Courage comes in various guises.
Admittedly, the stories of courage from my experience in responding to workplace bullying complaints throughout Australia have mostly involved ordinary workers who have stumbled upon instances of bullying and accidentally or deliberately become heroes. But the one that sticks in my mind is the guts of a young apprentice, just 16, who called our national telephone help line and told me about continual hurt to which he had been subjected at the hands of several bullies who worked at the supermarket where he had a casual job.
Through his flood of tears and emotion, I heard his dilemma. His manager’s manager had refused to listen to his story; and he had no one to talk to at home or school. He had waited a long time before finding the courage to tell his story to someone he could trust. The details do not matter too much for this young man’s story, suffice to say that his account was corroborated and substantiated and the supermarket bullies were disciplined along with a manager who had turned a blind eye to the activities. Unfortunately this young man left his job, an all too familiar outcome.
Inquiry revealed that not only had the management lacked the necessary skills but the business had no systems or guidelines in place to prevent risk or deal with complaints about the behavior of colleagues. It was not a big community and this well mannered young man, was liked. Word spread quickly around the neighborhood and the store management was shamed and humiliated. Village justice, you might call it. Indeed the courage of this young man dealt a hefty right hook to the supermarket brand, not unlike the impact an employee of a Melbourne construction firm had. The young complainant alleged that he was regularly shot at with a nail-gun by a supervisor while working for the company. He also claimed he was struck on the head with a large piece of wood thrown at him which later caused him to vomit. The case ended up in the Federal Court. The settlement included the public apology and a confidential payout.
Human behavior is a fragile thing. There is enough material in human temperament for a PhD thesis. Put staff in an office or factory environment, with no cultural guidelines, and ask them to work together to achieve a desired outcome is, in itself, a risk. However, any organisation that allows a risk to run away and its people to operate unchecked is heading for reputation chaos.
Sadly, harassment, bullying and unattractive behavior still exist in the workplace but, in the main, only where companies pay lip service to robust principles and processes. All of this has much to do with organisations not being authentic about people and culture matters. Those managers that see authentic people and culture as simply a cost driver have no place in a work place. Good practice at the top and indeed at all levels is wonderfully contagious. It is always about leadership. Organisations that are focused on reputation enhancement, growth, customer satisfaction and a harmonious workforce invest in risk reduction and early diagnosis of problems. Arguably this is specialist work, beyond standard HR and OH&S practice. Senior management in these ’thinking organisations’ understand the value of being proactive. The cost of putting into place mechanisms to set behavioral expectations or swiftly deal with suspected indiscretions and behavioral shortcomings is a mere droplet compared with the price of litigation and subsequent reputation damage to a brand. There are not too many winners in disputes involving internal complaint response (or lack therefore). It takes courage to be like the young guy who called the KWS help line but it only takes common sense, leadership, wisdom and good governance for a CEO or a board to ensure that a workplace is safe and, better still, harmonious. Mechanisms are available for every company, every employer, every executive and every employee. Someone just needs courage to put them in place.
W: www.kingsworkplacesolutions.com.au Twitter: Workwatchdog Facebook: kingsworkplacesolutions E: stuart@kingsworkplacesolutions.com.au
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