INVESTIGATING WORKPLACE VIOLENCE REPORTING BEHAVIOUR: STATE OF AFFAIRS AND THE WAY FORWARD
Abstract
Workplace violence is a global concern, with 20% of workers worldwide experiencing one type in their working life. While many organizations have regulations regarding interpersonal relationships between employees, the script and practice do not align, resulting in an unsafe workplace. This implies staff and generally stakeholder demotivation and demoralization that work against performance and productivity. This paper is the result of a 2024 field study undertaken at Tom Mboya University in Kenya to understand the determinants of workplace violence reporting behaviour among staff. It sought to establish how bureaucracy, organizational culture and personal traits interacted with workplace violence reporting behaviour among staff at the university. The study did a census and combined quantitative and qualitative methods of social investigation, including a survey, focus group discussions, key informant interviews and observation covering the entire university population of 93 members of staff. The findings show that workplace violence at the university is multifaceted, with verbal abuse, threats, intimidation and psychological harassment being the most reported forms. Hence, bureaucracy, organizational culture and personal traits affected staff motivation to report workplace, lending credence to the assertion that the reported cases were just a tip of the iceberg. Consequently, it was concluded that addressing workplace violence in the university required cultural transformation in addition to existing policies. Going forward, recommendations are made to make the workplace not only safer, but also productivity-enhancing.
JEL: J28, J81, K31, M14
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejefr.v9i3.2008
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