Taking bullies to the woodshed

HR Magazine, May, 2008 by Rita Zeidner

On his personal web site, Bob Sutton, a professor of management science and engineering at Stanford University, posts the following advice: "Sometimes the best management is no management at all--first do no harm!"

He's not just being snarky.

Late last year, Sutton won a prestigious award for his best-selling book on bullies, The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't (Warner Business Books, 2007). The book is about office jerks, how to recognize and deal with them, and how to avoid turning into one of them.

According to Sutton, a bully's bad behavior can harm workplace productivity and, in some cases, even eat into the bottom line.

A study adds to the growing backlash against brutish bosses: In March, researchers at the University of Manitoba reported that the emotional toll of workplace bullying is more severe than that of sexual harassment. The findings were presented at the Seventh International Conference on Work, Stress and Health, co-sponsored by the American Psychological Association and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health.

Policy-makers are taking note. Legislators in 13 states have introduced anti-bullying workplace laws, according to the Workplace Bullying Institute, an advocacy group. The states are California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Kansas, Oklahoma, Oregon, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Vermont and Washington. So far, none of the proposals have passed.