Tackling workplace bullying. A scholarship of engagement study of workplace wellness as a system

• Published date: 04 December 2017
• Date: 04 December 2017
• Pages: 450-474
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJWHM-11-2016-0081
• Author: Alexia Georgakopoulos,Michael P. Kelly
• Subject Matter: Health & social care,Healthcare management,HR & organizational behaviour,Human resource policy,Employee welfare

Tackling workplace bullying

A scholarship of engagement study of

workplace wellness as a system

Alexia Georgakopoulos and Michael P. Kelly

Department of Conflict Studies,

Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA

Abstract

Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to raise awareness of the benefits of wellness programs for

contemporary organizations and aids in tackling workplace bullying.

Design/methodology/approach –This study used a qualitative design and employs a new empirical

approach to tackle workplace bullying. With over a hundred working professionals engaged in focus groups

and facilitation methodologies for a total of five workshops and 60 hours, this study suggests a new

framework for intervening in workplace bullying that considers workplace wellness as a system.

Findings –The findings revealed that these professionals perceived workplace wellness as a formidable

component of the health and success of employees, organizations, and community, and perceived workplace

bullying as a serious threat to physical and mental wellness. Employee participation and involvement in the design

of workplace wellness programs was viewed as essential to the success of these programs in organizations.

Research limitations/implications –This research has impli cations as it expands understanding and

discovery into what aids employees to reduce the ir stress, fatigue, anx iety, and other conditi ons that

lead to conflict or bully ing in workplaces. It gives attention to a sy stem of wellness that is vital to people

and their organizations.

Practical implications –Study participants consistently asserted their desire to be active participants in

establishing workplace wellness programs that effectively address workplace bullying, systems that enhance

safety, and health.

Social implications –This studyhighlights the role organizations playin shaping individual andcommunity

physical and mental well-being, health, and safetythrough effective workplace wellnessprograms.

Originality/value –This study should be helpful to organizations and researchers looking to address

workplacewellness, safety,and bullying in a context broaderthan just liability andthe cost savings of employee

physical health, andmay further add to the discussions of workplace wellness policy and regulation.

Keywords Workplace wellness, Workplace bullying, Group facilitation, Scholarship of engagement,

Workplace wellness system

Paper type Research paper

Introduction

A healthy workplace tends to have many positive impacts on the organization, yet

workplace bullying poses a significant threat to workplace wellness and safety in

contemporary organizations with its potential to have pervasive negative impacts to

bystanders, witnesses, and the organizations where it is prevalent. According to the World

Health Organization:

A healthy workplace is a place where everyone works together to achieve an agreed vision for the

health and well-being of workers and the surrounding community. It provides all members of the

workforce with physical, psychological, social, and organizational conditions that protect and

promote health and safety. It enables managers and workers to increase control over their own

health and to improve it, and to become more energetic, positive and contented (Burton, 2010, p. 15).

Many organizations broaden the definition to include not only exercise and healthy eating

habits at work but also care and treatment options for mental and emotional health, healthy

lifestyle choices, stress reduction, and therapy.

Per Caltabiano and Ricciardelli (2012), these workplace wellness objectives manifest in

additional benefits to employers in terms of higher productivity, lower staff turnover rates,

International Journal of Workplace

Health Management

Vol. 10 No. 6, 2017

pp. 450-474

© Emerald PublishingLimited

1753-8351

DOI 10.1108/IJWHM-11-2016-0081

Received 15 November 2016

Revised 13 April 2017

8July2017

Accepted 29 September 2017

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

www.emeraldinsight.com/1753-8351.htm

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IJWHM

10,6

a reduction in insurance compensation claims as well as fewer instances of conflict, sickness,

and absenteeism. The potential financial benefits to employers for a healthy workplace are

such that organizations of all sizes are coming to recognize the benefits associated with the

investment in workplace wellness programs. Many employee benefit packages now

highlight the workplace wellness programs available through the employer.

To preface this study, the aim and structure of this research will be overviewed. This

study was specifically designed as an extension to the study by Georgakopoulos et al. (2011)

who investigated workplace bullying in depth and discovered in their findings that

workplace wellness and workplace safety were among the two prominent solutions that

over 100 participants perceived would combat and prevent workplace bullying. Thus, from

the onset of this study, it was an imperative goal to further research in this area and

discover what workplace wellness means to workplace professionals in relation to how they

perceive it can tackle workplace bullying specifically.

First, this study will proceed by overviewing systems theory because it informed both

the methods and findings and further has implications to organizations as will be discussed

in this research as follows: systems theory is inherently integrated in Schwarz’s (2017)

skilled facilitator approach (“SFA”) and problem-solving steps (Schwarz, 2002), which were

the overarching methodologies utilized in this research; systems theory in this study

allowed the researchers to investigate workplace wellness as a concept comprised of a

collection of parts that influenced the whole rather than investigating workplace wellness in

a vacuum with individual concepts in isolation; and finally, organizations are seen as

systems and workplace wellness is an element that may have implications and impacts to

this system. These aspects are discussed for future research in this paper’s discussion.

A survey of research will be overvie wed that discusses: workplace w ellness

conceptualized in contemporary organizations; and the vital role that workplace wellness

may have in tackling workplace bullying and promoting workplace safety. Next specific

methods utilized in this study will be described. Focus groups were employed in facilitation

workshops that applied Schwarz’s (2017) facilitation methodologies. Finally, focus groups

generated a range of significant items surrounding various perspectives and notions of

workplace wellness, which are presented in this study’s findings in the problem-solving

sequence as recommended by Schwarz (2002): problems were defined; root causes were

discovered; criteria were established; alternative solutions were generated; solutions were

evaluated; and best solutions were selected. The findings revealed that working

professionals perceived that workplace wellness is a multifaceted system that does

indeed target and minimize workplace bullying. In the conclusion, the implications for

practice and application of this study will be discussed.

Literature review

Most American organizations have invested to some degree in workplace wellness

programs to address prevention, monitoring, remedy, and costs associated with both

physical and mental health in the workplac e. With the support of professional

health associations and the backing of legislation, such as the Affordable Care Act (ACA)

(Sperry, 2013), organizations have recognized the value of taking steps to retain employees

and improve productivity by contributing to their mental and physical well-being

(Fonarow et al., 2015; Richardson, 2017).

During the latter part of the twentieth century, skilled workforces, highly optimized

processes, and ever greater demands for timely delivery of products have helped

organizations recognize the special nature of the worker resource. Finding ways to make

systems work while recognizing the rising value of workers and addressing the

non-compensation needs of those workers has created an area of study and practice referred

to here as workplace wellness. The concept of workplace wellness has led to the

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