FWC says "Interrogative" online messages weren't bullying

FWC (click here) recently refused to grant stop-bullying orders against a manager who allegedly bullied a worker for about 7 months over MS Teams/Skype by questioning in writing the:

• number of calls they responded to

• breaks taken

• reasons for working from home

Significantly, following an investigation which also found against the employee, the employer’s own internal recommendations included that there be more regular one-on-one meetings between the worker and his manager – prior to this they had only met in person twice in 2 years.

Tran C said the manager's messages were "frequent and interrogative" and the brief language in them could be "misinterpreted as curt or abrupt" and was not ideal. They were not however unreasonable and did not therefore amount to bullying.

Our Take

We are glad to see that the employer’s own ‘remedy’, and Tran C’s endorsement, was to increase one-on-one meetings. This is consistent with our core messages to employers and remains our ‘go to’ message to increase psychosocial safety and productivity generally.

Managers still need to be careful when using electronic written communication instead of face to face communication (including MS Teams/ Zoom). Text only communication is prone to losing important tone and nuance.

Action Items

• 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.

• Make communication training a priority for your managers. Make sure this training includes both face to face and text-based content. 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.

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