HR pros as bullying victims? Research might surprise you
December 21, 2011 by Tim GouldPosted in: Communication, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views, Management, What HR managers told us
Have you ever been a victim of a workplace bully? New research says many of your peers have been in that uncomfortable spot – simply because they worked in HR.
Pamela Babcock, writing on the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) website, cites an online survey of HR pros in Kentucky. A surprising 31.4% of respondents reported that they’d been bullied at work.
Other results of the study, which was conducted by the Kentucky chapter of the HR industry association:
- 42.4% reported that they’d been subjected to work interference or sabotage
- 33.3% said they’d suffered verbal abuse, and
- 24.2% were victims of such offensive conduct as threats, humiliation and intimidation.
Why were these HR pros targeted? Babcock reports some of the explanations offered by survey participants:
- HR must often tell managers “no”
- HR’s role isn’t appreciated or understood
- HR is perceived as lacking business acumen
- HR staffers sometimes lack professional credentials, education or “organizational fit,” and
- Insecure managers might view HR as a threat.
Do you agree with the results of the Kentucky research? Let us know in the Comments section.
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December 26th, 2011 at 3:01 pm
Wow…..
This is amazing. I would never have guessed that some HR pros would ever be the victim of bullying. As long as I have been in this field, I have never heard of such a thing. I guess I REALLY need to get my head out of the sand and look at the more timid people in my HR office to see if something of this nature is going on in my company.
December 30th, 2011 at 1:58 pm
HR staffers are often the victim of bullying within their own department and, unlike employees in other departments, there is no recourse.
January 3rd, 2012 at 2:10 pm
I’m wondering if the answers are more reflective of the mindset and vocabulary of HR professionals than the reality of how likely they are to be bullied.
First, HR professionals are educated on workplace bullying and are more likely to accurately label it.
Second, in my experience HR professionals are more relationship-oriented so they are more likely to feel bullying more acutely, and therefore remember it and report it in a survey.
Third, it is possible this same relationship orientation makes poorly adjusted HR professionals (because there are poorly adjusted people in every profeesion) more likely to engage in “bullying” their peers and subordinates.
Finally, and this one is purely a hunch, I would imagine someone who was the victim of workplace bullying in a previous job might be inspired to go into HR to help others, as HR can be perceived as the mediator of the workplace.
January 3rd, 2012 at 2:45 pm
This does happen. From Managers, Employees and Peers in the department. Thankfully Jr. High prepared me for such. Having been one of the “greenest” in the companies I’ve worked for, I think I was seen as someone a “bully” could take advantage of. Like Jr. High, the bullies are scared and insecure. Acknowledge if this is happening to you, seek a way to hold your ground, and keep your eye on the prize…..the company and how YOU make it stronger.
January 26th, 2012 at 3:27 pm
This is true. I know because it happened to me and still does to some extent.