Abstract
For decades, ethical issues in businesses have been a challenge for organizations’ senior managers and employees to have a good understanding of it. One agreeably large ethical issue that affects business owners and employees today is harassment and discrimination. It adversely affects people of all genders, prominently females. Should harassment and discrimination occur in any workplace, it could arguably result in catastrophic outcomes financially and on the organization’s brand image. The study revealed that harassment is a common issue at several workplaces and is ineffectively attended by employers. The study indicates that workplace harassment is mostly a result of job insecurity, lack of workplace diversity, negative emotional states and aggressive behaviour among staff members. It geneses severe physical and mental health issues and brings detrimental outcomes on staff performance.
1. Detrimental Effects of Workplace Harassment
1.1. Introduction
Typically, workplace harassment is considered in terms of equal opportunity policies and anti-discrimination policies. Feijó et al., 2019 assert that workplace harassment is a particularly serious form of repetitive, unwanted conduct. It involves sexual and physical harassment, bullying, micro-aggression, job-shaming, verbal threats and discriminatory behaviour towards a person, practice or group of people. Workplace harassment had existed since the 1960s when it was first recognized as an issue rather than a work hazard that needed to be addressed (Feijó et al., 2019). This recognition gave many victims of harassment the right to fight back. Several decades later since these laws against workplace harassment passed, we still see several serious cases of harassment on the front pages of our newspapers on a daily basis. Statistics indicate that it is now a high-profile problem of public concern as workplace harassment and discrimination take place with great frequency worldwide. Evidence increasingly indicates that people are largely being targeted because of their gender, sexuality, race, religion and ethnicity or nationality. Statistics found that work harassment affects all genders, especially women, as 56% of women experience sexual harassment in their workplaces, but only a minority report it (Conway et al., 2021). This is undoubtedly a consequence that indicates the growing need for new and stronger strategies to prevent businesses from struggling for equal and united workplaces without bullying.
1.2. Research Problem
The problem this research paper aims to address can be is that, as far as we can see, little research on workplace harassment has been done. Yet workplace harassment has existed for generations since the 60s and still holds a higher likelihood of continuing across multiple generations if no affirmative action is taken (Conway et al., 2021). Workplace harassment and discrimination are global issues for businesses that have developed deeper roots in several workplaces in the form of bullying and threats robbing millions of their dignity and will to go to work. Work harassment is a trap that affects vulnerable employees by destroying their sense of safety and security in the workplace. Bullies deceive and target numerous vulnerable groups, coercing them into exploitative activities at work, sexually harassing them and forcing them to keep silent about this ugliness. Evidence indicates that workplace harassment is related to adverse mental health, which can also be the case for co-workers who are not abused. The way we define workplace harassment and deal with, it is vehemently linked to the kind of workplace we want as a society and what we benefit from it. Others may ignore this issue of bullying among co-workers, but many people are fighting to escape the psychological and physical trauma and fear that has trapped its victims.
1.3. Research Question
The research questions that will be considered throughout this research paper are
- In what forms does harassment exist in the workplace?
- What are the root causes of workplace harassment and discrimination?
- What are the effects of workplace harassment on employee health and behaviour?
- In what ways does workplace harassment affect staff performance?
1.4. Research Methodology
The research will address the issue of workplace harassment and discrimination, and it will argue that the key task is how to reinforce an inclusive and effective harassment model in the workplace. This research will be conducted using a quantitative and qualitative study. The data will be collected using cross-sectional questionnaire surveys to collect from 250 U.S participants from the automobile industry. The questionnaires will comprise sixty questions divided into three sections, and the first section will include twenty questions on general information such as race, nationality, education and gender. The second section will consist of 20 questions on workplace policies and management. The last section will comprise questions about how harassment and discrimination have affected the employees and what they wish was done differently to protect them from abuse. The piloted questionnaires will be hand-delivered to potential participants, and emails will be sent to respondents to remind them to complete the survey. Using multivariate logistic regression, this study will expose the various workplace abuse and bullying episodes in the past year. Its effects on employee performance. This will help us develop effective intervention measures to help businesses prevent workplace bullying.
