Working Well Together Insights
Flexible work arrangements – preventing workplace bullying claims
At a recent networking event, the topic of the day was flexible working arrangements. They can bring about many company benefits including more productive employees. However, this had me thinking about the question of how flexible working arrangements could result in...
Awareness and action – a $1.46 million workplace bullying lesson
In August 2017, Judge J Henry awarded Mary-Rose Robinson $1,468,991 in damages. Her former employer, the Queensland State Government, was found to have been negligent and breached their duty of care to her in not acting to prevent the injury that was caused by...
How many Australians are at risk of workplace bullying?
Can we quantify the number of Australian employees who are at risk of injury from workplace bullying? I asked myself this question with the knowledge that I am no mathematician. Yet, I decided to give it a go based on the following data. According to the ABS, in...
You think you are resilient to workplace bullying…but are you really?
“I never thought it would happen to me. I had spent a decade being a reasonably good manager and leader. I didn’t think I would be the broken person who couldn’t turn up to work because I couldn’t stop myself crying, not just on one day, but repeatedly.” A 2017...
Are you aware of the workplace bullying mediation risk?
Mediation. It has been a key successful solution in resolving our workplace conflicts. However, mediation is not an effective solution to workplace bullying, particularly in moderate to severe cases. In fact, mediation can exacerbate the risk to bullied targets and...
Hiding behind a screen – Are you prepared for the evils of workplace cyberbullying?
Cyberbullying. It is a term we more commonly associate with school children than adults. Yet adults can and do use the cyber-universe inappropriately, as the exposing of Brett Guerin, ironically head of Victoria Police’s ethical standards unit, has shown. But when it...
Are you a workplace bullying bystander?
What’s it like to be bullied for eight years without relief? I worked with a man who found himself in this situation. Targeted by his supervisor, early on, he raised it with a senior manager, who discussed it with the bully. Increased abuse was the only result. It...
Is our fear of talking to each other increasing the incidence of workplace bullying?
Digital communication has revolutionised the way we communicate. A quick email to colleagues because they are out of the office and we know they are busy is super easy. Posting in a chat room to quickly garner ideas from others on a thought is convenient. Yet what...
Why do women bully other women more than they bully men?
The world of workplace bullying is a complex one. In my own learning about the subject area, my own pre-conceptions and understanding is constantly being challenged; all in the aid of creating safer workplaces. One article presents that women perpetrate 70% of...
Does your management team support workplace bullying?
It’s great to think that your management team doesn’t support workplace bullying. You might think that they don’t, but what do your employees think? Perception plays a significant role in workplace bullying and if your employees think you have a problem, then you do...
About Michael
Michael Plowright is the founder of Working Well Together. Led by a profound belief that people should live happy, productive lives both in and out of the workplace, he supports companies and organisations that are resolute about preventing and managing workplace bullying.
Michael started Working Well Together because he saw that despite workplace bullying undoubtedly being a serious issue, many workplaces are ill-equipped to prevent or manage it. Managers and HR and OH&S staff often don’t have the time or skills, or find that the systems they have in place are too broad and generic to deal with what is a very particular issue.
Michael has over 15 years’ experience in leadership and management in the not-for-profit sector, successfully leading teams at both strategic and operational levels. He has experienced first-hand the challenges of managing staff with difficult behaviours like bullying, and knows what it’s like to be in the centre of a human storm. His extensive experience managing office behaviours, providing support to targets of workplace bullying, and rebuilding teams affected by it, forms the foundation of Working Well Together. This, together with his specialist, up-to-date knowledge of workplace bullying and legislation, allows him to help companies and organisations so they can focus on their core purpose and keeping their clients happy, and so that employees can go home safe and well at the end of each day.
Are you interested in learning more about Michael? Click here to get in touch, or connect on LinkedIn.
