Workplace safety can worsen under bullying bosses
July 29, 2019
Science Daily/Portland State University
A new Portland State University study suggests that bullying bosses aren't just bad for employee morale and well-being -- they can also be bad for workplace safety.
Liu-Qin Yang, an associate professor of industrial-organizational psychology in PSU's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and her co-authors surveyed airline pilots and manufacturing technicians and found that employees' safety behavior can be worsened when they're treated in ways that detract from their bonds to a work group.
The study was published in the Journal of Applied Psychology.
Yang said that bosses' behaviors can strengthen or weaken employees' sense of belonging to the work group by supporting or undermining their status within the group. Poor treatment from a boss can make employees feel that they're not valued by a group. As a result, they can become more self-centered, leading them to occasionally forget to comply with safety rules or overlook opportunities to promote a safer work environment.
Yang said this was especially true among employees who were more uncertain about their social standing within the group.
"When people are less sure about their strengths and weaknesses and their status within a group, they become more sensitive," she said. "They're more likely to respond negatively to their boss' bullying behaviors."
Yang said workplace safety is a critical issue -- and more so in an environment where one employee's failure to behave safely can create circumstances where other people are likely to be injured.
"Organizations need to understand how important it is to curb leaders' bad behavior and to create positive team dynamics, so that there will be fewer negative safety consequences for employees or customers," she said. "It's really critical to manage such leader behavior, support victimized employees and prevent such issues."
Among the study's recommendations:
· Implement training programs that can improve leaders' skills in interacting with their employees, so as to provide feedback and discipline in ways that are neither offensive nor threatening.
· Promote a more civil and engaged work environment that strengthens social bonds between employees and creates a buffer against the negative consequences of their boss' bad behaviors
· Implement transparent performance evaluation processes so employees have less uncertainty about their social status in the workplace
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/07/190729094539.htm
Bullying bosses negatively impact employee performance and behavior
March 7, 2019
Science Daily/Portland State University
Employees bullied by their bosses are more likely to report unfairness and work stress, and consequently become less committed to their jobs or even retaliate, according to a new study.
The findings, published recently in the Journal of Management, highlight the consequences of abusive supervision, which is becoming increasingly common in workplaces, said Liu-Qin Yang, the study's co-author and an associate professor of industrial-organizational psychology in PSU's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
Yang and her co-authors reviewed 427 studies and quantitatively aggregated the results to better understand why and how bullying bosses can decrease "organizational citizenship behavior" -- or the voluntary extras you do that aren't part of your job responsibilities -- and increase "counterproductive work behavior." Examples of such behaviors include sabotage at work, coming into work late, taking longer-than-allowed breaks, doing tasks incorrectly or withholding effort, all of which can affect your team and coworkers.
The researchers attribute the negative work behaviors to either perceptions of injustice or work stress.
With perceptions of injustice, employees bullied by their boss see the treatment as unfair relative to the effort they've put into their jobs. In response, they're more likely to purposely withhold from the unpaid extras that help the organization, like helping coworkers with problems or attending meetings that are not mandatory. They're also more likely to engage in counterproductive work behavior such as taking longer breaks or coming in late without notice, Yang said.
Having an abusive boss can also lead to work stress, which reduces an employee's ability to control negative behaviors or contribute to the organization in a positive way.
The researchers found that fairness (or the lack thereof) accounted more for the link between abusive supervision and organizational citizenship behavior, while work stress led to more counterproductive work behavior.
"Stress is sometimes uncontrollable. You don't sleep well, so you come in late or take a longer break, lash out at your coworkers or disobey instructions," Yang said. "But justice is more rational. Something isn't fair, so you're purposely not going to help other people or when the boss asks if anyone can come in on a Saturday to work, you don't volunteer."
Yang and her co-authors recommend that organizations take measures to reduce or curb abusive supervision. Among their suggestions:
· Launch regular training programs to help supervisors learn and adopt more effective interpersonal and management skills when interacting with their employees
· Implement fair policies and procedures to reduce employees' perceptions of injustice in the organization
· Ensure employees have sufficient resources to perform their job, such as by offering stress management training
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/03/190307073452.htm