2. Literature Review
2.1. Forms of workplace harassment
Generally, little research has been done on workplace harassment and discrimination. Past research focuses primarily on harassment and bullying among students at schools and universities; hence little attention has been given to harassment taking place in almost every workplace across the world. Therefore, there is inadequate information about what constitutes workplace harassment. Feijó et al., 2019 refer to workplace harassment as frequent negative, irrational and unfair attacks on personal and occupational performance. He reinforces that harassment or bullying occurs when a person or several people persistently consider themselves to be on the receiving end of threats and exploitation from other people. According to Feijó et al., 2019 in most bullying situations, targets find difficulty defending themselves against such actions. A study by Conway et al., 2021 identifies that workplace harassment can take many forms. He first identifies that negative acts are the most common form of harassment. Negative act comprises personal derogation acts such as criticism, withholding work information, work overload and intimidation. Salin, 2021 states that on most occasions, persistent harassment is excluded from the definition as many managers turn a blind eye. Another form of harassment is a power imbalance. According to Salin, 2021, when there is an equal power balance between employees and employers, especially in conflicting circumstances, it cannot be identified as harassment. Power and authority can be formal or informal power. Formal and informal authority often disempowers targeted individuals as those in power exploit their vulnerabilities which is a case of harassment.
One most common forms of discriminatory harassment are racial harassment. According to Salin, 2021, racial harassment occurs when a person is bullied because of their skin colour, race, country of origin or ethnicity. According to a survey by Conway et al., 2021 62% of reported harassment cases in the U.S. are due to racism. The survey suggests that the most common form of racial bullying is using certain slurs, prejudiced customs, intolerance of differences, racial jokes and being grossed out to be around a certain race. The survey also indicated that 40% of the reported harassment cases are gender harassment. According to Conway et al., 2021 gender harassment is discriminatory bullying towards people because of their gender expression, either cis-gendered people, trans-women or men, non-binary or two-spirited employees. People often hold negative stereotypes towards a certain gender, such as a non-binary employee being referred to as ‘it’ by a co-worker, which is a significant source of harassment in the work environment. Another common harassment is sexual orientation harassment, which involves bullying a person because they are homosexual, heterosexual, asexual or bisexual (Salin, 2021). Other common forms of bullying include religious harassment, ability-based harassment and age-based harassment. According to Conway et al., 2021 many definitions of harassment leave out the concept of intent. The essence of intent has raised controversial discussions on the issue of harassment. For instance, whether harassment acts are necessarily used to harm victims or, at times, it might be an instrumental act, where harm can be considered the unintentional outcome of the said behaviour. Due to the challenge of establishing the role of intent in terms of litigation, it is often excluded as a form of harassment in workplaces.
2.2. Root causes of work harassment
Numerous questions have arisen about the root factors of workplace harassment. According to Roscigno, 2019 bullying and discrimination occur due to several factors but are often a result of a combination of personality and work-related stressors. One popular root cause of bullying is the lack of diversity. At its most basic level, lack of diversity limits inclusion. Workplaces comprise people from different countries, ancestry, ethnicity, religion and of different skin colours. According to Feijó et al., 2019, in work environments without diversity, many diverse employees from minority ethnic communities are more susceptible to harassment and discrimination. One significant factor in the lack of diversity in work environments is employees from ethnic groups are more exposed to bullying. When discrimination or harassment occurs, the victims feel isolated. Many often tend not to report these prejudiced issues creating a hostile and toxic work environment where bullying and discriminatory practices are acceptable. Research by Robotham & Cortina, 2019 suggests that a lack of diversity prevents inclusion which, in turn, promotes discriminatory acts. According to Robotham & Cortina, 2019 70% of harassment cases reported to management are from Black community employees, with most reporting sexual harassment and racism. He also states that poor cultural and religious diversity gives larger grounds for bullies to take advantage of those deemed vulnerable.
