Incentive - May 2008 - (Page 34)

New Workplace Institute. “It seems to have turned a corner as far as media attention.” Yamado wrote the model bill for the Healthy Workplace acts that have been introduced in about a dozen states, including California, Montana and New York. “Some of this awareness can come from the grass roots, but the tone of leadership really establishes a climate as to whether bullying is going to be discouraged or embraced,” says Yamado. Because of the laws against workplace hostility in foreign countries, many multinational companies have already had to adopt anti-bullying policies in their overseas offices, according to Namie, so following similar rules in American offices would not require a substantial change in perspective. Incentives to the Rescue But beyond legislating against bad behavior, creating a healthy workplace involves incentivizing good behavior, says Lutgin-Sandvik. She suggests that regular awards for positive performances like a Dignity at Work or Respectful Communication Award would go a long way in improving employee behavior. Lutgin-Sandvik emphasizes that the awards should be tailored to the individuals. “I might like public recognition, you might just like someone to come and talk to you privately in your office, or even something larger like a dinner for two,” says LutginSandvik. “Figure out ways of building this into the workplace environment, so that when people treat others respectfully, they really get these great kudos for it.” This use of incentives can be especially important for organizations that may be, perhaps unintentionally, conducive to bullying behavior. Namie cites certain sales organizations where competitiveness is part of the job, but which might then idealize the win-at-all-costs salesperson. A culture where only the bottom line matters allows bad behavior to be overlooked and to get worse, warns Namie, saying “tough gets way overrated and revered in this country.” A well-executed incentive program, where constructive behavior is rewarded, would clarify or perhaps redefine what it means to be a top employee in the organization. Besides overseeing the Workplace Bullying Institute, Namie is also the founder of Work Doctor, which offers workshops and specific information on how organizations can reduce or prevent bullying. Because it is such a challenge for a company to turn around a lifelong bully (Namie believes it to be near impossible), he urges that the organization put policies in place, including incentives, which reinforce what kind of behavior is acceptable. But Namie emphasizes that an anti-bullying program is not about upbeat teambuilding. “We’re not trying to mandate civility, we don’t care about niceties,” he says. “If you have special programs or goodies from time to time to encourage day-to-day dignity, that’s certainly helpful,” says Nancy Glube, on the Employee Relations Special Expertise Panel of the Society for Human Resource Management. Glube recommends spot rewards that can be given to workers exemplifying constructive behavior. “You can give someone a gift card to Starbucks for very little money, you know, ‘Have a latte on us.’” Pulling the Plug on Bullies Goodwill Southern California, which extends across the counties of Riverside and San Bernardino, and about two-thirds of Los Angeles County, reached out to Work Doctor when bullying behavior was becoming a problem. Doug Barr, the company’s president and CEO, received complaints from employees who felt they were being disciplined improperly and being harassed on the job. Incidents like a store manager who shouted at a staff member in front of her peers and an administrator who neglected to give new hires the information and tools they needed to do their job, then disciplined them for failing to do their work correctly, spurred Barr to take action. Working with Work Doctor, Barr and Goodwill’s HR trainer, Sue Gutierrez, ran training sessions, set up an anti-bullying policy and even an anti-bullying hotline, monitored by a third-party counselor who advises individuals on what constitutes workplace bullying and what options are available to them. They also used surveys and interviews to assess where they were having incidences of bullying and how severe it was. Through the research, some chronic bullies were discerned and actions were taken, including counseling and even termination for a few hostile employees. “[The new policy] was noticed when two very senior managers and a couple store managers were let go, and that helped give the policy credibility,” says Barr. “The word got out that this cannot go on, this is not acceptable.” Keeping the focus positive, Goodwill Southern California put its anti-bullying efforts in terms of the organization’s values of respect, integrity, service and excellence (what they call “RISE values”). Besides monitoring the negative behavior, Goodwill’s leadership also offers RISE awards to recognize workers who exemplify any one of the four corporate values. Winners earn recognition and awards (that often include gift cards), mention in the employee newsletter and recognition at the quarterly staff meeting. Barr reports seeing an improvement in performance and an apparent decrease in bullying incidences since the policy was started. “It gives me comfort that we have mechanisms in place that can enforce these RISE values,” says Barr. “It isn’t just something we put on the wall, it’s something we try to live by on a daily basis.” In addition to a top-down organizational approach, Lutgin-Sandvik has studied ways that individuals can respond to bullying and what has proven effective and what has not. She describes direct confrontation — whether hostile (“if you ever talk to me like that again…”) or beseeching (“can you please come to me privately with these issues?”)—as among the least effective strategies. “Everyone who told me about confrontation all said that it got worse later,” says Lutgin-Sandvik. The most effective strategies were for two or three people, perhaps including a person not being directly bullied, to get together to reach out to upper management, which keeps it from being a victim versus bully dynamic. Another effective strategy is for the victim to go through formal channels, documenting incidents, working directly with human resources and playing by the organizational rules to make a case, gaining power from the formal and cool-headed rather than the personal and emotional. “[Upper management] need to have documentation if they’re going to be able to do anything that’s fair,” says Lutgin-Sandvik. “They need to understand what actually happened and ‘always’ and ‘never’ statements are useless.” s Send comments to alex.palmer@nielsen.com 34 | Incentive | May 2008 | incentivemag.com http://incentivemag.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Incentive - May 2008

Incentive - May 2008 Contents Editor's Note: Turn to Incentives in Hard Times In The News: At IMRA Conference, Trade Show Talk; In Utah, Team-Building Trauma Cover Story: Can Incentives Save the Media Business? Incentive Interview: Our New Columnist, Christi L. Gibson Case Study: Architecture Firm WESKetch Builds a Recognition Plan Incentives in a Recession: Advice on Adjusting Your Plan Office Bullies: The Scourge of the Workplace Can Be Reined In Original Research: Incentive Sales IQ Report Recognition@Work: Stop Driving Your Top People Away Incentive Primer: Ways to Foster Creativity in Your Organization Travel News Puerto Rico: Shining Star's Trendy Makeover Mexico: Cancun and Cabo Still Have It Potentials Here and Now Luggage and Leather Goods Gift Cards: F&B Advertiser Index Last Word: Stanley Bing Gives Wimpy Bosses a Nuggie

Incentive - May 2008

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