We are all too familiar with accounts of cyber bullying among school students, but there is emerging data showing that cyber bullying is also becoming an issue in the workplace. Hard to imagine? Possibly.

I guess kids aren’t the only ones prone to turning to social media for ulterior purposes though. While bullying in the workplace has been around for some time, taking it to social media is emerging, and it’s important for HR departments and managers to be aware of and monitor.

Consider the recent news about the firefighter who committed suicide recently; while the investigation is not complete, there is speculation that workplace bullying that had gone to the internet was at least partially to blame. The video below talks about it in more detail:

 

 

How can managers and HR departments work to be aware of issues as they arise? There are some steps that can be taken to identify potential cyber bullying in the workplace:

• Create a solid social media policy – ensure that harassment and bullying is clearly outlined, most notably including online/social media communication. The policy that you enforce should also spell out what constitutes cyber bullying; do not limit it to “social media” as that does not encompass all online activities, such as message board and forum participation, for example.

• Create an anonymous forum or method of communication –  this may be trickier, because it’s not always easy for victims to come forward if they feel they are being harassed or threatened. However, often times coworkers may be aware of what is going on in the workplace. Encourage employees to speak up in a completely anonymous fashion – create an online feedback system that is truly anonymous for employees to share any concerns or things they see/hear about among coworkers.

• Monitor social media –  while you can’t know where your employees are online, and you may not be aware of screen names (especially when they use pseudonyms online), it’s important to monitor online conversations around your company and employees, and even expand monitoring efforts to focus on location based content. Using the right tools, you can monitor public social content that is posted from within the workplace by creating a “geofence” around your building. The location based monitoring software will be able to collect and capture any social content being posted from the area.

While not foolproof, being aware of what’s happening in the workplace can help prevent or at least decrease the instances of workplace bullying, online and off. Keeping the lines of communication open, reiterating that this type of behavior will not be tolerated.