You’re being bullied at work. Why don’t you report it?
“It will end your career. I’ve seen some pretty extreme bullying and I’ve experienced it. I’ve been yelled at a lot here.”
What one thing could your employer do to improve the culture in your workplace?
“Make people less afraid of reporting inappropriate behaviour, victimisation and the resulting effect on career prospects.”
These voices reflect the thousands of women who responded to Opportunity Now’s Project 28-40 research, published last year. The findings of our survey were shocking: bullying and harassment are still widespread in the workplace, with 52% of women experiencing it in the past three years alone.
When we asked people why they don’t report such behaviour, responses ranged from fear of speaking out or challenging the perpetrator, to lack of confidence in reporting systems and fear that it would end the victim’s career.
So the recent news of Jeremy Clarkson’s dismissal came as something of a pleasant surprise. Top Gear brings in a global income of £50m every year and Clarkson is a huge part of its draw (there has been a petition of more than 1m signatures calling for his reinstatement) yet the BBC has shown that being a top performer doesn’t matter. However popular you are, however successful, this type of behaviour in any workplace is unacceptable. It’s a bold move, and it’s the right one.
Unfortunately, in many UK workplaces today, bullying is commonly overlooked because of an alleged perpetrator’s status or earning power.
“It has been raised with HR a number of times. The individual was supposedly going to be spoken to about it, but instead got put up for an award” said one respondent from Project 28-40. “The reason? She’s an excellent biller, she does a great job for the clients and she’s very good at managing partners. It’s just terrifying; we see how people will look the other way when somebody is billing well.”
Many women told us they had seen perpetrators being promoted or rewarded for their business achievements, while their harmful behaviours were casually ignored. Others spoke of the fear of being labelled a troublemaker by senior managers and HR departments, who are seen to “close ranks” to protect the organisation’s reputation, rather than dealing with the root of the problem.
It’s no wonder people feel powerless in the face of workplace bullying. After all, if no one’s going to do anything then what’s the point in speaking up? But if we don’t, then bullying behaviour will be easily dismissed as “banter” and slowly seep into company culture. This is not something that should be tolerated or taken for granted: it should be loudly condemned by senior leaders.
Just talking about zero tolerance isn’t enough; employers need to show that they mean business. By making it easy to report, encouraging staff at all levels to call it out and leading by example and dealing publicly with perpetrators, business leaders can bring bullying out of the shadows and put it front and centre as a serious issue. Put simply, they need to show victims that their concerns will be heard.
The prevalence of bullying and harassment in the workplace is both desperately sad and disturbingly shocking. No one should have to work in an environment where they feel threatened, belittled or at worst unsafe – the price of protecting someone who might be raking in profits for the company.
Clarkson’s sacking has been a high profile affair, and by making a stand, BBC director-general Tony Hall makes it clear that there cannot be one rule for one and another for everyone else. It’s a message that should spur all employers to take action and bridge the gap between well-meaning policies and employee experience.
