What is Intimidating or Inappropriate Behaviour?

Conflict between staff members or between staff and students may occasionally be manifested in behaviour best described as intimidating or inappropriate. It often arises from real or perceived power differentials between two people in terms of the formal or informal hierarchy and culture of the University; indeed, often a formal supervisory relationship. While bullying* may best describe most intimidating or inappropriate behaviour these guidelines are also intended to reinforce the general principle of respecting colleagues.

* A formal definition of bullying used by the Queensland Department of Occupational Health and Safety is "the repeated less favourable treatment of a person by another or others in the workplace, which may be considered unreasonable and inappropriate workplace practice".

Examples include difficulties between academic and general staff, between senior academics and junior academics, between male and female staff or between staff and students.

The following list of behaviours, while incomplete, could be considered as intimidating and inappropriate. They have been categorised in five groups.

Threat to professional status

• Persistent attempt to belittle and undermine work
• Persistent criticism and lack of respect for judgments, skills or opinions of a person
• Persistent attempts to humiliate in front of colleagues (put downs and name calling)
• Intimidatory use of discipline or competence procedures (Note that this does not preclude supervisors using performance management processes in a legitimate way)

Threat to personal standing

• Undermining personal integrity
• Destructive innuendo and sarcasm (including rumours and gossip)
• Verbal and non-verbal threats (eg threat of dismissal (although an employer may legitimately use disciplinary action); threat of complaints when people stand up for themselves; use of private information inappropriately)
• Inappropriate or overly forceful language (including jokes, sarcasm insults and crude language)
• Initimidatory behaviour (shouting, invasion of personal space such as entering someone's office without knocking, physically standing over another person, rifling through personal files and drawers; reading information on someone's desk without permission; blocking someone's exit, banging a desk.)
• Physical violence
• Violence to property

Isolation

• Withholding necessary information or passive non-cooperation
• Freezing out, ignoring, excluding or cutting off in conversation
• Denied opportunities for interesting work
• Unreasonable refusal of applications for leave, training or promotion

Overwork

• Undue pressure to produce work
• Setting of impossible deadlines

Destabilisation

• Shifting of goal posts without consultation
• Constant undervaluing of efforts
• Persistent efforts to demoralise
• Removal of areas of responsibility without consultation