Superfriends recently released their 2018 Thriving Workplaces Survey Report providing us with a snapshot of workplace mental health and wellbeing across Australia.
As would not come as a surprise to many of you, my attention was drawn to the information relating to workplace bullying in the report.
Of the more than 5000 business owners, managers and workers surveyed, the national average of employees exposed to workplace bullying was 23.7%.
The below table presents their list of the workplace industry rates. Given what we know about workplace bullying, it’s not surprising that health and social services, retail, and education and training are all above the national average.
If you are female, you are more likely to be the target of bullying at 25.8% compared to 21.7% of men.
What is also interesting about the report is that it identifies what the perceptions of barriers for inaction within workplaces. It should be noted that these are reasons for inaction in relation to creating mentally healthy workplaces, rather than specifically bullying.
It’s interesting to note that amongst the reasons for inaction are resource related. The lack of time is the highest at 32.6%, yet my experience of working with companies on managing workplace bullying issues consumes a massive amount of time resources, which could be better used completing business as usual.
There were 24% of employees who perceived cost as a key barrier to creating mentally healthy and safe workplaces. This contrasts with data that shows for every dollar spent building a mentally healthy workplace, the return on investment is $2.30. The benefits gained are from a reduction in presenteeism, absenteeism and compensation claims.
One in four employees perceive that workplace bullying is a problem. If anything, this report shows that there is still much work to be done when it comes to workplace bullying prevention and creating mentally safe workplaces.
Contact us today for a confidential discussion on how we can help you build a bullying free, mentally healthy workplace.