How Do You Deal with a Workplace Bully?

How Do You Deal with a Workplace Bully?

From The Bottom Line by BBC Radio 4

February 19, 2026 · 32 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the impact of workplace bullying and strategies to address it.

Across our professional careers, many of us will come into contact with a difficult colleague or hard-to-please superior. But what happens when difficult behaviour crosses over into bullying at work? What effect does this have, not only on our wellbeing, but on our workplace as a whole? Evidence suggests that bullying may be on the rise in the UK. A 2025 survey of British workers conducted by ACAS (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) found that 44% of respondents had experienced conflict at work in the last 12 months. And on the global stage, the resurgence of ‘strong man’ leadership has reignited a debate: does bullying behaviour get you what you want? Evan and the panel look at what workplace bullying is, when and why bullying can occur, and the steps individuals and organisations can take to tackle this behaviour in the workplace. Guests: Jason Warner, Managing Director (UK and EMEA) at SBS Kevin Rowan, Director of Dispute Resolution at ACAS Kara Ng, Senior Lecturer in Organisational Psychology at Alliance Manchester Business School, University of Manchester Production team: Presenter: Evan Davis Producer: Mhairi MacKenzie Production Co-ordinator: Katie Morrison…

People in this episode

Host: Evan Davis

Guests: Jason Warner, Kevin Rowan, Kara Ng

Topics covered

  • workplace bullying
  • employee wellbeing
  • conflict resolution
  • leadership
  • organizational behavior

Keywords

  • workplace bullying
  • conflict
  • employee wellbeing
  • leadership
  • ACAS
  • SBS
  • organizational psychology

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: ACAS, SBS, Alliance Manchester Business School, The Open University

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