhance your career, drive your value as an HR pro to current and future employers..

If you are going to take action, Kris outlined three ways to do something about social media:

• Lurk – read something
• Start or join a conversation – interact by commenting and getting into the dialogue.
• Build your own brand – share knowledge.

He finished up by discussing the “hot” tools for your development including blogs, readers/feedburner, LinkedIn, industry social networking, and Twitter.

A big thanks to Kris for joining us in Ottawa.

Tags: employee engagement, learning management, performance management, talent management