How Not to Deal With Bullying
Dealing with bullying is a delicate affair, and there is probably no better example of how not to handle the issue than the ham-fisted behaviour displayed by the National Bullying Helpline and the office of the Prime Minister.
As soon as allegations of a bullying culture in No 10 Downing began to emerge in this weekend's press, Gordon Brown's lieutenants closed ranks and denied everything.
Whether or not the allegations had any basis, this behaviour smacks of heads buried in the sand. According to the Downing Street press office, the office of the Prime Minister has rigorous procedures to protect staff against bullying. That may be so, but to deny the existence of bullying outright and suggest there is no need for any investigation now that the issue is public is insensitive to staff who feel they are being bullied.
Lord Mandelson has confirmed the Prime Minister has a short temper, lending currency to tales of Brown grabbing staff by the lapels and taking his anger out on furniture and fax machines. In times of great stress, the temptation by managers to bully staff to get things done is much greater. And there's a very thin line between the perception that someone is angry with themselves and the feeling that their anger is directed at you.
No 10's imprudent denial that bullying could exist within its walls is matched by the National Bullying Helpline's willingness to bring confidential enquiries into the public domain. The helpline's CEO, Christine Pratt, has turned the issue into a political football -- a decision that damages her credibility as a leader for such an organisation.
If it's true that three or four enquiries to the helpline have come in from the 10 Downing phone line in recent years, why has Pratt chosen to blow the whistle right now? After accusing the government of not following procedure, isn't she doing exactly the same thing?
Coming so close to the general election, this story isn't going to go away, and No 10's refusal to accept that bullying exists within it will only damage the present government's chances of getting another term in office. To pretend bullying isn't happening smacks of poor management, which, of course, is the most fertile ground for a bullying culture to take root.
The National Bullying Helpline will suffer for going public on this issue. The group has endangered the anonymity of people within the government who have gone to it for advice. It's difficult to see how it can continue to reassure callers that their enquiries will be kept confidential now. It has handled the affair with just the indelicacy that it should be trying to prevent in other organisations.
Bullying is real. It happens every day, at every level of organisation. Only by dealing with it decisively, but with discretion, so that the victims of bullying are spared further suffering, can it be effectively weeded out of the culture.