Why do leaders have to take measures against aggression at work? – FirstPost

Aggression at work is an
omnipresent and very harmful A problem that costs billions of billions of dollars annually in lost productivity. Beyond financial losses, favors toxic crops at work, exposes companies to legal and reputational risks and
cause substantial suffering to those who experience or
confession.

Years,
scientists and
Practitioners they have sought ways to prevent aggression at work and to mitigate its negative consequences. A proposed solution is bystander intervention, where employees who are witnesses or hear about aggression
Enter to stop or address it.

However, results from
Our recent meta -analysis question the effectiveness of Bystander intervention as a reliable solution. We integrated the results of the research from 149 articles, which included data from 111,466 participants. Alarmingly, I found that the participants intervened only in the artificial safety of the experiments, but not in real working settings.

Not all employees feel equipped to address the aggression at work, and organizations should not rely too much on employees to take action. Instead, I highlighted the crucial role that leaders were able to play.
Leaders can interrupt effectively The incidents of aggression at work, act as influential role models for others and eventually favors the inclusive climate.

Leaders need to take action

Leaders can be aware of the aggression at work in various ways, including listening comments in a meeting, receiving written complaints or being addressed for tips on managing improper jokes. When this happens, leaders must decide whether to act and how.

Several barriers can prevent leaders from responding constructively. Like anyone else, leaders are prone to
cognitive distortions. They can reduce an incident as a joke, hesitate to face a high -performance employee, who is his instigator even to blame the target for challenging behavior.

Some leaders may also feel that it is not their responsibility to intervene. If they have demanding jobs, they may not have time or energy to get involved in interpersonal issues that are not essential for jobs.

However, the cost of the leader’s inaction is high. In 2022,
Nike faced a harassment and discrimination process With female employees who are worried that “Nike’s leadership was not likely to approach their concerns” on unwanted sexual progress, sexist attitudes and discrimination.

In one other case,
The Canadian Royal Police mounted faced a process of $ 1.1 billion supporting the systematic negligence and the failure of the “command chain” to address the aggression at work.

When leaders ignore aggression at work, organizations can undergo reputational and financial damage. But most importantly, employees can
experience serious sufferingIncluding post -traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorder and depression.

Aggressive incident response

A survey found that
Only 44 percent of US companies employees I strongly agree that their companies have a culture in which employees are encouraged to speak. Too often, employees remain silent when it comes to aggressive behaviors because of the lack of power or their ability to make the difference.

However, leaders have the power to withstand pushing, to respond to the instigators and to create a work environment. Leaders must play an active role in both prevention and response to aggressive incidents at work.

First of all, leaders should recognize the fact that the approach of aggression is part of their job. In addition to the legal obligations to approach the aggression, the actions of the leaders set the tone for what is considered acceptable. Demonstrating a commitment to civility can signal them
Ethical leadershipan extremely appreciated leadership style.

Secondly, leaders must also approach what may seem to be minor incidents.
A common misconception between participants is that minor aggression incidents are not serious or harmful to act.

Minor aggression incidents include low intensity behaviors, such as sarcastic observations, offensive jokes, rolling gestures or rejection. More severe aggression includes behaviors such as shouting, intimidating, throwing objects in anger or even provoking physical damage.

Aggression often begins with relatively minor acts that can
climbing to the most severe when they are left uncontrolledSo these lower acts must be addressed. Once the aggression increases in intensity or frequency, it becomes part of the organizational culture, which makes it much harder to change.

It may seem surprising, but minor and severe aggression can be just as harmful to victims.
Minor incidents They are often subtle, what can lead to excessive rumination (for example, was it intentional?), Self -doubt (for example, do I interpret it?) And has decreased self -esteem. This is particularly problematic because
Minor incidents are significantly more widespread at work.

The way leaders can intervene effectively

Also, leaders must learn how to intervene properly in incidents of aggression. For minor incidents, leaders can take immediate actions by redirecting the target attention and stopping the incident by changing the conversation or suggesting a quick break.

Leaders should also private approach aggressive behavior with the instigator. Aggressive behaviors, especially in minor forms, are sometimes unintentional, so it is best to approach the conversation in a non-turning way that causes the instigator to reflect on their behavior and recognize the harmful nature of their actions.

As employees usually become defensive or refuse crimes during these conversations, leaders should focus on discussing behaviors rather than personality and providing actionable suggestions for positive behavioral changes.

It is also important to provide support to the target. Sometimes,
Employees react negatively to victims of aggression at worksuch as blaming them for provoking aggression, rather than to support them, which can damage their social position within the team. When the leaders support the victims, it signals to others how they should respond, which can help the victims to maintain their social status.

Leaders can also create opportunities for the target to present their skills, to reaffirm the importance of their role in the team and the organization or to get involved in acts of leader Allyship towards the victims.

Innovative instruction of Bystander

While our conclusions question the effectiveness of Bystander intervention among ordinary employees, they emphasize the critical role of those in positions of authority and power to take measures to address the aggression at work.

Leaders should adopt innovative training programs, including Bystander’s intervention formation. While many organizations already offer such training, it often involves only educational videos or lectures.
Research shows that the best way to learn is by practicingnot listening passively. Training should take this into account.

But how can employees practice interventions in a safe environment? One way in which organizations can do this is taking advantage of recent technological developments, such as generative artificial intelligence, to create realistic training simulations.

The students can be involved in simulated conversations with a virtual instigator or victim and practice their intervention skills. Such conversations can be made in real time with an avatar through video or voice, allowing employees to create confidence and improve their approach in a controlled framework.

Leaders have both the power and the responsibility to create safer jobs. By taking measures to interrupt aggression and to support victims, leaders can be role -playing models for employees and eventually favors a more productive work environment. Needless to say, leaders should approach the problem, not contribute to it.

Zhanna LyubykhAssistant teacher, Beedie’s business school, Simon Fraser University;
Rui ZhongAssistant teacher of management and organization, Penn State;
Sandra L. RobinsonTeacher, UBC Saurder School of Business, University of British Colombia;
Sandy HershcovisAssociate dean and future background teacher in equity, diversity and inclusion, University of Calgaryand
Vuong tonePhD in organizational behavior and human resources, University of Calgary

This article is republished from
conversation under Creative Commons license. Read
Original article.