Bully or Exasperated Manager acting reasonably?

The FWC (Momirovski, Douglas, Serafini, Naumcevski and Egan [2023] FWC 3299) has recently refused to make stop bullying orders against an ‘exasperated manager’ who allegedly yelled at workers when managing them to perform their duties.

"In the same way that employers must apply the standards of men and not angels to their employees, managers and supervisors are also entitled to some latitude when the Commission assesses whether their management action was done in a reasonable way." Easton DP.

Our Take

Frontline management is a tough job. There is little doubt that some workers have ‘weaponised’ the term bullying and it has got managers second guessing themselves and avoiding managing performance. Management is also made tougher because business has often failed to train managers to navigate poor performance and conflict.

We think Easton DP got it absolutely right. He applied a common sense approach to this matter applying a genuine understanding that ‘we are all human’ and management doesn’t have to be perfect to be reasonable and not bullying. We especially liked his recognition that the tail should not wag the dog stating “Unfortunately it seems to me that each of the [workers] are now proverbial loaded guns when working around [the manager]. Each [worker] seems to be on edge and vigilantly watching [him] for signs of aggression or hostility".

Action Items:

• Make communication and managing conflict training a priority for your Manager. Understanding your personality type and what things improve/ erode managerial effectiveness is critical. [DISC, Enneagram, Myers Briggs etc are all valuable – work out which one suits your organisation]

• Train your managers how to manage performance. We still see managers confusing disciplinary action with managing performance. They are separate and different. Give your managers the ‘tools’ to be effective.

• Encourage and set up systems that make regular weekly or fortnightly catch ups (One on Ones) an ordinary part of your business. This investment will save you time – not take it away from you. Best practice organisations find such practices almost always lead to: higher levels of employee satisfaction/ retention, reduction in psychosocial risks and the more regular achievement of KPIs.

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