Dive Brief:

• Most employers (87%) plan to create a culture of workplace dignity during the next three years, research released Feb. 5 by Willis Towers Watson in conjunction with Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights showed. According to the survey, a culture of workplace dignity "promotes an environment in which employees can experience a sense of self-respect, pride and self-worth, and it influences an organization's ability to foster wellbeing, engage talent and drive business results."
• The survey revealed a disparity between employers' and employees' perceptions of workplace dignity: 81% of employers think workers are treated with respect and dignity regardless of their job, level or role, compared with 65% of workers who feel the same. Nearly four in five employers said they encourage employees to speak up, while half of workers agreed. What's more, 80% of employers said they believe their senior leadership is sincerely interested in their workers' wellbeing. Half of workers agreed.
• The survey identified barriers that employers want to remove in creating a culture of dignity in the workplace: a lack of diversity, discrimination, exclusion, abuse of power and bullying.

Dive Insight:

Based on Willis Towers Watson's research and similar studies, employers are recognizing that a lack of dignity is a problem in the workplace and must be addressed with culture adjustments or overhauls. In fact, 90% of professionals in a 2019 Monster survey said they had been bullied at work. More than half in the survey said they were bullied by a boss, and nearly 40% said they were bullied by a peer.

Experts have previously told HR Dive that there are aspects of bullying that HR must understand to curb its impact on the workplace. HR must understand that bullying can range from annoying behavior to egregious actions that are disruptive, that bullying is more a reflection of an organization than any one person and that, without consequences, bullying is inadvertently reinforced as acceptable.