Addressing bullying, incivility at workplace

Interpersonal conflicts and uncivil behaviour, such as bullying and harassment, are remarkably common in the workplace. The persistence of such serious incidents highlights that ‘workplace incivility’ is a major Human Resource (HR) issue.
 
Incivility in the workplace has negative consequences for employees, teams and organisations. It negatively impacts the attitudes, behaviour and health of employees, notably leading to higher levels of anxiety and depression, reduced self-esteem and performance, and increased absenteeism and turnover. 
  
Experts are of the view that bullying does not only happen in schools but even in offices and in the workplace. They argued that in any workplace, employees will have different experiences and perspectives; after all, people see the world in a different way, but during times of heightened tension, it could sometimes lead to misunderstandings and disputes.
 
They recommended that employers be equipped to understand where such behaviour stems from and how to prevent it. They also recommended that line managers and HR professionals, have the confidence to tackle these workplace issues and provide essential wellbeing support for their employees.

In an effort to not make waves, she said employees may downplay or ignore bullying or the uncivil conduct of their co-workers, supervisors or managers, and may have found a way to deal with the stress it brings, at least in the short run.