Workplace harassment among employees: An explorative study

Abstract

Introduction: Workplace harassment is the belittling or threatening behavior directed at an individual worker or a group of workers. Matters of workplace harassment recently gained interest among practitioners and researchers as it is becoming one of the most sensitive areas of effective workplace management. Materials and Methods: Nonexperimental cross-sectional exploratory survey approach with quantitative design was adopted. Samples constituted both male and female employees 20–60 years working for minimum 6 h in an institution selected by random sampling technique. Data were collected using demographic tool and workplace harassment experience tool developed by the investigator. The Institutional Ethics Committee approval and the individual subject consent were also obtained. Results: Data obtained from 210 employees indicated that majority (20%) were between the age group of 30–35 years. Majority, 63.3%, of the employees had occasional harassment, 8.1% had mild harassment, 0.5% had severe harassment, and 28.1% reported no harassment at the workplace. Area-wise analysis indicated that highest possible area among participants was psychological (15.5 ± 7.26) and the lowest harassment was in the area of physical harassment (3.74 ± 1.75). Conclusion: Workplace harassment is a serious concern which requires immediate attention for better outcome. Although majority of the participants experience at least some form of harassment, they hesitate to objectively indicate the same due to fear of consequences of losing the job and facing further ramifications. The issue requires to be addressed with appropriate policies at the workplace. The study will help to plan the strategies to be implemented for building a healthy workplace environment.