Life at the Sharp End

"Bullying, at its core, is not an individual problem, spurred by one person, but an outgrowth of a workplace environment that either allows or encourages behaviours such as gossip, humiliation, belittling, gaslighting and exclusion.”

Those are the words of Associate Professor Dorothy Suskind in the introduction to her book about the predictable patterns that workplace bullies follow in selecting and persecuting their targets.

In this episode packed with information, Dorothy talks to me about her research, her own experiences and the psychology behind the harmful effects of predictable tactics like isolation, exclusion and manipulation used by workplace bullies.

There are two audiences for this episode:

1. People who are, or have previously, experienced workplace bullying. The patterns and harms described in this episode will help you to understand what's happened, and the steps you can take towards meaningful recovery, creating agency in your life and coming to terms with what's happened to you.

2. For leaders and HR professionals - someone responsible for others - you'll learn how bullies and their allies work in your organisation. It'll help you tackle the problem, and maybe show you how you're playing a role in the harm they cause to others (whether that's deliberately or inadvertantly).

Understanding these patterns helps people to prevent bullying, or to heal the harm where it's been caused.

Would you like to know more?

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LINKS

Become a Price Perrott subscriber for exclusive access to additional insights and content.

Purchase Dorothy's book - Workplace bullying: finding your way to big tent belonging - on Amazon (affiliate link)

Dorothy Suskind’s webpage: https://dorothysuskind.com

Dorothy’s articles in Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/nz/contributors/dorothy-suskind-phd

Emergency services are organisations held in high trust by the public. They’re people you can turn to and rely on. Rightly so, and the overwhelming majority of people working in emergency service roles are committed professionals or volunteers, dedicated to public service, and supportive of their colleagues.

So why then do research studies, media stories and independent inspections continue to show historic and current problems involving workplace bullying, harassment and sexual harm in emergency services?

How does the culture of an emergency services organisation create barriers that prevent those who’ve experienced serious misconduct, from speaking up about their colleagues - a phenomenon described in research as “the blue wall of silence”?

In this episode, I’m talking to Hollie Trollen - a lecturer in Criminology at the Sexualised Violence and Abuse Research Lab from the University of Chichester in the UK about her research into - and experiences of - sexual harm in the emergency services.

This episode may be confronting, and there are links provided in the show notes to a range of support organisations for anyone affected by the topics discussed.

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LINKS

• Connect with Hollie Trollen on LinkedIn
• Hollie's profile page at the University of Chichester

Dr Donna Stemmer is the founder of Workright23, a charitable trust based in New Zealand, that provides a platform for people affected by workplace bullying and harassment to document their experiences, get support and receive qualified advice on their options.

But Donna doesn't stop there, and she’s committed to working with organisations to provide anonymised data from complainants that can help them understand the true extent of workplace bullying, and what they can do to turn things around.

In this episode, Donna tells me about how Workright23 works and why it provides safety in numbers for people and organisations affected by bullying and harassment.

In a packed discussion, full of practical details, you'll hear us discussing:

• Why Workright23 is needed, and why targets shouldn't just go straight to HR to report workplace bullying
• How Donna's organisations provides a confidential platform for targets, witnesses and bystanders
• The problems facing HR, if they get bullied too - within their hierarchy, or by management
• Why data about incidents helps organisations understand, and tackle, a toxic culture
• How the platform works when people make a confidential report
• How targets, witnesses and bystanders can report current and historic bullying (in New Zealand & Australia)
• Why organisations need data to learn, change cultures and measure their improvement programmes
• How GPs can use the platform to support targets' mental health
• Reporting sexual harm and domestic violence
• Matching perpetrators to prevent serial bullying across organisations - targets are not alone!
• The impartial and independent support and advice people will receive when they register a case
• Organisational behaviour, the letter and spirit of the law

Would you like to know more?

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LINKS

Access the platforms in New Zealand and Australia at:
https://workright23.org.nz

https://workright23.com/au

Contact Dr. Donna Stemmer on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/drdonnastemmer/

This is the second part of Jane’s story. In the previous episode, we heard how Jane* - an experienced HR professional - found herself becoming the target of workplace bullying, and the impact of process failures on her physical and psychological health.

Armed with upheld investigation findings, Jane just wanted to get back into the workplace and get her HR career back on track, supporting others and making a difference.

When organisations respond to workplace bullying, do they support complainants in returning to work, restore relationships and learn from findings to build safer, more respectful workplace cultures?

Let's hear from Jane about what happened next, and her thoughts on the lessons that other leaders can learn about humanity, apology and integrity.

*Jane isn't her real name, and we've disguised her voice. Like many complainants, fear of retaliation means she wanted to speak anonymously.

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"Human Resources (HR) are here to help." That’s what most people will be told when they join an organisation - that Human Resources are the first port of call if they should ever witness or experience workplace incivility, bullying and harassment.

But how does it feel when someone “on the inside” in HR, has to go through their own process and raise a bullying complaint?

In this first episode of a two part series, we look at the experience of a committed HR professional who found themselves on the wrong side of bullying - and became a target themselves.

It’s a personal story of dedication and good intentions that turned into complaint process failures, delays, investigative mistakes, psychological and physical illness, and institutional betrayal.

Everything that an organisation’s response to workplace bullying shouldn’t be.

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With insights, analysis and interviews, Life at the Sharp End helps people who want to create safe, respectful and high-performing workplace cultures.

• People who want to do their best at work, leading by example;
• People who want to learn and improve from others' experiences;
• People who want to find out what it takes to make a real difference in life;
• People who want to know what it feels like, when actions and decisions affect others' lives (for good or ill);

People like you.

Together, we'll go beyond the bullet-points and explore the how and the why of real-world situations.

This is about learning from the reality of Life at the Sharp End.

Would you like to know more?

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