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Cyber Bullying at the workplace |
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Cyber bullying is a hot topic now with the suicide of a teenage girl in Missouri, US due to bullying by a friend’s mother. But bullying in the workplace has also migrated to the cyber space with the wide spread use of web 2.0 sites. Cyber bullying is set to become a major problem at the workplace and organisations need to take effective measures to curb the menace.
What is cyber bullying? Cyber bullying is a method of bullying. The perpetrator of the offence could use text messages, emails, posting messages in blogs or social networking sites, MMS clips or Instant Messenger messages to torment the victim based on their race, sex or any physical attribute. Effect on organisations Employee morale is the biggest casualty of cyber bullying. A study estimates that in the UK, bullying in the workplace costs employers more than £2bn per year in sick pay, staff turnover and lower productivity. Another important aspect is the liability in law suits which could result due to cyber bullying. Moreover bad publicity generated by cyber bullying incidents could affect organisations in a big way. Countering Cyber bullies Organisations should take effective measures to tackle cyber bullying in the workplace. A few suggestions for tackling cyber bullying are: - Have effective anti-bullying policies in place and conduct frequent training programmes to create awareness about bullying among employees
- Create a work-culture where cyber bullying is not tolerated
- Have a proper internet usage surveillance mechanism in place and let employees know that their internet usage is being monitored
- Keep watch on cases of increasing absenteeism, productivity drop etc…
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