“What we are doing is judging people for the very time that we as a community accept that people have poor judgement.
“I can understand disclosure for people over 22, I certainly understand that, [but] referring back to childhood behaviour is really ordinary behaviour and I don’t think it is a valid test.”
While Douglas does not agree with the BULLYcheck scheme, here are his tips for avoiding hiring a bully.
Douglas says rather than scrutinising new hires, a business needs to create a positive culture to prevent bullying.
“The reality is that every person does bully at some stage in their life; the real issue is to take responsibility for your own culture,” says Douglas.
“Ensure values in the business are driven through the business not just the service outcome; if I say I am a respectful employer people should be inducted in that.”
Douglas says “punishment is not as successful as reward”, so businesses need to reward positive behaviour.
“Any behaviour that falls outside of business values should be dealt with quickly and people can celebrate the success of the good culture that draws people into it.”
Douglas recommends that businesses have a policy in place to prevent bullying and says human resources should be an integral part of every business.
“Have a workplace behaviour policy that looks across the board at bullying, harassment and discrimination,” says Douglas.
“That’s why HR has to be mainstreamed and not just seen as a bolt-on to a business.”
Douglas says if businesses do want to vet people for past bullying behaviour before hiring, they should require staff sign a disclosure statement in relation to their behaviour as an adult, rather than when they were at school.
“You could require a disclosure statement and if you are found to have been dishonest in that statement then it results in a summary dismissal,” says Douglas.
