Why Bullying Persists and How Workplaces Can Tackle It with Professor Michelle Tuckey

Bullying can leave lasting impacts on mental health and feel very personal to the victim, it shapes how people then cope, connect, and work throughout their lives. In this episode, we’ll explore how bullying show up in workplaces, and what truly prevents bullying at a organisational level in the workplace.  Michelle’s biography: Professor Michelle Tuckey is the Professor of Work and Organisational Psychology at Adelaide University. She is a leading researcher whose work has reframed bullying as a structural issue and not just an individual’s bad behaviour. Michelle investigates how workplace systems and environments drive bullying and harassment, and how to redesign them to prevent interpersonal harm. This work underpins an award-winning prevention program reaching nearly 10,000 employees, and has shaped national policy through bodies including Safe Work Australia and the Australian and Queensland Human Rights Commissions. In this episode, we dive deep into answering the following thorny questions:  0:00 – Introduction 2:10 – How Michelle started specialising in bullying 2:55 – Defining bullying 4:15 – A real-world example of bullying at work 6:05 – How a power imbalance can exist in peer bullying 7:15 – Can managers be bullied? 8:05 – What are common misconceptions about workplace bullying? 9:35 – What conditions make bullying more prevalent in certain industries? 13:25 – Why rebuilding relational fabric is the key solution to reducing bullying and improving workplace culture 16:00 – How to create psychological safety in an organisation that lacks it 20:10 – How to end toxic cultures that promote bullying 21:05 – Early intervention and peer feedback as a way to reduce bullying 22:05 – How to align organisational systems with company values to reduce bullying 23:45 – How grassroots interventions can drive small culture change even without senior leadership buy-in 25:45 – Types of harm caused by workplace bullying 28:15 – Gaslighting through a network of silence 29:20 – Why you should see bullying as a systems issue rather than taking it personally 29:50 – How to take back power when you are being bullied 30:45 – Are there gender-specific types of bullying? 33:15 – Toxic culture, role clarity and leadership as organisational red flags 34:55 – Why the number one risk factor in bullying complaints is how leaders give constructive performance feedback 36:25 – The benefit of strong workplace relationships when giving constructive feedback 38:15 – Examples of how leaders can build a relational foundation with their direct reports 41:55 – Values alignment as the number one thing organisations can do to reduce bullying 43:15 – What are the early warning signs before bullying occurs in an organisation? 45:35 – What should individuals do if they are being bullied? 48:45 – Why bullying persists even when interventions have been introduced 53:05 – Why bullies do not see themselves as bullies and may feel they are bullied themselves 54:15 – How a country's culture can contribute to a bullying culture 56:30 – Why proactive intervention is key in bullying prevention policies 58:20 – Is moving the target away from the perpetrator enough to deal with bullying? 59:50 – Why HR and health and safety need to work together to reduce bullying 1:01:40 – Michelle's one wellbeing practice Learn more about Michelle   /     Learn more about Clearhead https://www.myclearhead.com/