IT managers could be increasingly bullied during the economic
slowdown as workers take out their frustration on support staff
according to
the Chartered Management Institute (CMI).
Bullying is a major problem for businesses and companies are
failing to stamp it out, revealed theCMI in a report out today.
A CMI spokesman said during tough economic conditions IT
managers could become the victims of bullying. "There are
indications that people will vent their frustration on the people
that provide the IT they use."
The report, which was published today - Ban Bullying at Work day
- also revealed that the bullied blame their employers for failing
to stop their tormentors.
A massive 70% of managers have witnessed bullying in the past
three years. In IT 43% said their employer can't deal with the
issue properly, with 63% blaming a lack of management skills for
bullying behaviour.
"Many organisations need to do more to ensure that their
approach to tackling bullying is effective, as 35% of managers
report that their organisation is currently ineffective at
deterring bullying," said the report.
The CMI recommends that companies have policies in place to
ensure that employees understand that certain behaviour is
unacceptable.
The report defines bullying as: "Offensive, intimidating,
malicious or insulting behaviour, or abuse or misuse of power,
which violates the dignity of, or creates a hostile environment
which undermines, humiliates, denigrates or injures the
recipient."
Some 32% of company directors claim to have been bullied this
year, while 13% of the same group admit to have bullied others.
According to a report from trade union Unite in March nearly
two-thirds of IT workers said they had been bullied at work. The
survey of 860 IT professionals showed 65% believed they had been
bullied at work, and 22% had taken time off work because of stress
caused by bullying.
More than half said they had been bullied by a more senior
member of staff.