Leadership Insights

Commenting on performance is not bullying!

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A central theme in the training I conduct is the importance of giving and receiving feedback with staff. I would describe this leadership skill as the ‘hub in the wheel’ of all skill areas. However, there wouldn’t be a leadership training course I’ve run in the past few years that doesn’t

a manager jump in and say;

“If I made comments that directly to my staff they’d have me up on a bullying claim.”

How can I possibly do my job effectively as a manager if clear and direct feedback is to be perceived as bullying in my work culture?

I need to make it clear that I‘m a strong advocate for addressing bullying in the workplace. I have zero tolerance for leaders bullying or harassing staff. In a report commissioned by Safe Work Australia in 2016, Australia had the 6th highest rate of workplace bullying when compared to 34 European countries[1]. This is clearly unacceptable. There have quite rightly been efforts by many organisations in recent years to highlight the prevalence of bullying, training leaders in better communication practices, and educating staff to know about their rights to expect fair negotiations with supervisors. But when I hear the above statement in training, the context is not in relation to bullying. It’s not anyone suggesting you raise your voice over a staff member, or put someone down, or gossip, or play favourites.

The statement comes when I’m discussing the importance of being direct and clear with staff about areas for improvement in their performance. I’d go as far as to say there is almost an air of ‘paranoia’ that has crept into leaders’ negotiations when it comes to giving and receiving feedback.

A recent Fair Work Commission decision caught my eye, when an employee who claimed his new team leader micromanaged and bullied him had his ‘stop-bullying application’ rejected, after the Fair Work Commission found her behaviour "abrupt" but not repeated or unreasonable. Whist it appeared the supervisor may have acted insensitively on one occasion, her actions were not bullying[2].

It’s important leaders and staff understand that commenting on a staff members performance is ‘not’ bullying.

Two key issues that are ‘not’ defined as bullying in the workplace;

1. Reasonable management action taken in a reasonable way It is reasonable for managers and supervisors to allocate work and to give fair and reasonable feedback on a worker’s performance. These actions are not considered to be workplace bullying if they are carried out lawfully and in a reasonable manner, taking the circumstances into account.

2. Workplace conflict

Differences of opinion and disagreements are generally not considered to be workplace bullying. People can have differences and disagreements in the workplace without engaging in repeated, unreasonable behaviour that creates a risk to health and safety. However, in some cases, conflict that is not managed may escalate to the point where it meets the definition of workplace bullying[3].

Conflict is inevitable in a workplace and in a supervisory relationship and can be a positive way to stretch and grow our projects. But if ‘reasonable’ conflict is confused with bullying, a toxic arrangement is created where a supervisor becomes immobilised in their dealings with staff, and staff problems start to become escalated to a ‘formal’ space too readily, rather than being addressed ‘informally’ in an efficient manner.

https://ihraustralia.com/what-isnt-workplace-bullying/