Is a rise in bullying complaints a good sign? In an unexpected way, it might be.
That’s the news out of the U.K., where a recent survey of 1,028 financial firms by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the nation’s equivalent of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, found a notable rise in complaints of bullying, harassment, and discrimination from 2021 to 2023. While at first glance this might seem troubling, some believe it’s a positive: Employees at banks and brokerage firms may be feeling safer speaking up about issues, reflecting a more open and transparent workplace culture.
We often hear about bullying in the context of school children, but workplace bullying is about more than hurt feelings. It’s a substantial organizational risk that carries big financial costs and it’s a widespread, global problem that costs hundreds of millions and even billions of dollars in lost productivity each year. Bullying harms the ways employees interact daily and often begins subtly, with language that excludes, undermines, or unfairly criticizes others.
In the U.S., the Workplace Bullying Institute says that 32% of workers report directly being bullied in the form of verbal intimidation, exclusion, or demeaning comments that gradually chip away at morale and teamwork. For those targeted, the impact is emotional and physical. Some 20% of bullying targets take sick leave as a direct result (up to seven days more per year than those who are not bullied), while 60% consider leaving their jobs, and 15% actually do leave, research has shown. When an employee departs, replacing them costs approximately six to nine months of their salary, meaning that the cost of turnover for a $60,000 role could range between $30,000 and $45,000.
Megan Carle, a former Nike executive, was so bullied that she quit and wrote the book, “Walk Away to Win: A Playbook to Combat Workplace Bullying,” a guide on combating unhealthy workplaces. In a 2023 interview with Alphy, she identified various types of bullying to look out for: overt and loud public bullying; private bullying, in which the target is praised in public and derided behind closed doors; and gaslighting, in which targets are psychologically manipulated into questioning reality. "It's so important to acknowledge that this is not endemic to Nike,” Carle said. “This is an epidemic. This is happening everywhere.”
Language — whether in a meeting, over email, or in informal conversations — is a powerful force in shaping how employees perceive their workplace and engage with one another. Employees who experience or witness bullying often disengage: 48% of affected employees admit to intentionally reducing their effort, 38% lower their work quality, and 63% of bullied employees waste work time avoiding those who bully them, according to an article on workplace incivility by business professors Christine Porath and Christine Pearson in the Harvard Business Review.
Beyond drains in productivity, bullying carries serious legal and reputational risks. Defending a harassment lawsuit costs around $250,000 on average, while jury awards can reach $600,000 or more. The recent U.K. survey found that although disciplinary action was taken in 43% of bullying cases, many complaints went uninvestigated or concluded without action.
Addressing bullying swiftly is critical. As Porath and Pearson wrote in the Harvard Business Review, “Whether offenders have caused multimillion-dollar lawsuits or been responsible for the exit of throngs of employees, often the losses could have been mitigated by early, resolute action. A senior executive of a highly successful company told us recently, “Every mistake we’ve made in firing a questionable hire was in taking action too late, not too early.”
Alphy’s Reflect AI offers companies a proactive approach to this problem. Reflect AI works in digital communications in real-time to detect more than 40 kinds of harmful and unlawful language, from racism and sexual harassment to disrespect, anger, intimidation, and retaliation. This real-time feedback allows employees to pause and self-correct before creating problems for themselves, their companies and the reputations of both.
A rise in bullying complaints could be a good thing, if it means that employees feel empowered to report issues. Still, the impact of bullying — from reduced productivity to increased legal risks — is a challenge that companies can’t afford to ignore. With Reflect AI and lessons from the FCA’s survey data, financial firms can take a proactive approach to building a work environment where respect and accountability in communication are the standard.
Amanda Nurse is the editorial and operations coordinator at Alphy.
Reflect AI by Alphy is an AI communication compliance solution that detects and flags language that is harmful, unlawful, and unethical in digital communication. Alphy was founded to reduce the risk of litigation from harmful and discriminatory communication while helping employees communicate more effectively. By flagging problematic language and behaviors in communications, Reflect AI enables companies to address issues early, preventing them from escalating into larger, more costly problems.
Contact us for a demo at sales@alphyco.com.