Tackling workplace bullying
Establishing readiness for change within the UK Civil Service to address and prevent workplace bullying.
天堂视频 15% of workers worldwide experience some form of workplace bullying, posing a threat to their wellbeing and an estimated cost to UK employers of 拢13.75 billion annually.
The challenge
Interventions are available to address workplace bullying, but they are not overly unsuccessful. A key reason for this is organisations conflating the need for change with being ready for it. As a result, workplace bullying interventions are often placed into organisational environments that are not ready to receive them.
Working with Dr Iain Coyne and Professor Fehmidah Munir, Dr Chloë Gough, has developed a diagnostic tool to evaluate employee perceptions of organisational readiness for change. It helps predict the level of employee engagement with a proposed initiative and their support for it.
The Cabinet Office expressed a keen interest in working with the research team and use the diagnostic tool to support the successful implementation of the .
The 12-month project ran during 2023.
Meetings and promotional sessions were attended by colleagues within the Civil Service. Contextual Readiness was assessed within 21 Civil Service departments covering 364 units – with about 10,000 civil servants completing readiness assessments.
More than 285 readiness reports were produced, providing overall readiness ratings and action plans tailored to the units and departments involved. Several online and in-person sessions with Departmental Executive Committees and senior civil servants explored the results in more detail.
Impacts and benefits
The Cabinet Office was extremely pleased with the success of the initial project and has funded a one-year extension which runs until early 2025.
The various departments involved are moving forward – taking steps towards introducing actions to address bullying.
Knowledge is embedded within the Service. To date, there have been seven training sessions about the readiness tool – 66 civil servants are now qualified to manage and deliver its use.
The research team are in discussions with software developers to create an online administration, scoring and report delivery platform for the readiness tool – and they are in the initial stages of commercialising it, looking at licensing and business development.
Championed by the Cabinet Office and Civil Service, our work is now embedded in policy and practice 鈥� helping to improve the Service鈥檚 readiness for bullying interventions. We鈥檙e really pleased to have demonstrated proof of concept of our tool. Without the Accelerator funding, we wouldn鈥檛 have achieved these enormously positive impacts.
Meet the team
Meet our partners
We were privileged to work with colleagues from the following organisations.
Higher Education Innovation Funding
Higher Education Innovation Funding (HEIF) supports knowledge exchange between higher education providers and the wider world that benefits society and the economy.