Another cause of workplace harassment is job insecurity. Roscigno, 2019 describes job security as an employee’s perceived powerlessness to keep desired continuity in a situation when their future job stability is threatened. Previous studies indicate that when a person’s job security is affected, they start feeling pressure and very insecure, adversely affecting their commitment, job satisfaction and performance. Insecurity makes people do bad and threatening things to vulnerable people just to drag them down with them. Empirical studies have also analyzed the impact of job insecurity on deviant workplace behaviour. The anxiety of losing a job can result in bullying. Job insecurity is a violation of psychological contracts. According to Halim & Riding, 2018, employees develop negative feelings about their jobs, such as distrust, anger, dislike and dissatisfaction, whenever any psychological workplace contract is violated. These negative feelings eventually result in poor employee attitudes and deviant behaviour resulting in bullying and abuse of power. Job insecurity is positively interlinked with toxic hypercompetitive attitudes and aggression that can potentially cause bullying and discrimination at work (Halim & Riding, 2018).
Another recognized cause of harassment in workplaces by Feijó et al. 2019 is negative emotional states and aggressive behaviour. According to Feijó et al., 2019 aggressive behaviour in workplaces is associated with negative outcomes for individual employees and organizations. He states that aggressive people are more likely to exercise control over their victims through physical, financial, emotional, sexual or financial bullying. Acts such as insulting a co-worker, shouting at colleagues, angry outbursts, constant swearing at people and aggressive physical contact can result in bullying. Most of this behaviour instils fear in employees and results in negative emotions among employees. There is a strong link between negative emotional conditions and violence and harassment in workplaces. According to Roscigno, 2019 work overload also result in bullying and harassment. He posits that increased workloads often lead to workplace conflicts as employees start to feel pressured and overworked, and gradually resentment starts to set in as they feel that they are being pushed too hard. Other reasons behind bullying include role ambiguity and hierarchical authority.
2.3. Effects of workplace harassment and discrimination.
According to a survey by Gale et al., 2019, 45% of employees have directly experienced bullying directly at work, while 43.2% with remote jobs responded that they have also been harassed. Workplace harassment has a range of negative effects on victims’ health, which in turn affect employees and the organization’s performance and productivity. Evidence increasingly quantifies the personal consequences for the victims and the fiscal impacts that affect the company. A study by Sharma et al., 2021 shows that workplace bullying results in health risks. The consequences of bullying do not end when one leaves the office; rather, it gradually causes physical and mental health issues. Victims of workplace bullying experience physical health issues such as high blood pressure, headaches, muscle tension and loss of appetite. Bullying can also cause health issues like high blood pressure, panic attacks, ulcers, anxiety and stress. Bullying victims often experience eating disorders that can affect their mental and physical health. According to Sharma et al., 2021 workplace harassment is attributed to increased stress levels, low self-esteem and feelings of depression. Bullying changes one’s attitudes and behaviour. Persistent bullying results in victims developing protective behaviour that are often very deviant and aggressive. This is to protect themselves from the daily torcher. According to Roscigno, 2019, Bullying victims often start to be rude and uncaring or resort to being bullies just to escape the trap of harassment. Research also shows that colleagues of those who are bullied also experience adverse effects of harassment and discrimination, even though they are not victims of bullying themselves. One study by Gale et al., 2019 shows that targets of bullying and those who associate with them are more likely to receive a prescription for psychotropic medications such as sleeping pills and antidepressants. Gale et al., 2019 associates poor health with poor performance. Unhappy, sick and weak employees cannot produce huge amounts of profits as those who are happy and have the motivation to work.
