How to stand up to a bullying boss

With a recent survey by the union Unison revealing that a third of women claim to have been bullied at work and the Chartered Management Institute reporting that bullying costs the UK £13.8 billion a year, we bring you some tips on how to react if you find yourself in this unfortunate situation.

Firstly, pay attention to the early warning signs and avoid your boss if you know that certain triggers such as a stressful meeting will set them off. Try to anticipate their behaviour and stand your ground by being confident and refusing to accept unreasonable demands; this will send out a positive signal that you are not easily intimidated.

Canvass your colleagues’ opinions and find out if they’re being subjected to the boss’s bad behaviour too. Is it a department-wide problem, or are you being singled out unfairly? Garner support where possible and ask for advice on how they would handle the situation if they were in your shoes.

Be professional: it may be tempting to resort to making bitchy comments around the water cooler, but ultimately you’ll come off better if you keep a calm and collected composure. If the situation escalates, then be prepared to speak to HR, but remember that while they are duty-bound to hear you out, they may not necessarily be on your side.

Research carried out by the Workplace Bullying Insitute (WBI) found that the top five health problems among those bullied at work are anxiety (76%), loss of concentration (71%), disrupted sleep (71%), symptoms of hyper-vigilance (60%) and stress headaches (55%).

The WBI surveyed almost 1,600 employees who had experienced office bullying and asked them what action they had taken. The majority, some 74%, reported the problem to senior management to try to get their support, while 71% asked the perpetrator’s boss to intervene. Another 70% directly confronted the bully themselves.

About 60% asked their union to get involved; 43% filed a formal complaint with HR alleging a violation of company policy. About 38% essentially did nothing at all – he or she simply let time pass, hoping matters would improve on their own. Lastly, around a third (34%) looked into finding a solicitor to take legal action, with 9% ending up actually filing a lawsuit.