READING

Title: Is there a defence against false claims of bullying?

Author: Amrita Bhalla
Date: November 24, 2015
Source: The Globe and Mail (newspaper) www.theglobeandmail.com
A growing file of legislation, court rulings and company initiatives protects employees from
being bullied or harassed in the workplace. Creating a psychologically safe work environment is
a critical objective for companies.
However, there is a flip-side to these positive steps with negative consequences, specifically on
false claims of bullying.
For an ethical manager, to be falsely accused of bullying or harassment can be damaging to their
reputation and confidence. Moreover, managers are hesitant to deal with performance issues in
case discussions are taken out of context.
Typically, these false claims are coming from employees who are under-performing, have a fear
of losing their job or who have a personality clash with a manager. All-in-all, these malevolent
claims are lodged with the intention of damaging reputation.
In the last few months, leaders have shared their stories of similar retaliatory tactics from their
employees. Here are two cases:
Leader No. 1:
Performance issues tend to be difficult conversations whether they are with a direct report, a
manager, a peer, or a boss. In this case, an employee with a history of under-performance used a
mobile device to secretly tape a recent performance-review discussion. While the manager, who
works in operations, intended to provide constructive comments for performance improvement,
the employee felt the manager had been overbearing, rude and insensitive. He was accused of
bullying.
The HR department investigated and determined that the manager had acted properly within the
scope of performance conversation.
A bigger issue was the hidden recording, a practice that is inadmissible in court. With mobile
devices prevalent, conversations (especially the tough ones) in the workplace are seldom staying
private.
The employee was advised that such practices are not in good faith and put on a performance
improvement plan for 30 days. During that time, the employee voluntarily exited the
organization.
The companys code of conduct has since been revised to ban the practice of recording
conversations.

READING
Leader No. 2:
Take the case of a senior marketing executive, female, hired for her ability to achieve results,
with a sense of clear direction and known for her tenacity.
Her mandate is to reshape a team, manage-out non-performers, build and execute a marketing
strategy, and successfully manage change. Strong, assertive women in the workplace are often
perceived as being bossy or a bully not just by employees, but often their peers
Eight months into her position, she is terminated by her company due to false allegations of
bullying made by one of her direct reports.
The company failed to investigate the matter until it went to litigation, as pursued by the
terminated executive. The investigation revealed that due to ongoing poor performance by the
employee, a false claim of bullying was made as a way of keeping the job safe.
The damage was already done, the company had lost a valuable executive, and there was
reputational damage.
In many cases, companies fail to investigate the matters appropriately which can lead to
managers being exited out of organizations.
Managers have to manage performance, discuss problems, set objectives and provide coaching.
Management direction is not considered bullying as long as actions taken are documented and
reasonable. By having clear policies and examples around bullying, companies should protect
their employees and their leaders and ensure they are creating a culture of trust and transparency.
Amrita Bhalla is managing director of AB Consulting (@ABConsulting_hr), which provides HR
services to clients globally. She has more than 15 years of experience as a senior executive in
Europe, Asia and Canada.

What did you learn after reading the full article?

______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

PRE-READING
Title: Is there a defence against false claims of bullying?
Author: Amrita Bhalla
Date: November 24, 2015
Source: The Globe and Mail (newspaper) www.theglobeandmail.com
A growing file of legislation, court rulings and company initiatives protects employees from
being bullied or harassed in the workplace. Creating a psychologically safe work environment is
a critical objective for companies.
However, there is a flip-side to these positive steps with negative consequences, specifically on
false claims of bullying.
For an ethical manager, to be falsely accused of bullying or harassment can be damaging to their
reputation and confidence.
Typically, these false claims are coming from employees who are under-performing, have a fear
of losing their job or who have a personality clash with a manager.
In the last few months, leaders have shared their stories of similar retaliatory tactics from their
employees. Here are two cases:
Leader No. 1:
Performance issues tend to be difficult conversations whether they are with a direct report, a
manager, a peer, or a boss.
The HR department investigated and determined that the manager had acted properly within the
scope of performance conversation.
A bigger issue was the hidden recording, a practice that is inadmissible in court.
The employee was advised that such practices are not in good faith and put on a performance
improvement plan for 30 days.
The companys code of conduct has since been revised to ban the practice of recording
conversations.
Leader No. 2:
Take the case of a senior marketing executive, female, hired for her ability to achieve results,
with a sense of clear direction and known for her tenacity.
Her mandate is to reshape a team, manage-out non-performers, build and execute a marketing
strategy, and successfully manage change.
Eight months into her position, she is terminated by her company due to false allegations of
bullying made by one of her direct reports.

PRE-READING
The company failed to investigate the matter until it went to litigation, as pursued by the
terminated executive.
The damage was already done, the company had lost a valuable executive, and there was
reputational damage.
In many cases, companies fail to investigate the matters appropriately which can lead to
managers being exited out of organizations.
Managers have to manage performance, discuss problems, set objectives and provide coaching.
Management direction is not considered bullying as long as actions taken are documented and
reasonable. By having clear policies and examples around bullying, companies should protect
their employees and their leaders and ensure they are creating a culture of trust and transparency.
Amrita Bhalla is managing director of AB Consulting (@ABConsulting_hr), which provides HR
services to clients globally. She has more than 15 years of experience as a senior executive in
Europe, Asia and Canada.
In your own words, write what you learned from pre-reading the article?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________