"You can actually change an organisational culture in three months"
Workplace incivility, bullying, and harassment can cause serious harm to people affected - both physical and psychological, while it's happening, in the immediate aftermath, and often in the long term.
Research studies document the health consequences, which is why organisations are expected to prevent and respond to this serious health and safety issue, with some countries like Australia taking enforcement action against psychosocial harm.
But organisations still don't yet respond well.
Strategies, press releases, announcements, anti-bullying policies haven't succeeded in convincing people affected that it's safe to come forward, and that they won't be subjected to retaliation if they do.
For those who do come forward, the way organisations handle the complaint can cause as much significant harm as the bullying and harassment.
We heard about the human impact of this in the last two episodes, with the story of Jane's experience.
Organisations can't improve if their own people affected by workplace bullying don't feel safe to come forward when something happens to them.
Neither can they improve if the organisation's leaders aren't interested in learning from the data that reveals how, and where, they need to make change.
In this episode, I'm talking to someone who's taken positive steps to change this narrative, providing an innovative solution that helps everybody (targets, witnesses, bystanders and organisations) to tackle the root causes of workplace bullying and harassment.
Listen now
Dr Donna Stemmer is the founder of WorkRight23, a charitable trust based in New Zealand that provides a platform for people affected by 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 organisations understand the true extent of workplace bullying - and what they can do to turn things around.
What can you do to stop bullying?
If you're listening to this podcast in New Zealand or Australia and you're currently (or have previously experienced or witnessed) bullying and harassment in your workplace, you can take action today that'll help put a stop to it - by using Donna's platform, WorkRight23.
Registering your case in WorkRight23 is a confidential way to:
- keep your own records of what's happening to you
- seek independent advice and support, and
- provide anonymised data that helps Donna's charitable trust identify toxic workplaces and the root cause problems within them that perpetuate bullying.
We know from research studies that isolation and gaslighting are tactics used by workplace bullies and the people who support and enable them.
Convincing targets and witnesses that they're standing alone is the kind of pressure that's applied by bullies and their supporters - and as we heard from Jane's story in episodes two and three) - sometimes even by the organisation and its leaders, who are supposed to be protecting their employees from harmful workplace behaviour.
I'll be talking more about the patterns of behaviour that underpin workplace bullying and harassment in a future episode with Associate Professor Dorothy Suskind - a leading researcher in this field.
Bullying can have extremely serious consequences
WorkSafe New Zealand published a study in April 2024 examining the role of work factors in suicides.
Bullying and victimisation was identified as the sixth highest factor.
These are difficult subjects to talk about, but open discussion, shining a spotlight into the dark places where an organisation's culture allows incivility, bullying and harassment to go on is essential if change is to happen.
Donna's initiative with WorkRight23 is one way of giving people affected the safety to have that discussion.
Lessons to learn from this episode
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You can make a difference to stop bullying you've experienced, or witnessed, by documenting your experiences in WorkRight23's platform
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Anonymised data helps to open the eyes of people in senior leadership positions to the reality that the right way to tackle workplace incivility, bullying, and harassment in their organisations, is not by suppressing complaints or complainants.
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Embracing transparency, analysing the root causes that allow unacceptable behaviour to go on, and challenging it when it occurs are the way to change a culture where bullying occurs.
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There is safety in numbers, for everyone involved, whether you're...
- targets
- witnesses
- bystanders
- HR professionals, or
- an organisation's leaders
Chapter markers
| Time code | Content |
|---|---|
| 00:00 | Introduction |
| 04:51 | Why do we need Workright23 if we can go to HR? |
| 08:36 | Data patterns in bullying and harassment |
| 12:26 | Using data to change organisational culture: months, not years |
| 14:16 | How it works: registering a case as a target, witness or bystander |
| 17:40 | How it works: what organisations learn from the data |
| 19:22 | Data security and privacy |
| 22:25 | Using WorkRight23 to build trust and confidence |
| 27:21 | Measuring outcomes in cultural change programmes |
| 33:11 | Matching perpetrators to address serial bullying |
| 40:24 | The future for WorkRight23 |
| 41:44 | Key messages for bullying targets (in New Zealand and Australia) |
| 46:52 | Contact information, website links and the GP Portal |
| 50:44 | Summary and next episode details |
Contact information
- Contact Dr. Donna Stemmer on LinkedIn
- WorkRight23 (New Zealand)
- WorkRight23 (Australia)
In the next episode
In episode 5 of the Life at the Sharp End podcast, I'll be continuing to look at these very difficult topics.
I'll be talking with Hollie Trollen, a lecturer and PhD researcher from the UK's University of Chichester Sexualised Violence and Abuse Research Lab about the confronting reality of sexual harm in the emergency services.
Episode 5 will be published on Wednesday 18th September.