I first heard the word bullying in Shell during the reserves crisis of 2004. Jeroen van der Veer made a big play on the word, as he believed a bullying culture had been an important driver of the crisis. Leaders talking without listening, demanding without helping, not leaving any room for questions or bad news, this is what he meant I think. And in many early public pronouncements he used the word with great passion, I felt with a passion of someone who had witnessed or suffered bullying himself. By making this public, he hoped to release the bullied to fight and make the bully reconsider their behaviour. A good campaign, well managed. Typical of the most positive side of the van der Veer legacy.
Over time the word drifted away again. Until now. Maybe it is a coincidence, but I have heard it from four different places in the last two weeks. So I thought I would try a blog on it. I should insist that I don't have compelling evidence of a systematic issue, indeed all the four stories could easily be interpreted in different ways.
What is workplace bullying? I think I can define it very simply - abuse of power. Someone (or a group) with power (hieracrchical or otherwise) over others exerts excessive pressure, overt or covert, with the effect of either creating unnecessary human suffering or of suboptimising the value of the enterprise.
Is bullying ever acceptable? No. It is a universal bad that people sometimes try to make excuses for, like corruption.
What sort of situations are more like to lead to workplace bullying? Well, there are several.
A lack of strong checks and balances is one. If someone knows they have a place to go where they will be listened to then they are less likely to tolerate bullying, and the bully will desist. This can be a formal structure akin to whistleblowing, or just the existence of close colleagues, or parties like HR, who can mediate or observe. Linked to this, a clarity of rules and well established procedures help too.
Absolute power is another. If there are bigger job group gaps, and few peers around potential bullies, the power is greater, less observed, and less moderated by group behaviour. In politics, dictators tend to become bullies over time.
A macho culture is a third. Masculine behaviours and excessive competitveness runs the risk of bullying emerging. Also, bullies are often people who have not been answerable to others for a long time.
Then there is pressure. Pressure can be external - if we don't perform we'll be punished. Or pressure can grow through lack of clarity, or through poorly defined expectations. Most common it comes from insecurity, which itself will stem from incompetence or lack of confidence (both in the bully and the bullied, incidentally).
Finally, there is the power balance between employer and employee. A collective or unionised environment has its downsides, but it tends to stamp out bullying.
Now compare this list with Shell today. Compared with almost any organisation in the world, we have checks and balances, openness, and no sort of macho culture. As with many of our potential issues as a company, we start from a legacy of the high ground and can compare ourselves favourably with most.
However, just now the may be higher risk than usual. A new organisation is not had time to bed down rules, expectations, norms. There have been some power grabs. Pressure is greater than usual, and many are insecure. There has been a marked shift of power from employee to employer in the last 12 months in a recession and in the transition, with the sanction of job loss hanging over many.
I also see some people who somehow seem to be unanswerable. One good consequence of the global solutions mindset where we were taught that customer was king was to take some of the sharp edges off arrogant behaviour. That approach has its downsides too, but I wonder if some EP colleagues have missed the benefits of that sort of challenge for a while.
So analysis suggests the risks are higher than usual. Anecdote itentifies some incidents. That does not add up to a problem, but maybe suggests it is wise to keep an eye on the issue. As always, the best place to start is with ourselves. Might I be a bully? Might you? Here is a short list of questions we might ask ourselves, and ask people we trust to help us with. I'm sure there a better questions out there somewhere.
Do I ask people I have power over how they are feeling? Do I listen to the answers, and act on them?
Do I rant about things that trouble me to people? Might they somehow conclude that they are being blamed?
Do I thoughtlessly impose my own working style on others? My preferred working hours? My communication style?
Do I expect others to be as adept as I am at my strengths, even though they are different and maybe less well paid? My language? My analysis? My written word? My e-mail capacity?
Do I ask for feedback? Again and again, so I reach the truth? Do I consult my peers?
Do I inadvertently pass on my pressure to others as unreasonable expectations? When I ask something, do I check back that it is understood, or feasible? Do I offer help, really?
Do I belittle people? Am I full of my own importance.
Do I sometimes say "Do you know who I am?"
That is not a bad prayer. Lord, let me never feel tempted to ask "do you know who I am". And if you have any more space for my prayers, let me never hear that from anyone else.
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