Cyberbullied? Here's how an HR should deal with it!

4 Min Read | Posted by Aditi Jain on 28 July, 2018

Fortunately, or rather unfortunately, the technology has taken a sincere hike in country and people are well adapting to it. Latest mobile phones, televisions, machines, etc have become the order of the day and we can’t imagine a life without them. Among these, the most vital part of a person’s life is internet. Observing the present scenario, if trees would have perspired internet instead of oxygen, they would not have been chopped so disastrously. Growing technology is good for the country’s growth but the bad part is that technology has always been a bad master. Our youth is getting drowned in all the evils that technology brings with it. One of the most scary and harmful is CyberBullying!

Cyber bullying is bullying that takes place using electronic technology like cell phones, computers, and tablets as well as communication tools including social media sites, text messages, chat, and websites. Few examples of cyber bullying include text messages or emails, rumors spread by emails or posted on social networking sites, and embarrassing and morphed pictures, videos, websites, or fake profiles.

The corrupt minded people or rather the demons of the society are the reason behind cyber bullying. They harass people by calling them frequently and talking in abusive language. This is mostly done with females and sometimes it even leads to serious crimes like rapes, murders, etc. Photo morphing has been very common these days. Statistics say that the cyber crime has rose to 19 times over ten years, 481 in 2005 to 9622 in 2014. Most of the cases have been reported in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. Unless and until our society recognizes cyber bullying and takes strict measures against it, the suffering of thousands of silent victims will continue.

The only way to stop it is by becoming aware and observant. It is the duty of an individual to take care of his safety but even the HR professionals should ensure that their employees get a safe and sound environment to work in.

Be familiar with technology: Before you can hope to identify and rectify potential cyber bullying incidents in your workplace, you must first prepare yourself with an understanding of what kinds of harassment and bullying can transpire in the digital realm. The HR need to be familiar with apps like facebook, instagram, snapchat, which are the main sources of bullying. Live streaming functionalities of facebook and periscope create additional opportunities for the bullies to exploit people.

Adequate Training sessions: For the HR department as well as the staff, training sessions should be held to let them know about what does and does not constitute harassment. This is also a great opportunity to provide a refresher on company policy relating to bullying and harassment. Videos on how to prevent bullying and how to ensure privacy on social media should be circulated, especially among the female staff.

Proper enquiry of employees: During the selection or recruitment of employee, it is the duty of the HR professional to check all the documents and verify about the employee. A single fish can contaminate the entire pond. If an evil person enters the office and works there, he would spoil the working environment as well as the rapport of the company. Hence, prevention has always been better than the cure.

Respond adequately: It is important to raise voice against such people. Most of us do not speak against then and this encourages such people. Various cases have come in front of our eyes in which the boss himself was bullying the employee. Such people should get severe punishments so that it becomes a standard example for others as well. The girls usually remain silent and get so tortured that some of them commit suicide. But this encourages the criminal. In Kolkata, actress Madhumita Chakrobarty raised her voice when her photo was morphed and sent across numerous websites in Bangladesh.

Social media and technology is evolving and morphing into new formats at the speed of light so our preventive measures should be able to catch up with the speed. A company fully relies upon the HR professionals for their security and protection of personal space. “A bully won’t stop until he is stopped.”

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