Exploring Workplace Bullying in an Emergency Service Organisation in the UK

Oluwakemi Ayodeji Owoyemi,Michael Sheehan

doi:10.5539/ijbm.v6n3p63

Abstract

The data reported in this paper is drawn from a study of workplace bullying in an Emergency ServiceOrganisation (ESO) in the United Kingdom. This ESO is dynamic and well ordered and a key characteristic ofthis organisation is that it is service driven. The most important role that many ESO members play is to save lifeand to ensure that people live in a safe environment. The ESO is also highly structured, hierarchical and powerbased, with a very strong discipline code. ESO staff are predominantly white male, with a high expectation thatthey work as a group. The management is highly authoritarian and operates in a command and controlrelationship between those that occupy a higher rank and those of lower rank. This is an exploratory research,and the data reported in this paper was drawn from a total of 452 people who responded to a questionnaire study,thereby achieving 25% response rate. The primary aim of the research reported in this paper is to test forsignificant differences in the kinds of bullying behaviours employees are exposed to in ESO. The study exploredthe different types of workplace bullying experienced. The methodology of the study incorporated onlinequestionnaires and a postal survey using a single instrument, the Negative Acts Questionnaire, Revised (NAQ-R).A factor analysis and Wilcoxon Mann-Whitney Test was carried out on these three types of bullying and some ofthe demographic factors such as gender, sexual orientation, age, rank, length of service in the organisation,ethnicity and disability. The results were designated personal bullying, administrative bullying and socialexclusion. It was discovered that employees experienced different types of bullying and that bullying was part ofthe culture of the organisation. The results from this study indicate that gender, sexual orientation, age,occupational group, length of service in the organisation, ethnicity and disability all play significant roles in thekinds of bullying behaviours to which employees are exposed.

Highlights

There has been an unprecedented growth in the academic literature on workplace bullying in the last fifteen years in which many of the arguments have highlighted the increasing need for organisations to address the problems caused by bullying in the workplace
This paper reports on the explored types of workplace bullying experienced by some employees in the Emergency Service Organisation (ESO)
The major aim of this paper was to explore the types of workplace bullying behaviours experienced by some staff in an emergency services organisation in the UK

Summary

Introduction

There has been an unprecedented growth in the academic literature on workplace bullying in the last fifteen years in which many of the arguments have highlighted the increasing need for organisations to address the problems caused by bullying in the workplace. Existing literature has shown that there are various approaches to studying bullying in the workplace, including a debate on how to define workplace bullying (Lewis & Sheehan, 2003; Sheehan, 2006). There has been no general agreement on the definition of workplace bullying. Even with several conceptual and methodological differences across various studies, there has been a growing convergence of definitions of workplace bullying in recent years by researchers such as Einarsen, Hoel, Zapf and Cooper (2003). In Europe, a group of researchers defined bullying at work as Harassing, offending, socially excluding someone or negatively affecting someone’s work tasks. In order for the label bullying to be applied to a particular activity, interaction or process, it has to occur repeatedly and regularly for instance (weekly) and over a period of at least 6 months (Einarsen et al, 2003, p.15)

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion