Understanding the context of workplace health management as it relates to workplace bullying

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to extend awareness that workplace bullying impacts on the health of individuals both within and outside the workplace and that there are implications for workplace health management.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper contextualises the problem of workplace bullying and workplace health management and introduces the five articles in the special issue.

Findings

Workplace health management is becoming more prominent in some organizations and workplace health management, and a corporate culture based on partnership, trust and respect, offers considerable potential to move the agenda forward. Moreover, there appears to be a paucity of knowledge available as to how workplace health management strategies and programmes impact on organizational culture and assembling and sharing such a knowledge base could be a useful step.

Research limitations/implications

Further research is required to extend the studies presented and to address workplace bullying from the perspective of workplace health management.

Practical implications

Research is required to explore the extent to which the potential of workplace health management programmes to impact positively on corporate approaches to bullying and harassment has been realised and how those programmes have influenced corporate culture.

Social implications

A partnership approach to knowledge creation and sharing has the most potential for successful outcomes and accords closely with the inferred ideals of the Luxembourg Declaration for Workplace Health promotion.

Originality/value

The paper addresses a perceived gap in the literature linking workplace bullying to the impact on individual health and the implications for workplace health management.

Citation

Sheehan, M. and Griffiths, J. (2011), "Understanding the context of workplace health management as it relates to workplace bullying", International Journal of Workplace Health Management, Vol. 4 No. 1, pp. 5-12. https://doi.org/10.1108/17538351111118563