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How to Build a Culture of Active Bystanders Even If You Don’t Know How!

By /

Hi everyone!

Bullying and Harassment – When I ask leaders in my workshops what psychosocial hazards we need to be considering in terms of poor work relationships and interactions, bullying and harassment come up as Number 1 every time!

In this edition we visit the impact of bullies, brunt bearers and bystanders in building a respectful workplace culture.

It features the importance of relationships and behaviours in addressing psychosocial hazards.

Some useful definitions to start …

Psychosocial hazards

A psychosocial hazard is defined as anything in the design, management or social context of work that could cause psychological harm to workers (e.g. harm someone’s mental health).

There are two parts to addressing psychosocial hazards:

1. Compliance with the WHS Act and regulatory processes

2. Relationships and behaviours.

My focus is the social factors at work – social/emotional safety through relationships (respectful conversations and behaviours) … which can be impacted by the design and management of work.

Psychological safety is experienced at the level of team in a workplace context.
Psychosocial safety is experienced at the level of the individual.

Psychosocial safety: “An individual’s perception that they feel socially safe to engage in interpersonal risk taking.” – Linda Ray.

Harassment is conduct or comments which are abusive, offensive, demeaning, or vexatious, that are known, or ought to reasonably be known to be unwelcome.

Harassment can be intentional or unintentional.

 

Psychological Harm

“Psychological harm means emotional or psychological or damage of such a nature as to cause fear, humiliation or distress or to impair a person’s ability to enjoy the normal process of their life at work.” – Safework Australia. Code of Practice – Managing psychosocial hazards in the workplace.
“Embracing psychological safety means creating a respectful workplace environment free of harmful behaviour, where everyone feels empowered and safe to speak up freely.” – Maree Wrack

Sounds idyllic, doesn’t it?

Here’s the thing …

Part of any respectful workplace journey will reveal the psychologically harmful effects of bullies, brunt bearers and bystanders.

Let me explain …

Bullies

Bullies make it their mission to be right.

Driven by a ‘me first’ attitude they relish in rigid thinking, being critical, judgmental and consistently blaming others.

Driven by anger and resentment issues, they set out to control others by being bossy, dominating or oppressive.

Their behaviour may be overt and direct, or covert … subtle and more hidden and can include seemingly minor ‘micro-aggressions’ over time.

Brunt bearers

Brunt bearers are the targeted individuals on the receiving end of bullies’ harassment behaviour.

They may be left feeling powerless and incapable of making decisions to help themselves.

The impact can wear down their self-confidence, mental wellbeing, ability to work, sense of self, trust in their perceptions and self-concept.

They may even start to question their sanity.

 

Bystanders

Passive Bystanders may see bullying happening and don’t do anything to stop it. They may laugh at something mean a bully says or just remain silent.

Common phrases people share in my workshops:

  • “I feel powerless when I see someone being bullied.”
  • “I feel embarrassed when I notice someone being bullied … I turn a blind eye and pretend it’s not happening.”
  • “I feel angry when someone on our team is being bullied by a manager. It’s not fair.”

The point is …

“The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.” – Albert Einstein.

A passive bystander who says nothing hurts the most.

“In one study investigating employee experiences with speaking up, 85% of respondents reported at least one occasion when they felt unable to raise a concern with their bosses, even though they believed the issue was important.” – Amy C. Edmondson
 

Upstanders choose to support a person who is being abused or harmed.

Active bystanders serve as role models for others in creating a respectful culture of inclusion.

The biggest obstacle is not feeling safe to speak up …

– Not knowing what actions to take – if, how, where and when to intervene

– Not knowing when and how to call people out or call them in

– Not knowing what to say and how to say it

– Not knowing when and how to engage others if they don’t feel confident doing it alone.

 

A respectful workplace culture is built through relationships and behaviours moment by moment.

People feeling empowered to take responsibility for being upstanders, active bystanders and having the necessary skills to act!

PS: Whenever you’re ready here are 3 ways I can help you build your respectful workplace culture – faster…

1. Sign up to my LinkedIn Newsletter and receive my tips and insights every week, it’s easy – hit the SUBSCRIBE button.

2. Find out about our CONNECT with R.E.S.P.E.C.T. workshop for your team – book a chat to find out more HERE

3. Speak to me directly so we can map out a plan for your team.

Respectful Workplace Insights is a weekly newsletter I am publishing on LinkedIn to highlight some of the things that get in the way of creating a respectful workplace culture.

Eliminating disrespectful unproductive and depleting conversations and behaviours that are getting in the way of building respectful alignment and performance is where we start.

Each week I’ll offer tips on how to do that so you can create a respectful workplace culture where everyone feels safe and included.

 

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