Workplace bullying remains a real and painful problem across America — one that hurts not just individuals but entire organizations. Even with more awareness and conversations about it today, bullying at work continues to thrive, often in silence.
When I completed my dissertation in 2013 on workplace bullying from the witness’s perspective, I hoped things would improve. Sadly, updated statistics and expert insights show there is still so much work to do. As I look at where things stand today, I wonder why so many incidents still go unreported and what must change—especially when it comes to leadership and training.
Recent numbers from the 2021 Workplace Bullying Institute Survey show just how widespread this problem is:
• 30% of workers have directly experienced workplace bullying — a 57% jump from 2017.
• 49% of workers have either experienced it or witnessed it.
• Remote workers aren’t exempt — 43% reported bullying even in virtual environments.
• 67% of targets eventually leave their jobs, either forced out or resigning to escape the abuse.
This isn’t a minor issue. It’s a major workforce health crisis that affects millions of lives and costs businesses dearly through lost productivity, turnover, and low morale.I follow David Yamada; as an expert, I share what David Yamada has to say:
David Yamada, an attorney and law professor at Suffolk University and the author of the Healthy Workplace Bill, has long been a national leader on workplace bullying issues.
On his blog, Minding the Workplace, Yamada recently highlighted two urgent points:
• Workplace bullying disproportionately harms women and marginalized groups.
• Future laws must be trauma-informed — meaning they should recognize the deep psychological wounds bullying causes, not just the financial or professional damage.
He’s pushing for stronger laws to protect employees and provide real accountability—something the U.S. still lacks at the federal level. You can explore more of his work on his site: https://newworkplace.wordpress.com/.I still question why so many still stay silent. Even though bullying is common, about half of employees who experience it never report it. Why?
• Fear of retaliation or losing their job.
• Belief that management or HR won’t do anything.
• Lack of trust in leadership to handle it reasonably.This underreporting allows bullies to continue their behavior unchecked, creating toxic cycles that damage companies from the inside out. Witnesses often feel powerless, too, believing they might become the next target if they speak up. I still hold on to a real solution “training, especially for supervisors and consequences towards whom everyone is the bully. Training isn’t just helpful — it’s essential. Organizations must invest in real, ongoing education to:
• Help supervisors and employees recognize bullying behaviors.
• Teach effective, confidential ways to report issues.
• Hold bullies accountable, not protect them.
• Create a workplace culture based on respect and dignity.Supervisors are key here. They need to be trained not just to spot bullying but also to intervene effectively, protect victims, and prevent retaliation. Some studies show that supervisors are also bullies more than most expect.
If you’re looking for more information, these are excellent places to start:
• Workplace Bullying Institute: https://workplacebullying.org/
• Minding the Workplace https://newworkplace.wordpress.comAre you a victim of bullying at your workplace?
Have you witnessed bullying at your workplace?
Hello dear readers, over the life of this blog, I’ve sometimes taken aim at certain popular management practices. Here’s a roundup of some of my favorites:
Using the empty rhetoric of change to justify or impose change (2015) (link here) — “With apologies to Bob Dylan, the times are always a-changin’. But if you buy into the rhetoric of certain practitioners of management-speak, then you’d think that the impetus for change occurs at those magic moments when they happen to be in charge.”
“Strategic planning”: All too often, a time-sucking bridge to nowhere (2011) (link here) — “My friends in management consulting may toss me out of the visitor’s lounge for saying this, but two words uttered together send a chill up my spine: Strategic planning. . . . Organizations should engage in smart, inclusive planning and evaluation. But there’s something about mega-processes like strategic planning…
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bullying in the workplace 