What are the Costs and Impacts of Workplace Disrepect on Projects?

 

There is a wide range of direct negative and financial impacts which bullying has on projects. The most obvious are impacts on project success, team performance, budgets and timelines. 

In a 2014 Guardian article on the problems created by workplace bullying, writer Ian Erickson, references an article on Stuff.com, in which New Zealander, Shane Cowishlaw, writes that workplace bullying costs his country “hundreds of millions” of dollars. Australia reports losses in the billions. Not surprisingly for companies in the much larger United States, workplace bullying related costs are estimated to be over $200 billion. According to New Zealand News, workplace bullying affects about one in five employees.

Mr. Erickson also discusses how workplace bullying harms profits. He notes that: “The Workplace Bullying Institute describes workplace bullying in part, as behaviour that prevents work from being finished. Losses are caused by staff members struggling to cope at work, high rates of absenteeism and talented employees leaving in favour of a more harmonious place of employment”.