Have you noticed tension in the design room lately? Unfortunately, you're not alone. According to a study from the research firm Zogby International, nearly one in four U.S. workers has experienced bullying on the job, behaviors that extend from idle gossip to physical threats. That trend is having a detrimental effect on some businesses, according to a recent story in The New York Times.

"It can be damaging to be constantly dismissed in front of your peers," Joel H. Neuman, director of the center for applied management at the SUNY-New Paltz School of Business, said to the Times. "The thing that is upsetting about it is that people come to expect it and say, 'Well, this is what it's like around here.' It shouldn't be part of the culture, but often it is."

The problem of workplace bullies has become so prevalent that legislators in some states, including New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, are considering "anti-bullying" or "healthy workplace" bills to address cases that "fall between the cracks of existing state and federal employment law," said David C. Yamada, a professor at Suffolk University Law School in Boston. While some business groups oppose such efforts on the grounds that they feel existing laws are adequate, Yamada insists "there is a real gap in the law that someone could be tormented and subjected to humiliation and really be suffering because of it, but the courts are saying it's not severe enough for us to allow the lawsuit to go forward."

Small businesses are not immune to bullies, says Art Conforti of Beneva Flowers & Gifts in Sarasota, Fla. "I believe we have all seen this in one way or another," he says. "The problem is, [bullying] is hard to identify. One point of concern should be high turnover. If you see that you have staff always leaving, then this may be your first indication there could be a problem."

For Conforti, fixing that problem and creating a workplace environment where everyone feels valued often entails a top-down solution. "A good staff is a reflection of management and the ownership," he explains. "Complimenting staff and always remembering to recognize the management is the first step. When managers know that the success of their team directly reflects them, it encourages management to get the best out of staff, not find the worst."

--Mary Westbrook
mwestbrook@safnow.org

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