Prevention of workplace bullying through work and organizational design

Workplace bullying is a serious threat to the health and safety of workers and undermines effective organizational functioning. Evidence from the scholarly literature, and from real-life bullying complaints, suggests that workplace bullying is a product of the organizational system, rather than only an interpersonal issue. Research findings support the conclusion that work and organizational factors are major contributors to employees’ experiences of being bullied, both directly and through the influence of working in a stressful work environment. Prevention efforts must therefore include strategies to identify the work and organizational factors associated with bullying and to address them through effective work and organizational design. Accordingly, in this chapter, we discuss the role of work and organizational design in the prevention of bullying at work. Our fundamental premise is that organizations should provide a safe working environment for workers, free of the risk of mistreatment and the harms that result. Following an overview of the fundamental principles and evidence for work and organizational design as a general approach, we consider the work and organizational risk factors for workplace bullying specifically, the role of organizational climate in understanding and preventing workplace bullying and the implications for workplace bullying prevention