OSHA describes workplace violence as, “any act or threat of physical violence, harassment, intimidation, or other threatening disruptive behavior. It ranges from threats and verbal abuse to physical assaults and even homicide.” The EEOC describes harassment as, “unwelcome conduct that “becomes unlawful where 1) enduring the offensive conduct becomes a condition of continued employment, or 2) the conduct is severe or pervasive enough to create a work environment that a reasonable person would consider intimidating, hostile, or abusive.” Interesting that both of these definitions seem to describe workplace bullying, yet many employers fail to address that issue.
Workplace bullying is systematic psychological abuse that degrades and humiliates, and causes anxiety, depression, burnout, and lower levels of job satisfaction in targets and bystanders. Behaviors include frequent yelling, manipulation of work, nasty emails, social isolation, and a host of others. This session will take you through the process of developing effective strategies for dealing with workplace bullying and provide a step-by-step guide for building a healthy workplace where employees can thrive.
If allowed to flourish, bullying causes increased turnover, communication breakdown, reduced quality in work and poor customer service. In the end, bullying creates an unsafe and unhealthy work environment that can cost an organization millions if not addressed. In fact, all negative behaviors at work cause anxiety, burnout, low job satisfaction, and increased turnover, but they have differing legal risks for employers. The distinction – and the overlap – between these concepts can certainly cause confusion, but not knowing the difference and acting proactively to stop these behaviors could result in an unwanted lawsuit brought by an employee.
If allowed to flourish, bullying causes increased turnover, communication breakdown, reduced quality in work and poor customer service. In the end, bullying creates an unsafe and unhealthy work environment that can cost an organization millions if not addressed. In fact, all negative behaviors at work cause anxiety, burnout, low job satisfaction, and increased turnover, but they have differing legal risks for employers. The distinction – and the overlap – between these concepts can certainly cause confusion, but not knowing the difference and acting proactively to stop these behaviors could result in an unwanted lawsuit brought by an employee.
Catherine M. Mattice
Catherine M. Mattice, MA, SPHR, SHRM-SCP is President of consulting and training firm, Civility Partners, and has been successfully providing programs in workplace bullying and building positive workplaces since 2007. Her clients include Chevron, the American Red Cross, the military, several universities and hospitals, government agencies, small businesses and nonprofits. She has published in a variety of trade magazines and has appeared as an expert in major news outlets including NPR, FOX, NBC, ABC, USA Today, Inc Magazine, Huffington Post, Entrepreneur Magazine, Washington Times, Psychology Today and Bloomberg. Catherine is Past-President of the Association for Talent Development (ATD), San Diego …
Zero Acceptance Sampling to Reduce Inspection Costs
Project Management for Non-Project Managers - How to commun…
Why EBITDA Doesn't Spell Cash Flow and What Does?
FDA Compliance And Laboratory Computer System Validation
Workplace Investigations 101: How to Conduct your Investiga…
Do's and Don'ts of Documenting Employee Behaviour, Performa…
Fostering a Culture of Respect: Eliminating Gossip, Rumour…
Gossip-Free: Leadership Techniques to Quell Office Chatter
Human Error Trends as AI Enters GMP Operations: What QA Lea…
2026 EEOC & Employers: Investigating Claims of Harassment …
Stop Letting Toxic People Control Your Day
AI for Excel Professionals: Enhancing Productivity with Cha…
Building a High-Performance Team in 90 Days
Introduction to Microsoft Power BI Dashboards
Bootcamp for New Managers and Supervisors: Develop These Es…
Dealing with Difficult People: Managing Strong Personalitie…
The Perfect Storm Coming to Healthcare: Value Based Care Me…
Excel - Lists and Tables - A Beginner's Guide to Managing L…
Stop Letting That Difficult Person Ruin Your Day: Effective…
Reinvent Your HR Department with ChatGPT
Using Claude in Excel for Productivity, Automation & Data A…
DOL Reverses Course on Independent Contractor Rule for 2026…
FDA Technology Modernization Action Plan (TMAP) and Impact …
GROUPBY and PIVOTBY functions. Pivot table killers?
Discover how Emotional Intelligence turns AI from a technic…
Sunshine Act Reporting - Clarification for Clinical Research
FDA Recommendations for Artificial Intelligence/Machine Lea…
Cleanroom, Microbiology and Sterility Assurance Practices f…
Faster, Better Talent Acquisition: Leveraging AI & ChatGPT …
Data Integrity and Privacy: Compliance with 21 CFR Part 11,…
FDA Audit Best Practices - Do's and Don'ts
Medical Device Hazard analysis following ISO 14971
Interactive dashboards & analytics in Excel