Policy Context & Organisational Implications
So What?
- Only 12.5% of organisations in one review had explicit anti-bullying or harassment policies, & even where policies existed, there were consistent limitations in their design & enforcement.
- Most policies treat bullying as a unidirectional, top-down problem, which means that UB incidents are structurally invisible within existing frameworks.
12.5%
- The subtle forms of harmful behaviour that characterise UB, including incivility, exclusion, gossip, & procedural manipulation upward, are frequently absent from policy language altogether.
- This is not a design oversight.
- It reflects the same flawed assumption about the direction of power that shapes most HR practice.
Incivility & Gossip
Procedural Manipulation
- Training on workplace bullying was covered in approximately a 1/4 of the studies reviewed.
- With most focused on procedural compliance, teaching people what the policy says rather than building the skills needed to recognise & respond to harm in real situations.
- Compliance-focused training & capability-focused training are not the same thing, & the difference matters.
Compliance
Training