Workplace bullying harms and undermines employee attitudes, decreasing job morale and resulting in absenteeism and turnover. By comparing statistics from those who reported harassment with those who had no bullying experience, Roscigno, 2019 found that victims of bullying recorded the highest absenteeism. Bullying and harassment can lead to very serious employee absenteeism cases. Workplace harassment has been repeatedly linked to 55.56% longer sick leaves, increasing absenteeism rates in the workplace. If an employee is bullied, the chance of not turning up for work more than once to avoid this situation is very high. This may gradually result in potential risks of employee turnover. Roscigno, 2019 suggests that 25% of employees who are victims of workplace harassment are likely to leave as a result of their bad experiences. Workplace bullying encourages many victims to give up their careers just to achieve peace of mind. Gale et al., 2019 further suggests that the main costs of employee turnover are associated with administration cost, recruitment, training and temporary cover costs. He highlights that the cost of turnover per employee is approximately $1000. Either way, these consequences of workplace harassment and discrimination directly affect staff productivity and performance. While victims of bullying lose their priorities to save themselves from humiliation in workplaces, other work aspects are also lost along the way. Halim & Riding, 2018 suggests that victim employees lose their job morale due to poor physical and mental health, leading to poor quality work and low performance. They also experience low job satisfaction, which demoralizes them, further affecting productivity at work.
3. Discussion
All factors considered, the business ethical issue of workplace harassment and discrimination is a significant concern arising in many business operations (Feijó et al., 2019). Not only does it bring negative consequences on victim employees but also to those who witness this ugly yet common issue, the organization and society at large, making it an issue that requires immediate action. Work harassment correlates with several factors that negatively affect business productivity and performance, such as employee health, turnover, job satisfaction and job morale. Mounting evidence indicates that people who fall victim to bullying and discriminatory practices suffer throughout their work life and outside work life. They become victimized and severely traumatized, and it is of no benefit for people to go to work despite their regular income. To anyone with the right state of mind and who considers themselves human, why would you tolerate violating other people’s freedom and rights while you get to live freely? The excuse of having more authority than the other person is no reason to make people live in fear of harassment and violence. Bullying negatively affects employee health, morale and attendance, affecting their work performance and productivity. Therefore, every workplace organization should ensure effective anti-harassment policies are reinforced.
Anti-harassment and anti-discriminatory should be a necessity and not a luxury in the work environment as it helps monitor all workplace practices at their best. Bullying-free organizational conditions and work environments enhance peace of mind and improve attitudes towards work, increasing employee job satisfaction and morale. This, in turn, increases their performance and productivity at work to a larger extent than mere presence at work. It also cultivates a healthy working environment. To address this issue of harassment and its effects, management and employers can offer education and continuous training on workplace bullying and its effects. Employers can also improve their statutory response and investigate and follow-up on all reported harassment cases. They must also ensure fair hearing and consequences to the involved parties. Lastly, employers can provide effective workplace harassment counselling services to all employees to ensure best health.
4. Further Implication
This study has provided insight into the perception of employees about workplace harassment and bullying and its root causes, which ranged from lack of diversity to aggressive behaviour and job insecurity. The paper also provides how bullying in the work environment results in health issues, employee turnover and absenteeism, which negatively affect employee and organizational performance and productivity. Nevertheless, based on the conclusion of this research study and past studies, there is still a huge knowledge in several dimensions of this issue that require further research. Although numerous studies suggest the correlation between workplace harassment and productivity, future research work could extend my approach to provide the relationship between workplace harassment and workplace violence. Furthermore, in modern societies, people are more vulnerable to harassment at work due to the advanced technology features in our environment, such as social media, so other research could extensively assess the relationship between technology and workplace harassment. Other dimensions in this study that might need further work include the development of a systematic model of workplace harassment and the cost of workplace harassment.
Reference
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Salin, D. (2021). Workplace bullying and gender: An overview of empirical findings. Handbooks of Workplace Bullying, Emotional Abuse and Harassment, pp. 331–361. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0218-3_12
Conway, P. M., Høgh, A., Balducci, C., & Ebbesen, D. K. (2021). Workplace bullying and Mental Health. Pathways of Job-Related Negative Behaviour, 101–128. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0935-9_5
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Gale, S., Mordukhovich, I., Newlan, S., & McNeely, E. (2019). The impact of workplace harassment on health in a working cohort. Frontiers in Psychology, p. 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01181
Robotham, K., & Cortina, L. (2019). Promoting respect as a solution to workplace harassment. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, 40(4), 410–429. https://doi.org/10.1108/edi-04-2019-0137
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