The best way to stop workplace bullying is to implement procedures to monitor staff behaviour. One of the best methods is polygraph testing.
Employers have a responsibility to protect employees from harassment and workplace bullying. However, according to Acas research many victims of bullying at work fear reporting it. Therefore as employers we may not be aware that it’s happening.
Some employers rely on social media to find out what is happening to their staff which is time consuming, not very effective and can be highly damaging. Imagine your employee writes on Twitter that they are being bullied and it is known they are employed by your company.
Damage to reputation
Every business stands or falls on its reputation. Lose it and there is a domino effect that impacts negatively on your financial stability. Word spreads that you are an employer that is either unaware or allows bullying. It could start with a tweet that is a cry for help. But by the time thousands of ‘social justice warriors’ have added comments to it, and retweeted it, hundreds of thousands may get to know about it. You may even be the subject of a boycott.
Facebook and other social media platforms perform in exactly the same way. Bad news spreads like wildfire and is infinitely more interesting than good news!
Periodic lie detector tests
By writing a clause into your employment contracts or sending a memo to all staff to sign, you can implement periodic lie detector tests.
Every 3-6 months you randomly select a few of your employees to take the tests. Questions asked can be as follows:
- Are you being bullied at work?
- Do you know anyone who is being bullied in the workplace?
- Do you know anyone currently in the workplace who is bullying a colleague?
In this way you learn what you need to know. In the pre-test interview the polygraph examiner will relax the subject and may also find out about other forms of harassment.
When employees know they are going to be subject to random polygraph tests it can act as a deterrent. If you give them notice (around 3 months is normal) if workplace bullying is an issue it may well stop because of the implementation.
Polygraph examinations for workplace bullying
The only employees likely to be worried about polygraph examinations are those who have something to hide. Generally from our experience, employees are happy to take the tests when they know it is for their own protection.
If you would like to learn more about our commercial polygraph services call us on our free helpline on 07572 748364. Our customer service representatives are friendly, knowledgeable and, above all else, discreet. You can be assured of 100 percent confidentiality.
