Addressing the Bystander Effect in Your Workplace

You may have heard of the bystander effect as a phenomenon that occurs when people fail to intervene in an emergency or help someone in need. Instead, the “bystander” assumes that others will take responsibility for the situation and does nothing to assist the person in need.

a phenomenon that occurs when people fail to intervene in an emergency situation or help someone in need

Although the bystander effect is prevalent in many areas of life and has been studied at length by sociologists, it’s not often thought of as a phenomenon that also takes place in the workplace—where it can have significant negative impacts on employees, the work culture, and the organization as a whole.

Many employers know the importance of training their staff on workplace harassment, diversity, and inclusion.  Still, in my experience, more focus needs to be provided on training to address the bystander effect and the different ways to intervene.

For the next three weeks, let’s look at what the bystander effect can do and how to address it in your workplace.

What are the Consequences of the Bystander Effect in the Workplace?

The bystander effect can manifest in various ways. 

For instance, employees may observe a colleague being treated disrespectfully, harassed, discriminated against, or bullied by a co-worker or supervisor but fail to act in any way or report the situation to human resources or management. 

The Less Obvious Examples

  • When an employee struggles with work responsibilities but rather than offering assistance, their colleagues assume that someone else will do so or that it is not their responsibility. 

The effect on the employee who is struggling could lead not only to a lack of productivity and progress but also impact their mental health and general well-being.

  • Ignoring bad behavior can lead to a toxic work environment where harassment, bullying, and excessive workloads are tolerated, and employees feel unsupported and undervalued. 
  • The normalization of ugly behavior can (and very likely will) increase absenteeism and turnover as employees seek a more positive and supportive work environment. 
  • Expect decreased productivity and job satisfaction. When employees feel their colleagues are unwilling to help or support them, they may become disengaged and less motivated to perform at their best.
  • Apathy, complacency, and a toxic work environment can also be direct consequences of the bystander effect in the workplace. 

When employees regularly assume that other coworkers will take responsibility for obviously unpleasant situations instead of them, they may become less proactive in general and far less likely to take any type of positive initiative.

Training

We focus on the consequences in our training workshops – which we deliver to various organizations and across multiple industries. Our job is to educate our clients on what can happen inside teams and within organizations where no one does anything about poor (or illegal) behavior.