Hostility increasing in the workplace

Nearly one-fifth of US workers say their workplace is hostile or threatening, according to new research.

The study, which was co-authored by Harvard Medical School, surveyed 3066 US workers, but these findings are largely consistent with the situation in Australia.

“Unfortunately, the US findings are not unique: half of Australian workers have experienced one or more serious incidences of conflict or negative impacts at work including verbal abuse or bullying,” said Dr Lindsay McMillan, lead researcher at global HR think-tank Reventure and campaign leader of a future that works.

“It is no wonder then that 14% of Australian workers experienced a mental or physical decline as a direct result of their work, and almost one in three have high stress levels often or always.

“We need to take workplace culture more seriously.”

McMillan believes that in order to improve Australian workplaces, a renewed focus on professional relationships is urgently needed.

“Hostility can be external, and customer-facing workers bear much of that burden, but internal hostility and a threatening culture is bred when employees do not work together,” said McMillan.

“This is typical in highly competitive and highly punitive workplace cultures and it is up to leadership to change the nature of workplace relationships by example.

“Something as simple as showing employees their development options can make a big difference to employees because it shows that you are thinking about their long-term prospects.

“Our research shows that the four principles to keep workplace relationships healthy are engagement, development, inclusion and life enhancement.”