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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

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In their role as workplace health consultants to executives, EA professionals can lobby to stop all workplace bullying. The rationale for this strategy is twofold. First, bullying affects the fiscal bottom line by increasing turnover, hurting recruitment and retention, encouraging litigation, and imposing a host of intangible employer costs. The relevant data that illustrate these reactions are gathered by human resources and risk management specialists, but rarely surface at the executive level. EAPs could be the conduit for such information.

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Second, EA professionals can educate executives that an abused, injured, fearful workforce is not productive and instead is likely to undermine all legitimate business interests. An additional charge of an EAP would be to rehabilitate bullies through fitness-for-duty psychological testing and emotional intelligence coaching coupled with strengthening their commitment to the organization (rather than their personal interests).

EA professionals can be uniquely positioned to educate work organizations from the inside while maintaining their commitment to helping employees. Workplace bullying and its impact on organizations is the passion--the cause--that can drive a new EAP strategy that creates value for employers. Work shouldn't hurt, but only EAPs, not management consultants, can make that point from inside the modern American workplace.

Gary and Ruth Namie founded the Workplace Bullying & Trauma Institute, an education, research, and advocacy organization (bullyinginstitute.org), and wrote The Bully at Work (Sourcebooks, 2000/2003). Gary served as an organizational development director in two healthcare systems and currently is a professor of management at Western Washington University and a social psychologist. Ruth has a doctorate in clinical psychology and formerly was training director for Sheraton Hotels in Hawaii. The two have helped introduce legislation in the California Assembly to address workplace bullying.

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

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