Content provided in partnership with

Health Care Industry

Anti-bullying advocacy: an unrealized EAP opportunity: educating executives about the impact of workplace bullying can help EAPs define their role as productivity tools

Journal of Employee Assistance, The, June, 2003 by Gary Namie, Ruth Namie

<< Page 1 Continued from page 2. Previous | Next

WORKPLACE OPPORTUNITIES FOR EAPS

We believe that organizations need EAPs as workforce health advocates more than ever. Threats to employee health are on the rise. The U.S. Department of Labor has just promulgated new roles that preclude overtime pay for overtime work for millions of workers. More than 3 million jobs have been cut in the last three years, and the prospect of further cuts causes some workers to stay in their jobs even when bullying begins to endanger their health. Union membership is shrinking from federal consolidation and private sector anti-organizing tactics.

Most Popular Articles in Health: Fuel your workout: exercisers who eat before they work out have more energy ...; Soothe a dry, itchy scalp: 5 easy expert solutions; Cocktails and calories: Beer, wine and liquor calories can really add up. ...; The sour truth about apple cider vinegar - evaluation of therapeutic use; The, six best supplements you've never heard of: these secret weapons can ...; More »

In addition, employee privacy protections are disappearing, and the few that remain are being eroded. Employees are being subjected to a variety of screening tactics by employers, ranging from psychological assessments for violent predispositions to checks for credit-worthiness to DNA analyses of hair and saliva for evidence of drug use. By its very nature, screening connotes a basic distrust that poisons the workplace.

Traditional workplace ethics are being overwhelmed by extraordinary pressures in companies striving to meet investors' unrealistic profit demands. The shenanigans of Enron, WorldCom, and other firms show that business executives will lie to please Wall Street analysts. The competitive marketplace has been internalized in the American workplace to render cutthroat, zero-sum competition acceptable among management and employees. Complainants face retaliation, even in cases where the mistreatment breaks laws.

There are human consequences that accompany the simultaneous escalation of workplace aggression and diminution of workers' rights and protections. The EA profession has to choose whether to be a part of the solution or a co-designer of the problem. Traditional corporate consultants, both those who are independent and those who are internal to the organization, serve the needs of the executive team and often are so immersed in their roles that they do not or cannot communicate news about the deleterious impact some executive decisions have on employees. And because these consultants are not mental health professionals, they often do not even perceive the harm that executive decisions sometimes cause. EA professionals, on the other hand, are trained and positioned to predict and ameliorate consequential harm.

One lesson we have gleaned from our experiences in both internal and external consulting is that you must have the ear of top executives and be able to circumvent management and human resources staff. By dissociating from management, you increase your credibility with employees who turn to you for assistance when bullied. We suggest that EAPs elevate their visibility and influence by removing themselves from the human resources function and reporting directly to either the chief executive officer or board of directors. EA professionals would comment on the anticipated psychological impact of planned initiatives on employees and work teams, create response contingencies for change initiatives (e.g., mergers, reductions in force, and new technology implementations) then implement these plans by deploying EAP staff.

Health Care Industry

Anti-bullying advocacy: an unrealized EAP opportunity: educating executives about the impact of workplace bullying can help EAPs define their role as productivity tools

Journal of Employee Assistance, The, June, 2003 by Gary Namie, Ruth Namie

Find Research Guides for:

Find Featured Titles for: Arts

Most Popular Articles in Health

Most Popular Publications in Health