Bullying accusation - other perspective?

LegacyUser

Regular poster going un-regd for this one due to the sensitivity of the issue.

I anticipate a bullying complaint is about to be made against me by someone who works under me. I say anticipate because they have made various verbal statements to that effect, but have yet to commit it to paper. I have advised them per company procedure to engage the grievance procedure because, to be honest, I want these claims to be investigated once and for all rather than have them being slung at me on a regular basis as some kind of threat. The person concerned has made informal allegations about a previous manager (relayed to me by the manager concerned as the allegations were never written down and the employee elected at that time to not instigate the grievance process). I believe the claims made against me to be false and would welcome an investigation into them as having this constant veil hanging over me makes it difficult for me to work. The claims relate to me having had issue with the employee in relation to their conduct and work quality, and them feeling that other employees would not have been spoken to about the same behaviour. The reality is that these problems have not arisen with other employees, but if they did I would exercise the same response.

And that's really my question - for any manager or employee who has dealt with this before, how did you handle it? Personally I mean. It's all well and good having the truth on my side (which again, an investigation would determine one way or the other) but the pressure of it is starting to drive me crackers! My superior is the MD who takes a hands-off approach so there's no-one really I can speak to about how it's affecting me, and my family are sick of hearing me talk about it! Even now I can't enjoy my weekend because I'm wondering what Monday's installment of the saga will be.

blindsider

4 things:

- Do you know what 'bullying' is? There's a legal definition:

Bullying is repeated inappropriate behaviour that undermines your right to dignity at work. It can be done by one or more persons and it is aimed at an individual or a group to make them feel inferior to other people. Bullying can be verbal bullying, physical bullying or cyber bullying which is carried out on the internet or mobile phones, through social networking sites, email and texts. It can take many different forms such as:

Social exclusion and isolation
Damaging someone’s reputation by gossip or rumours
Intimidation
Aggressive or obscene language
Repeated requests with impossible tasks or targets

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employment/equality_in_work/bullying_in_the_workplace.html

Which of these do you think might be leveled at you?

- Do you have a HR Dept? If you do, go see them tomorrow a.m. and work out a plan. If you don't, do you have a grievance procedure? - get familiar with it urgently

- No-one is allowed to make unfounded accusations against another staff member - including you.

- Does this employee (and his/her team) have a clear set of goals against which they are measured weekly/monthly/quarterly etc? If they do, then sit down with each one and review performance. Address any issues head on. Be clear, fair and determined.

If they don't, gradually introduce such a system, and start giving feedback to employees re performance. You would probably need to work with HR to implement this.

LegacyUser

Thanks for your reply. Our employee manual lists 'monitoring work excessively' as a form of bullying and I would suspect that would be the allegation that is put forward. To my knowledge there would be no sexual/racial/exclusion element, and I would hope intimidation would not figure, though as the person concerned hasn't made a formal written complaint it is difficult to know what their exact position is. We have a review process which all employees are included in and all of those meetings are documented so there isn't an issue there with this employee being treated differently, though they feel their review was unfair (but he hasn't said what exactly about it was unfair). Another manager is present during all reviews as we don't have HR people.

We don't have a HR department but we have legal counsel who has advised me on the next steps of the grievance process etc. - but it won't be initiated until the complaint is formalised in writing.

In the meantime my nerves are a bit shot over this because I know the guy concerned is on edge and I'm waiting for the next meltdown. His behaviour is a little erratic which is understandable in some ways if he feels aggrieved, but trying to navigate it on a daily basis is a nightmare. I'm also worried if he doesn't formalise the complaint it'll hang over me like an urban legend of sorts, and that people will think he had a case but I somehow bullied him into keeping quiet!

Mrs OBumble

OP, it sounds to me like your employee is bullying you: If they are making accusations but not putting them in writing then it is damaging your reputation. And if it's a repeat of a behaviour used on a previous manager, then the employee has possibly learned that this gives them power over the manager.

Now, you might not want to put in those terms when you're discussing it, but thinking this way might help you see things more clearly.

You might like to have a read of this, which helps put things in perspective: http://www.hsa.ie/eng/Workplace_Health/Bullying_at_Work/Are_you_being_Bullied/

I'd suggest looking for some professional coaching and support for yourself. It's possibly best that this doesn't come from your own manager - but I would be expecting your manager / company to pay for it.

Does your company belong the chamber of commerce or a similar employer body - they should be able to recommend someone, or possibly even two types of someone: an employee-assistance type person to help you with your own emotional reaction to the situation, and a management coach to enhance your skills and confidence in managing him. Failing that, reach out (blurgh .. I hate that phrase) to your wider network of managers at a similar level to yourself - someone will know someone helpful.


Good luck: in my experience employees like this are one of the hardest management challenges.

blindsider

Wise words from Mrs O as always!

OP - how often do you review the employees performance? Is this the same for all employees who report to you? If you're not treating him differently (without reasonable cause), he has poor grounds for complaint.

I would (if possible) leave him alone until the next review. During the next review, be thorough, fair and business-like. Have a colleague take notes. if the employee needs help, then try to provide it - otherwise they're there to do a job - time to get on with it.

If he alleges you're bullying him again (verbally or otherwise), consider sth. like this:

"I'm sorry you feel that way. Of course, it's a serious issue and we take any allegation of bullying very seriously. I now have a duty to ensure that this is investigated immediately. Please take some time to provide full details in writing to [another manager or Legal Counsel] - I'll arrange for you to have a meeting with them within 24 hrs. is there anything else you need from me?

Then give them 1 hr to write it up/email it and for them to send it to the Investigating manager.

If they refuse, I'd call a meeting with a witness - explain that as they have alleged bullying, it MUST be investigated - you have no choice and have already reported it - the process is already underway. (Bullying happened or it didn't - if it did, it MUST be dealt with - if it didn't, then they must withdraw the allegation - there is no middle ground here.)

As Mrs O says, it is possible for an employees to threaten you with a possible bullying allegation - you have rights and obligations as a manager, and you need to maintain these.

Coaching/training in this are would be very useful.