Perhaps surprisingly, the higher up you are in the corporate hierarchy the more likely you are to be bullied by e-mail. While 15% of secretaries have experienced e-mail bullying, this increases to more than one in four (28%) of all directors. Only 4% of workers admit to being e-mail bullies themselves.
According to reed, e-mail bullying ranges from unfair comments sent by managers who want to avoid face-to-face confrontation, to unwelcome personal references. The company observes that it raises stress levels at work and can drastically affect productivity.
Nearly a third (32%) confront the bully, 22% talk it through with friends or managers, but 3% are so distressed by the experience they need time off work to recover or even leave their jobs.
Respondents highlighted two potential solutions. They felt clearer disciplinary procedures would help raise awareness of the problem and crack down on persistent offenders, while workforce training in e-mail etiquette would help prevent problems arising in the first place.
Dan Ferrandino, Director of reed.co.uk, comments:
"It is just too easy to send an e-mail while tempers are running high, ignoring the effect it might have. E-mails lack the visual and sound clues built into most other methods of communication - from face to face meetings to telephone calls - making it much more likely that people may take offence."
The TUC offers guidance for victims of bullying at work:
www.tuc.org.uk/tuc/rights_bullyatwork.cfm
