Can You Use a Company Hotline?

IBM deserves kudos for its “Speak Up” program that gives employees a way to alert the HR department anonymously about intimidation in the workplace. IBM director of global employee relations Harold Newman has advised other companies to follow suit before legislatures do it for them. Newman explains that executives should ask themselves about the price of inaction before they dismiss workplace bullying and abuse as too vague a problem to manage. He encourages all organizations to ask: “What’s it going to cost in terms of shareholder value, productivity, or brand image?” Chances are, the price is quite steep.

Get You've Got to Be Kidding!: How to Keep Your Job Without Losing Your Integrity now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.