Workplace Bullying

🧠 “Mind Over Malice: Rewiring Your Response to Bullies at Work”

We all know what to do after bullying happens.
What I do is help staff and teams build the internal tools to actually prevent it.

Why You Should Care:

💥 According to the Workplace Bullying Institute (2021), 30% of U.S. workers reported being bullied—and based on what I’m seeing today, that number is likely much higher.

Even more concerning? 61.5% of that bullying comes from bosses or those in authority.
And while it can happen anywhere, it’s especially common in healthcare, education, and government.

After earning my Psychology degree from the University of Washington and spending over 30 years as a Clinical Hypnotherapist, I created a new presentation designed to empower—not just react:

Understanding Workplace Bullying

  • Types of bullying behaviors:
    • Verbal abuse or insults
    • Undermining or sabotaging work
    • Social exclusion or gossip
    • Micromanagement or excessive criticism
  • Who are the bullies?
    • Often in positions of power (e.g., supervisors)
    • Sometimes unaware of the impact of their actions
    • They may use bullying to mask insecurity or assert dominance

Workplace bullying carries significant financial and operational costs for companies — many of which are hidden or underestimated. Below is a breakdown of evidence-based and estimated costs that you can include in your paper or training program to drive the business case for intervention.

  1. 1. Turnover and Replacement Costs

🔹 Cost:

  • Replacing a single employee can cost 50% to 200% of their annual salary, depending on their level.
  • A study by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) found that bullying is a leading reason employees leave organizations — especially among high performers.

Example:

If a company loses 5 employees due to bullying (earning $60,000/year each), the estimated replacement cost could exceed $300,000 to $600,000.

  1. Lost Productivity and Presenteeism

🔹 Cost:

  • Targets of bullying often underperform due to anxiety, distraction, and lack of psychological safety.
  • Victims and witnesses both experience presenteeism — being physically present but mentally disengaged.
  • Estimates suggest that bullying-related disengagement can reduce productivity by 10% to 40%.

🔹 Example:

In a 100-person department, if 10 employees lose just 1 hour/day of productive time due to bullying, that adds up to 2,500 lost hours/year — the equivalent of more than one full-time salary.

  1. Absenteeism and Sick Leave

🔹 Cost:

  • Victims of bullying take more sick leave. Research shows targets take 7 to 10 more days off per year than non-targets.
  • Stress-related illnesses also increase workers’ compensation and disability claims.

🔹 Example:

If 10 employees each take an extra 8 days off annually due to bullying, that’s 80 days of lost labor — over $20,000 in wages, not including indirect costs like coverage or overtime.

  1. Legal and Compliance Costs

🔹 Cost:

  • Bullying claims can lead to lawsuits, EEOC complaints, or union grievances, even if not labeled as harassment.
  • Settlements can cost $50,000 to $500,000+, with additional legal fees and reputational damage.

🔹 Example:

A California tech firm settled a workplace bullying-related harassment case for $300,000, not including brand damage and recruitment fallout.

  1. Reputation and Employer Branding

🔹 Cost:

  • Companies with toxic cultures score lower on sites like Glassdoor and struggle to attract top talent.
  • A 2023 MIT Sloan study found that toxic workplace culture is 10x more predictive of attrition than pay.

🔹 Long-Term Risk:

Poor culture reduces the company’s attractiveness to investors, partners, and recruits, which can cost millions in opportunity loss over time

  1. Leadership Time and Distraction

🔹 Cost:

  • Managers spend 20% to 40% of their time managing interpersonal conflict.
  • This reduces their strategic effectiveness and leads to burnout.

Wouldn’t it just be easier to stop the bully in the moment?

The information that I will share with your group will do just that.

This presentation may be in the form of a keynote, workshop or breakout, or designed to focus on your particular group of employees or staff.

Let’s chat about how you may be able to save your company or association their reputation as well as potentially thousands of dollars.

Katie Evans

www.livinglitenow.com

@katieevans (LinkedIn)

Living Lite Hypnosis, Facebook

206-841-4876