Chair issues

Chairman's corner: Accusations of bullying in the workplace

Governance | 18 Feb 2010

The chair of a well-run and effective charity is presented with a problem that he has not experienced before: workplace bullying. The Chairman offers some welcome advice.  

Dear Chairman

I am the chair of a charity which I consider to be well run and effective but recently I have been presented with a problem that I have not experienced before.

Two senior members of staff, both members of the senior executive team, have written to me separately to complain about the bullying behaviour of two of the trustees. When I approached the trustees concerned about this, they each denied any such behaviour and could not understand what all the fuss was about. We have implemented a code of conduct for trustees, which clearly states that any kind of bullying is totally unacceptable, but we do not have a process in place to deal with breaches. Any advice?

Yours sincerely,

P.Smaeker

Dear Mr Smaeker,

Your letter is a little light on detail and, for example, does not tell me what is the nature of the bullying behaviour complained of; whether it is directed towards the executives who have complained; whether you believe the allegations to be justified; and whether there is any related reason for the executives to submit their complaints at this time. Whatever the circumstances, the lack of a formal, written process is no bar to taking appropriate action.

The fact that they have submitted the complaints in writing, rather than sought an initial, informal word with you (or the chief executive), suggests either that there is some real substance and concern behind their complaints; or, that they are acting in concert to discredit, or even oust, two trustees whom they consider to be problematic for some reason. This latter scenario is less likely and so I shall focus my response on the former.

Firstly, the appropriate action to be taken will depend on the nature of the bullying that is taking place. Clearly any form of bullying is intolerable and must be eradicated but it can take many forms including overt bullying behaviour or more subtle manipulation of others behind the scenes.

Whichever is the case, if they are engaged in bullying it can seriously undermine individuals, the organisation itself and even damage its reputation with external stakeholders. Staff and fellow trustees can be intimidated, have their self-confidence damaged and become afraid to contribute to discussion, let alone challenge the bully. Other individuals can be unwittingly set against one another by a manipulative bullying trustee. Good trustees and staff may well leave and take their talents elsewhere rather than battle on.

Considering how to deal with these allegations given the lack of an existing process, I’d suggest instigating an investigation based on the existing grievance procedure for staff (if there is one). If there is not, then now is a good time to develop one.

Such a process should make it clear that all individuals have a responsibility to develop constructive working relationships underpinned by the charity’s values so that:

• the individual needs and expectations of trustees and staff are respected;
• any individual’s problems are dealt with promptly, fairly and frankly;
• confidentiality is respected as far as possible; and
• the collective authority of the board of trustees and its stewardship role are respected.

Where a member of staff/trustee has a grievance about the way they have been treated the policy should encourage free communication between staff, trustees and the chairman to ensure that questions and problems can be aired and, where possible, resolved quickly and to the satisfaction of all concerned.   While many issues can and will be resolved informally, the formal grievance procedure is there to provide an open and fair way of addressing concerns with a view to resolving them.

An individual should be encouraged to raise their grievance informally with the CE, chair or another person designated for that purpose.  If they remain dissatisfied following such initial informal discussions, then the formal procedure should be followed. Following investigation, if the alleged bullying is proven, then you must quickly decide whether these are individuals capable of effective and sustained behavioural change within the timescale available, (which may be dictated by their term of office or by the stage of evolution that the organisation has reached), or whether they should be asked to leave.

In the latter case, you will need to be a strong chair who is prepared to make the case to the rest of the board and then present it to the bullying trustee(s). Whilst aiming to achieve a situation where the bullying trustee accepts that they are perhaps not cut out for your organisation and offers their resignation, often the reality is that they will be quite incapable of seeing this and will only go when faced with the embarrassing prospect of a ‘public’ decision requiring their removal. Even then, some will go down fighting.

If  there is a prospect of turning the individuals into net contributors rather than net subtractors, then the first step is to get them to accept that there is a problem and agree to work with you to improve matters. This can be done confidentially through you as chair although you need not be the person assigned to help them address their negative behaviours if you consider that someone else is better equipped for the role, eg a fellow trustee or even an external facilitator.

The Chairman

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