Over half of healthcare workers have experienced bad behaviour at work

Over half (52%) of healthcare workers have experienced bullying, harassment or discrimination at work, while 48% have witnessed it – according to a recent study conducted by Culture Shift. 

Research by the impact software developer also found that 31% of healthcare workers would not report a case of bullying inflicted by a senior colleague due to fear of penalisation or professional repercussions.   

The report also highlighted that 48% of healthcare workers have had mental health challenges because of toxic workplace behaviour, 42% say bad workplace culture has impacted their productivity and 32% have had to take time off due to an incident surrounding bullying, harassment or sexual misconduct.

“The evidence has been consistently clear for a long time now; a happy and supported workforce is a productive and profitable one. But even without this consideration, we should still all be entitled to a number of basic professional assurances in the workplace – such as the right to expect colleagues to behave with respect, treat people with dignity and work and thrive in an environment of psychical and psychological safety. No one should carry the burden of someone else’s toxic behaviour when they’re just trying to earn a living.” comments Gemma McCall, CEO, Culture Shift.

She continues: “Companies and organisations that treat their employees fairly, actively adopt the appropriate anti-discrimination and harassment protocols, foster a truly speak up culture and work constantly to create safe and supportive environments will thrive and flourish.”

The data also showed that healthcare workers are more likely to report toxic workplace closer to the time at which it happens:

79% of employees said they would it if was happening now

60% said they would report it if it happened one year ago

52% said they would report it if it had happened two years ago

52% said they would report it if it had happened three or more years ago

“There is still work to be done considering over a fifth of healthcare workers wouldn’t report toxic behaviour even if it was happening at present.  These figures highlight the importance of investing in ways to listen to your team all year round. I wouldn’t be surprised if the standard yearly staff survey was on its way out, as we learn more about the decreased likelihood of teams speaking out about bad behaviour after the moment has passed,” continued Gemma.  

On how employees working in healthcare would respond to problematic behaviour, the research also revealed:

 A quarter wouldn’t address or raise concerns in annual company feedback surveys

17% of people would distance themselves from someone who was being bullied

67% of respondents claimed they would be far more likely to report bullying if there were anonymous systems in place to help them do so.

To see more insights uncovered by the research or to download the full ‘protecting your people’ report https://info.culture-shift.co.uk/protecting-your-people