It's Complicated: Defining Workplace Bullying From the Human Resource Professional's Perspective

Human resource (HR) departments are typically tasked with hiring, firing, training, managing, and handling other personnel issues. HR professionals carry out many important organizational initiatives, including dealing with employee disputes, serving as a liaison between the employee and the organization, and drafting and enforcing organizational policies and procedures (Bohlander & Snell; Lewis & Rayner). One issue that has started to garner more attention in organizations across the globe and among HR professionals is the communication phenomenon of workplace bullying. Generally, academic researchers describe workplace bullying as an extreme, negative, and persistent form of workplace emotional abuse achieved primarily through verbal and nonverbal communication (Keashly & Jagatic; Lutgen-Sandvik). For HR professionals, the definition of workplace bullying could be much more complex. As workplace bullying is abuse primarily achieved through negative communication, communication researchers seem well suited to explore how HR professionals make sense of this issue.