How To Deal With Bad Behaviors

How to Deal with Bad Professional Behaviors? Dr. Nami Aljehani

How to Deal with Bad Behaviors?

Aims 

What are “bad behaviours”



Why it’s important to deal with bad behaviours



Impact on an individual and organisation



Dealing with bad behaviours



Your responsibilities and rights

What is Bad Behaviour? Conduct Disturbances Repeated, unreasonable or inappropriate behaviour at work place or in the course of employment that is intimidating, insulting, offensive, demeaning, or humiliating others.

What Are Bad Behaviours? Three categories •

Verbal abuse

•

Non-verbal abuse

•

Physical abuse

Verbal abuse 

Put downs, humiliating jokes and comments, constant teasing 

Yelling, name calling, swearing, sarcasm 



Unfair criticism

Unwelcome comments about someone’s race, religion or background 

Threats and intimidation

Non-verbal Abuse Rude gestures and disrespectful facial expressions  Unfair workloads  Withholding of resources or information needed to undertake work Unnecessary changes in work patterns or conditions  Denying access to rights or promotions  Isolation and exclusion  Stalking  Displaying offensive material 



Physical Abuse 

Unwelcome pranks, horse-play and practical jokes



Invading personal space



Uninvited touching or brushing against someone



Pushing, shoving, hitting, tripping, spitting



Damage to personal property

What Isn’t Bad Behaviour? 

Occasional differences in opinion, nonaggressive conflicts & problems in working relationships.



Legitimate comment, advice and direction from managers in accordance with the Labour Law



Appropriate management of poor performance, issues of bad behaviour, inappropriate dress etc

Organisational Impact 

Direct Costs 

Lost productivity, lowered performance and increased accidents



Increase absenteeism



Low staff morale





Cost of stress claims, compensation, litigation or court fines Higher insurance premiums

Organisational Impact 

Indirect Costs 

Recruitment, replacement and induction/training for a new employees.



Increased workloads on co-workers



Loss of knowledge and expertise



Loss of customers to competitors



Reputation on the line – deters future quality employees

Individual Impact o

Psychological: stress, loss of self-esteem, depression and loss of trust

o

Physical: headaches, stomach problems and panic attacks

o

Social: isolation, social withdrawal, family problems and attempted suicide

o

Career: black-listing and job loss

Organisation Factors that Support Bad Behaviours 

Abuse is likely in organisations where: o There

is an atmosphere of unhealthy competition

o Management

believes workers must be harassed to be productive

o There

is a culture of fear

o Individual oA

differences are not valued

climate of informality encourages a lack of respect

Organisation Factors that Support Bad Behaviours (cont…) 

Supervision is problematic: o Supervisors

are appointed without the skills to supervise effectively o People are under-worked and undersupervised o People are over-worked and oversupervised o Job mobility is reduced o Morale is low © Human Factor Australia

Organisation Factors that Support Bad Behaviours (cont…) 

Power imbalances encourage abuse o There

is change to work practices, or restructuring is taking place o Systems, such as performance appraisals can be abused without detection o There are poor lines of communication o There are poor relationships between management and workers o Team work is not encouraged o Employee involvement is not facilitated © Human Factor Australia

Dealing with Bad Behaviours

 

What's happening here?

What are the facts of the situation? 

What's their part? 



What's my part?

What are my options?

The Individual Approach the alleged perpetrator:  Describe the unwanted behaviour and request that it stop.  Focus on the effect of the behaviour.  Don’t make it a personalised attack.  Try to get agreement on future interactions.

The Individual 

Keep a diary of events



Record incidents in as much detail as possible.



Record names of witnesses.



Record names of people willing to support your claim.



Take it to Higher Authority

The Manager/Supervisor 

If aware that bad behaviour is occurring MUST address even if no complaint is made.



Act promptly and maintain confidentiality.



Note details from the alleged victim and what action/support they are seeking.



Discuss the perpetrator.



Ensure alleged victimisation

situation victim

with is

the

alleged

protected

from

Responsibilities

All employees are expected and required to behave ethically and professionally in the workplace.

All Employees Must ... 

Ensure that own behaviour does not offend, intimidate, or threaten others.



Comply with relevant Code of Conduct, policies and procedures.



Participate professionally when getting performance feedback.

All Employees Must ... 

Seek to constructively resolve conflicts



Report inappropriate behaviours so that others are not placed at risk 

Respect your work colleagues

Managers/Supervisors Must ... 

Establish and maintain a safe workplace



Ensure employees are aware of and understand their responsibilities



Role model appropriate behaviours 

Take complaints seriously

Managers/Supervisors Must ... 

Act if observe inappropriate behaviours



Apply natural justice and procedural fairness



Seek advice if unsure – (HR – Saudi Labour Office)

Conclusion 

Bad behaviours are costly to both the organization and the individual



Management has a responsibility to take the issue of bad behaviours in the workplace seriously

Finally 

Don’t respond emotionally.



Remain objective.



Attack the problem, not the person.



Don’t make it personal.



Avoid using generalities.



Never criticize in front of another.