A quarter of employees (24%) think challenging issues like bullying and harassment are swept under the carpet in their organisation, a new report from the CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development, finds. This is despite the impact of the Me Too movement.
The report is based on two large scale surveys, one of employers and one of employees. It shows that 15% of workers have experienced bullying in the last three years, while 4% say they’ve been sexually harassed at work and 8% have experienced other forms of harassment.
The report highlights the critical importance of line management in both causing and preventing bullying and harassment at work. Four in 10 (40%) of those who’ve been bullied or harassed say their manager was responsible, while a third (34%) of employers said one of the top barriers to effective conflict management is that managers don’t have the confidence to challenge inappropriate behaviour.
