Does your organisation have a ‘healthy work environment’?
New Zealand has the second-worst rate of bullying in the developed world, with one in five workers affected (Auckland, Waikato, Massey, London Universities research 2016).
The impact of an unhealthy work environment where bullying thrives can be detrimental to organisation performance and must be addressed before it begins, according to associate professor Bevan Catley and professor Tim Bentley, the directors of Massey University’s Healthy Work Group.
They claim that the research is clear that individual characteristics are very significant to improve staff engagement and reduce bullying, however the work environment is even more important.
That’s because it’s the work environment that allows individual behaviours and unhealthy work to take hold if they are not well managed, said Professor Bentley.
He added that with stress-related illnesses, such as depression, anxiety and burnout, rising dramatically, workplaces have a key role to play in reducing societal health costs.
However, many organisations don’t realise they have a problem until it is too late, said Dr Catley.
He said that the first thing you need to do if you’re taking the issue seriously is to collect data.
“Start processing the data around complaints, staff turnover and absences. Record what happens when someone makes a complaint and make sure you follow up with after-action analysis,” said Dr Catley.
“That’s the only way to understand if you have a problem and, if so, the scale of the problem.”
Dr Catley said the next step is to identify what can be done to create a healthy work environment.
He said organisations need to allocate resources to identifying and supporting managers, as well as making sure processes are designed to achieve the right goals.
“Ask, ‘Are the values and competencies we believe are important for good leaders reflected in our performance appraisals?’
Ask, ‘Are we identifying managers with the required interpersonal skills, or are we focusing solely on technical competencies?’
“The alignment of your internal processes and the development of your people is very important. It’s about doing a number of things to build a healthy system.”
Associate Professor Catley and Professor Bentley will share insights from their team’s research into the impact of unhealthy work at the final ‘Big Issues in Business’ event for 2018.
Related stories:
Why employers should create a 'culture of kindness'
How to tackle toxic workplace culture
