Workplace Bullying and Its Impacts

Lovelock, K. (2019). WorkSafe New Zealand. The purpose of this report is to define psychosocial health in the workplace context, identify psychosocial health risks in the workplace and develop WorkSafe’s approach to reducing psychosocial harm to New Zealand’s workers.

DiversityWorksNZ. This annual survey of organisations provides insight into their experience of and response to diversity issues. Recent results show that gender, wellbeing/wellness and bias are regarded as important issues. The survey also asks about bullying and harassment. Diversity, both societally and in workplaces, remains a defining feature of contemporary New Zealand. 

O'Driscoll, M. P., Cooper-Thomas, H.D., Bentley, T., et al. (2011, November). Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 49(4), 390-408. The present paper reports findings from a survey of over 1,700 employees of 36 organisations in New Zealand. They describe the reported incidence of bullying at work, along with relevant work attitudes and experiences, including psychological strain, ratings of subjective wellbeing, and levels of commitment to the organisation.

Gardner, D., Bentley, T. A., Catley, B. E., Cooper-Thomas, H., et al. (2013). New Zealand Journal of Psychology, 42(2), 84-91. 1,733 respondents from four sectors (health, education, hospitality and travel) responded to a self-report questionnaire. Despite reporting higher levels of bullying than New Zealand Europeans, Pacific Island and Asian/Indian respondents reported lower levels of psychological strain. Respondents with more supportive supervisors and colleagues reported experiencing less bullying and less strain. Bullying was related to negative outcomes for all groups.

Bentley, T., Catley, B., Cooper-Thomas, H., Gardner, D., O’Driscoll, M., & Trenberth, L. (2009). Massey University.  The study found that 1 in 5 employees was subject to bullying in the hospitality, health, education and travel industries. 

This survey of organisations and companies looks at psychosocial risk prevention at work, through the provision of leading indicators of mental health and stress-related illnesses. It aims to provide longitudinal data from which the evaluation of effectiveness of implemented policies and programs can be assessed over time. 

Hayman, M. (2015). Thesis, University of Waikato.  The aim of the present study was to identify the relationship between gender, gender minority status and workplace bullying within organisations across New Zealand. The relationship between workplace bullying and workplace outcomes (intention to quit, wellbeing, psychological strain and physical health) was also assessed. In addition, gender minority was explored as a moderator to determine the impact on the relationship between workplace bullying and workplace outcomes.

Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. (2020a). MBIE.  This Issues Paper outlines what is known about the nature and extent of bullying and harassment at work in New Zealand and examines current systems for preventing and responding to such behaviour. It is part of a government consultation process. 

Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. (2020b). MBIE.  This is a summary of the key points from the Issues Paper outlining what is known about the nature and extent of bullying and harassment at work in New Zealand. It is part of a government consultation process. 

Southern Cross Health Society, & Business New Zealand. (2013 to present). Southern Cross Health Society.  This survey presents findings on New Zealand workplaces’ absence rates (and the costs thereof), employee stress, fatigue and mental health. It also looks at what approaches businesses have in place to look after employees’ wellbeing. Some results are presented by size of business. This survey doesn’t look at bullying, but is given as a source of New Zealand contextual information.

Wu, L. (2020). Thesis, Auckland University of Technology.   The definition, causes, effects and influential factors on workplace bullying have been investigated by many scholars. However, research objectives until now, have mainly focused on victims and perpetrators, with little attention given to the bystanders, the individuals who witness the bullying. This small-scale qualitative interpretivist study aimed to investigate factors that affect bystanders’ attitudes and behaviours by conducting eight semi-structured interviews to explore the experiences of witnessing workplace bullying incidents in Auckland hospitality organisations in New Zealand. The findings suggest that the bystander effect does occur in the New Zealand hospitality industry; as bystanders, participants’ attitudes and behaviours were affected in a variety of ways: the industry working conditions, their witnessing experiences, their personality and home-country culture, their organisation’s culture, and their managerial position and visa status.

Over 90 per cent of the workforce in Aotearoa New Zealand has reported experiencing intermittent bullying in the past year, according to research led by Professor Jarrod Haar, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Mahuta.