Tuesday, July 22, 2008

The Bottom-line Wins

In response to a recent blog posting here, the question arose as to WHY do organizations put up with bullies. A key answer is $$$$. Yesterday, I spoke to a small business owner, who employs 50 people, regarding a workplace bully. The bully in this case is bullying the owner! Yes, it does happen.

To a large degree, the owner understands what is happening as a result of this bully. However, the owner has tolerated the bully’s behavior for four years because the bully pulls in high-level, critical sums of revenue. This individual is well known in the relevant industry for top-level sales, and probably for negative behaviors and personality, as well.

When it comes to the bottom-line (tangible factor) versus employees’ welfare (intangible), the bottom-line usually prevails. It’s easy to calculate the bottom-line, but not the effects of a bully on employee morale and productivity, in general.

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