Browsing by Author "Cooper-Thomas H"

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    Effectiveness of individual and organizational strategies to address workplace bullying
    (The New Zealand Psychological Society, 2013) Gardner DH; Bentley T; Catley B; Cooper-Thomas H; O'Driscoll M; Trenberth L
    Workplace bullying remains a significant problem in many organisations worldwide, with significant negative impact on the wellbeing of individuals, organisations and communities. Interventions tend to be reactive, addressing individual perpetrators and targets rather than the structural or systemic factors that facilitate bullying. Individual coping responses which directly address the problem, such as counter-attacks or reporting, tend to escalate problems. Effective solutions are most likely to involve organisational factors such as constructive leadership, perceived organisational support and the presence of effective strategies for managing bullying. An organisation-wide survey was completed in New Zealand by 1733 employees from four sectors: healthcare (42%), education (27%), hospitality (8%) and travel (19%). Perceived organisational support, constructive leadership and effectiveness of organisational strategies were expected to be associated with reduced levels of bullying, and to weaken the positive association between bullying and strain and the negative relationship between bullying and wellbeing. In contrast, individual-level task-focused and emotion-focused strategies were expected to be associated with increased levels of bullying and to worsen the effects of bullying on strain and on wellbeing. Direct and moderated effects were analysed and implications for research and practice will be discussed.
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    Ethnicity, workplace bullying, social support and psychological strain in Aotearoa/New Zealand
    (New Zealand Psychological Society, 2013) Gardner D; Bentley TA; Catley BE; Cooper-Thomas H; O'Driscoll MP; Trenberth L
    This research explored whether respondents who self-identified as New Zealand Europeans experienced less bullying and less severe outcomes than those who self-identified as Māori, Pacific Island or other ethnic groups. Social support was also examined as a potential buffer against the negative effects of bullying. One thousand, seven hundred and thirty-three respondents from four sectors (health, education, hospitality and travel) responded to a selfreport questionnaire. Despite reporting higher levels of bullying than New Zealand Europeans, Pacific Island and Asian/Indian respondents reported lower levels of psychological strain. A possible explanation for this may lie in the somewhat higher levels of supervisor support reported by Pacific Island, Asian/Indian and Māori respondents, compared to those who self-identified as New Zealand European. Respondents with more supportive supervisors and colleagues reported experiencing less bullying and less strain. Bullying was related to negative outcomes for all groups. The implications of these findings for management of workplace bullying are discussed.
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    Interventions for managing workplace bullying
    (The New Zealand Psychological Society, 2013) O'Driscoll M; Bentley T; Catley B; Cooper-Thomas H; Gardner DH; Trenberth L
    Workplace bullying has received much attention in organisational behaviour and human resource management research over the past 20+ years. Considerable research has been conducted on the causes of bullying and its outcomes, although there has been relatively little empirical evaluation of strategies for dealing with workplace bullying. Some investigations have focused on personal coping strategies, but generally these have been found to be ineffective in reducing bullying experiences. Recently attention has been given to organisational initiatives or efforts to address bullying problems. Several practice-oriented books and articles have focused on what organisations can, and should, do to reduce bullying and alleviate its negative consequences. This presentation will focus on practical efforts that managers, who have major responsiblity for addressing this problem, can engage in. The main thrust of the presentation is that constructive leadership and the development of a collegial climate at work are essential prerequisites for handling workplace bullying. Specific initiatives, such as policy development, communication, developing complaints procedures, and setting up transparent behavioural contingencies, will be discussed in detail.