Workplace Bullying Institute

The Workplace Bullying Institute
2007 U.S. Workplace Bullying Survey

8. Stopping It

8a.) Bullying causes turnover, 40% of bullied workers voluntarily leave. Targets lose their jobs to make the bullying stop in 77% of cases. Bullies bully with near impunity, experiencing negative consequences in only 23% of cases.

Question: What stopped the mistreatment?

Responses:
It has not stopped, (17.2) 17%

The following response percentages exclude the 17% of respondents for whom the bullying is ongoing
and the 26% of respondents who checked either Not Sure or Other (remaining n = 1763)

Therefore, for the individuals for whom the bullying stopped, here is their report about what stopped it.

Target was terminated, driven out, (24.2) 24%
Target voluntarily left the organization, 40%
Target transferred and stayed with the same employer, 13%

Target lost job, combined percentages = 77%
Target fired or quit, combined percentages = 64%

Harasser stayed but was punished, 9%
Harasser was terminated, 14%

Negative consequences for the bully, combined percentages = 23%

Other: Harasser voluntarily left company (79); Harasser transferred, stayed with employer (44); Target fought back (36); Confrontation, worked for resolution (30); I retired/quit (30); Issue resolved, it stopped (24); Harasser reprimanded, given serious warning (18); Medical leave, disability retirement (17); Legal action, lawsuit initiated (16); Truce, cease-fire, uneasy peace (14); Harasser was promoted (14); Target worked hard, improved performance, changed (12); Company closed (11); Minimized interaction, ignored harasser (11); Coworker intervention/counseling (10); Complained to union, filed grievance, arbitration (10); Equal treatment/Both fired/left/reassigned/disciplined (9); Reorganized/new management (8); Contract ended, project canceled (7); Time passage (6); I was promoted, transferred (5); Target was promoted (5); Sought help, EAP, rehab, time-off (4); Harasser died (4)
One each: Target died; Target committed suicide; Harasser arrested by police

Bullying generates turnover. When 40% of bullied individuals quit, that represents the preventable loss of 21.6 million workers (based on the estimated 54 million who are bullied) for employers at a time when employers face critical shortages of skilled workers. Further, if one makes the conservative estimate that half of the bullied employees' terminations are the result of a bullying boss and not just cause separations, an additional 6.5 million employees lose their jobs to preventable bullying. The total turnover estimate attributable to bullying can be reasonably stated to be 28 million American workers.

One gender difference in what stops bullying is that bullied women targets were more likely to quit than men (45% vs. 32.3%). WBI has found that the sooner targeted individuals restore safety by any means, the healthier they remain or the more quickly they recover from their injuries.