How can I best support a colleague who is being bullied?

[grace50]

One of my colleagues has mentioned that she feels sick every Sunday as she dreads coming to work on a Monday as one of her colleagues is bullying her. No-one else is aware of the bullying but I completely believe that it is taking place. I am new to the team but am a line manager of both people.

I want to support both people and I want to get it right from the start.

Any advice?

Many thanks

[Willow]

Hi Grace50,

 

*This is another response on your support request-- in moving to our new Community sofware, some responses were lost in the process. Thank you for your patience during this time that Community has been inaccessible.*

 

Thank you for showing initiative in helping your colleague. You're in a unique position of being able to help both these individuals. And, as you know, it needs to be addressed.

 

Have you spoken to your supervisors and/or human resources manager about how to address this between the two? It's so important for it to be acknowledged and worked through sooner rather than later. You want two amazing workers on your line, and a safe place is the best way to assure that happens.

 

Has the colleague who spoke to you experienced bullying in the past? Has this bullying triggered previous emotional trauma?

 

-willow

[Karou]

Hey Grace50, that sounds like a super tough one.

If it were me, I guess I'd maybe let your colleague who's being bullied know that you're there for her if she needs to talk about it - and maybe ask her if she can start to document evidence in case she wants to make a formal complaint? Maybe you can keep an eye out for the bullying behaviour, and if you do see something use it as an excuse to talk to the colleague that's doing it, and ask them about why they're behaving like that? There's normally an underlying reason why people bully others, so it's worth taking them aside at some point and trying to work out what it is. Good luck with everything