A surprising two-thirds of respondents admit to having been victims of workplace bullying and about half of the employees that have not been bullied directly have witnessed it. A poll conducted by Monster shows that workplace bullying is rife right across the globe, though with some countries having much higher reports of bullying than others.
Monster, the leading job matching engine and flagship brand of Monster Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: MWW) posed the question, “Have you ever been bullied at work?” and received 16,517 responses. The worldwide findings were:
- YES, I have been bullied, either physically hurt, driven to tears or it may have affected my work performance: 64%
- NO, this never happened to me: 36%
- But I have seen it happen to others: 16%
As a whole, European respondents experienced a much higher incidence of bullying than anywhere else in the world. 83 percent of European respondents claimed to have been physically or emotionally bullied, compared with 65 percent in the Americas and 55 percent in Asia. That figure means that only 17 percent of workers in Europe surveyed have never suffered bullying in the workplace, compared to 45 percent in Asia that report the same. The Netherlands reported an overwhelming number of respondents having been victims of bullying (93%). However, of those that have not been victims directly, many still report having witnessed their co-workers being bullied.
Belgium reported the lowest rates of bullying at 38 percent, which is still high enough for concern though far below the worst offending places. China was a close second to Belgium, with 60 percent having never been bullied and 40 percent having been bullied at work.
“The survey results point to bullying in the workplace being alarmingly widespread -- it's definitely a problem that should be on employers’ radar. A bullying situation can affect employee morale, and that can have a huge impact on a company’s bottom line. Happy employees are productive employees, but employees who can’t collaborate effectively with their peers are easily wooed away by competitors,” says Charles Purdy, Monster.com’s career expert. “There may be legal safeguards in place to protect employees from bullying behaviour; it’s up to companies to broadcast such safeguards to their staff, and to make sure they are vigilant about watching for signs of bullying and about maintaining a safe workplace.”
The results of the current Monster Global Poll are based on votes cast by Monster visitors from: May 1 – May 14 2011. Only one vote per user is counted toward the final tabulation. The Monster Global poll, a product of Monsterâ, the leading global online careers website and flagship brand of Monster Worldwide Inc., is a series of online polls that gauge users’ opinions on a variety of topics relating to careers, the economy and the workplace. These polls are not scientific and reflect the opinions of only those Internet users who have chosen to participate.