A recent study estimated that approximately one in six U.S. workers had experienced bullying within the previous year. Bullying might be verbal abuse; threatening, humiliating, or offensive behavior; or interference with the victim’s work, and might include any of the following:

· spreading malicious rumors
· ridiculing or demeaning someone
· excluding people
· micromanaging or overbearing supervision
· unwelcome sexual advances
· making threats
· persistent criticism
· withholding information
· removing responsibilities
· overloading with work
These forms of bullying are often carried out by people in supervisory or lower management roles.

What should you do?
First, it is important that you have policies and procedures to prevent bullying. Make sure your employees are aware of the policies and the procedures and understand that they will be enforced.

The most important actions to take when approached by an employee concerned about bullying, or claiming to have been bullied, are as follows:

· Respond to concerns sensitively, and accept that a “star” employee might be a bully.
· Deal with any complaints quickly.
· Ensure that complaints are dealt with in complete confidence.
· Advise the complaining party to gather evidence, by keeping a diary of any relevant dates and times, and related notes, memos, or e-mails.

Try to solve the problem informally by discussing the complaint separately with both parties. Someone may be genuinely unaware that their behavior is inappropriate, and a simple—but unambiguous—conversation may be sufficient.

The next stage is a formal complaint as defined in your policies and procedures document. If the complaint is upheld, the bully should be dealt with promptly.
Examples of possible penalties or actions you might decide to take against the bully include:

· counseling
· a written warning
· suspension
· transfer to another department or location
· dismissal.

Being bullied can be extremely traumatic. If it continues for a long period of time, it can affect the mental and physical health of the victim quite dramatically—some people even feel suicidal as a result of it. Counseling can help when provided by trained expert brought into the organization.