With so much emphasis on empathetic leadership and culture, how is it that bullies are still getting away with it? For one, a remote work culture and reliance on digital communications platforms has exacerbated some forms of bullying behaviors. While bullying may not technically constitute unlawful harassment, it is exceedingly harmful and surprisingly prevalent. In fact, according to the Workplace Bullying Institute, bullying impacts an estimated 79.3 million U.S. workers. Additionally, up to 75% of employees report that they have witnessed bullying at work or been a target. 

A high-profile case of workplace bullying can be found in Team SoloMid (TSM) founder and CEO, Andy Dinh. He has been publicly accused by several employees and esports pros of verbal abuse and harassment. “He’s like a bully who gets away with being a bad person because he’s powerful, because people are afraid to stand up to him,” said one of Andy Dinh’s former TSM teammates, Yiliang “Peter” Peng. 

Problem: Bullies continue to get away with it  

While employees eventually came forward in the case of Andy Dinh, sadly many HR departments are not aware that bullying is taking place in their organizations. “People don’t want to be perceived as a troublemaker, so they may choose to keep their mouths shut,” according to Jackie Gilbert, Ph.D., a professor at Jones College of Business, Middle Tennessee State University.  

Digital channels such as email, instant messaging, and video platforms, give bullies a place to hide and perpetuate their behavior because the abuse is often not public or seen by others. Left unreported, bullying festers and grows, creating a toxic workplace culture along with other impacts such as attrition, absenteeism, low productivity and morale, and reputational damage to the company.  

Solution: Prevent bullying by improving communications culture

HR and compliance leaders now have proactive strategies to put an end to bullying and bully bosses—and truly champion their employees’ rights to a safe, productive, and positive work environment. With technology like Fairwords Guide, HR and compliance can continually track the health of their organization’s written communications. This way, even if bullying is left unreported, leaders constantly have a pulse on the type of language being used and if it’s potentially harmful.  

Fairwords Guide provides in-the-moment training as employees type, helping them recognize possible violations and revise their language before hitting send. 

By providing in-the-moment feedback as messages are typed, Fairwords’ AI-powered training software prevents harmful communication like bullying before it happens. Plus, HR and compliance leaders can prove the efficacy of their compliance programs through anonymous dashboards and analytics that track how workplace culture and behavior is improving. 

Results: Create a safe, compliant, and fair communications culture 

Had HR representatives at TSM been using Fairwords Guide, they might have identified a pattern of abuse emerging in written communications and implemented proactive anti-bullying strategies. 

Here’s how Fairwords clients ensure healthy and compliant communications cultures:  

• In-the-moment training as employees type continuously reinforces company policies and values, thereby protecting others from receiving harmful communications 
• Cloud-based software works with any application on desktops where employees are writing 
• Anonymized dashboards help HR and compliance leaders evaluate flagged words, words in use, and track improvement over time 
• HR and compliance leaders can prove the effectiveness of their programs while reducing the risk of litigation, employee complaints, brand impact, and financial loss 

Be a champion for your employees and prevent harmful communications from ever happening. Get in touch for a free demo.