Stop School Bullies: Results Matter, Process is Not Enough

Sawyer Rosenstein, 12 -year-old seventh grader from New Jersey, was bullied for months until the bully punched him and left him paralyzed.  He received a settlement of $4.2 million from the school district.  A claim against the bully has also settled, but details are confidential.  And, Sawyer is still paralyzed for life. Reports from the New York Daily News and the Morristown Personal Injury Blog make clear that:

• Three months before the final incident, Sawyer reported previous incidents of being bullied to the school in writing, but no responsible adult – principal, teachers, therapists, district administrators – stopped the school bullying.
• "Additionally, the same bully that injured the boy had previously injured another student, yet no serious action was taken."
• New Jersey has a strong anti-bullying law.  Nevertheless, his experience “shows that schools have a great responsibility to make sure that these laws are enforced in order to prevent students from being injured by bullies on school property.”

“The Board of Education released a statement Wednesday denying any wrongdoing and saying that it was the district’s insurance carriers that decided to enter into the settlement and will pay it out.  ‘The district’s character education and harassment/intimidation/bullying initiatives and reporting practices are leading edge,’ the statement said. ‘All programs in this area far exceed all of the criteria established by the state of New Jersey.’ … The board said the settlement did not include any admission of liability or fault on the part of the district.”

What’s wrong with the school board’s basic assumptions?

Of course, the local Board of Education has washed its hands of all responsibility, claiming that they followed the correct procedures.  Thy used the same type of defense that the do-nothing principal and district superintendent used after the suicide of Iowa teen Kenneth Weishuhn.

The people on the Board of Education, the principal, teachers, therapists and district administrators seem to feel that having a process; a program, initiatives and reporting practices is enough to cover them.  If negativity, harassment, abuse, or physical, mental and emotional violence occurs, it’s not their responsibility.  If they victimize students, it’s not their responsibility.  They were just following orders and procedures.

They think they’re not responsible for results, only for process.  They think they’re not responsible for stopping school bullying, only for pushing paper.

That lack of accountability may work for adults in education but for the rest of us, with real jobs, results count.  Even the kids taking tests are held accountable for performance and results.

Obviously laws are never enough.  It’s the people who administer the laws who are responsible for protecting us.  Or these incompetents settle for ineffective responses and leave it at that.  They lack the will to stop bullies.

Little children usually can get away with charm, potential and promises.  But as we cross past approximately 5th grade, we enter the time when those qualities count less and less, and results count more and more.  That’s a hard transition for many people to make.  When we get to be adults, we’re evaluated by the results we produce.

Obviously, the 12-year-old bully was in the transition, but how about the adults who were responsible for protecting all their students?  When are they going to be held personally responsible?

Following the rules or processes is a minimum standard.  The correct standard, by which school authorities should be judged, is whether they get results. Thomas Alva Edison once said, “Hell, there are no rules here – we’re trying to accomplish something.”  Of course large organizations like school districts need rules and processes.  But those are judged by whether they produce the desired results, not by whether they’re being followed.  Following processes is never enough; results count.

What can you do if you’re a parent trying to protect your child from such irresponsible incompetents?

• Never let authorities get away with thinking that their responsibility ends with initiating some process.  Demand results.
• Immediately find a lawyer and generate publicity.
• Hold teachers, principals, district administrators and boards of education accountable for performance and results.  Your children are trying to survive.  Only results count.

For some examples, see the case studies in “How to Stop Bullies in Their Tracks” and “Parenting Bully-Proof Kids,” available fastest from this web site.

Since all tactics depend on the situation, expert coaching by phone or Skype helps.  We can design a plan that fits you and your situation.  And build your will and skill to carry it out effectively.

You can't Stop Bullying at Work with Employee Satisfaction Programs

Most people believe that happy employees are more productive, treat each other better and give better customer service.  That’s not true. When human resource departments push employee satisfaction initiatives at work, too often they encourage the most selfish, negative and hostile employees to harass, bully and abuse coworkers and supervisors.

Of course, I’m not encouraging companies to mistreat their employees.  But I am encouraging leaders to question the assumed correlation between happiness and productivity, between satisfaction and teamwork.

A recent report in the Harvard Business Review, “Employee Happiness isn’t Enough to Satisfy Customers,” also suggests that there is no correlation between employee satisfaction and customer service in the workplace.

Here’s why.  Usually, mediocre and poor employees and managers are happiest when they work less and are held to lower standards.  They want or feel entitled to whatever makes them happy, but they won’t pay for those rewards by increased productivity.

These people often want to rule the roost.  When they’re empowered by being listened to, they become mean, vindictive and cruel.  They use their power to increase bullying and abuse of the most productive employees and managers, and of people they simply don’t like.

Employee satisfaction programs encourage the most negative, bitter and hostile people to vent their anger and to continue venting forever.  As long as they’re venting, someone will be catering, begging and bribing them.

I’ve seen that time and time again.  So have you.  Think of all the people you work with.  Ask yourself questions about each one individually, “If that person was in charge, what would happen – who are their favorites; what corners would they cut; are they lazy, negative, hyper-critical slackers; are they gossiping, back stabbing rumor mongers; would they try to bring everyone into the team?”

Instead of focusing on employee satisfaction, survey your most productive, lowest maintenance employees and managers.  By “most productive,” I don’t mean only “shooting stars.”  I also mean steady, highly competent employees.  Don’t ask the mediocre or “bottom feeder” employees and managers what would make them happier.

Don’t have HR departments do these surveys; they’ll get lied to.  Use written surveys but don’t pay much attention to them; people expect them but you won’t get the critical people-information you need.  Conduct skillful personal interviews with the right employees to identify the people or departments whose poor attitudes thwart or destroy productivity.

Ask the most productive employees, “What would make you more productive (effective, efficient)?”  Focus on, for example, better operational systems, better technology and better coworkers.

Give your most productive employees and managers what they need to be more productive. The technology and systems are usually straightforward areas.  Critical to your success is constant churning of your poorest employees and managers so the most productive ones can be even more productive.

Ask the most productive employees, “What rewards do you want for being even more productive?”  Give them much of what they want.  Remember, one highly productive employee is worth at least two poor ones.

Usually, you’ll find that the number one desire of highly productive staff is better coworkers, so they can accomplish more and look forward to working with people who also hold up their end of the table.

Don’t cater to poor attitudes.  Stop negativity, entitlement, harassment and bullying at work.

HR usually distracts and detracts from efforts to increase customer service or productivity.  HR tends to focus on surveying and catering to the happiness of all employees, which does not increase customer satisfaction.  HR usually doesn’t survey customers and you don’t want them to.

Focus your own efforts on measuring productivity and customer service.

As a leader, if you say, “I don’t know who my most productive employees are,” or “I don’t want to hurt the feelings of employees or managers that I don’t interview” you’ve just shown that you aren’t doing your job.

Give your best employees what they need or you’ll stimulate turnover of the people you need to keep.