In somewhat of an indictment of UK business leadership, just over one in five UK workers claim to be bullied by their boss, while almost a third believe their manager is incompetent.

 
A study among 1,298 staff commissioned by HR consultancy Reabur.com also revealed that a further 22% of respondents felt their manager was ‘under-qualified’ to do the job they did, while 29% attested that their manager disliked them.
 
Of those that felt they were being actively bullied, however, 21% said that their boss was the culprit compared with 28% that felt picked on by a co-worker. Some 31% of the sample that were subjected to such abuse were women compared with only 17% of men.
 
Nearly half believed they were being picked on because of their appearance, just over two out of five because the culprit was ‘intimidated by their abilities’ and 29% because they were ‘jealous of their status within the office’.
 
A mere 8% reported the situation to their HR department, however, although just under a quarter told a colleague about their experiences and nearly three quarters told their partner.
 
Unsurprisingly, meanwhile, 57% of those being subjected to bullying at work were actively looking for a new job. Some 37% said that they dreaded going into the office each day and just over a third admitted that their personal life was suffering as a result.
 
Georgina Read, joint managing director of Reabur.com, said: “I was shocked to see these results. Being unhappy at work and feeling bullied will certainly affect productivity levels as well as the individual’s self-esteem as the results show.”
 
Although bullying was often not taken seriously and people tended to think individuals were overreacting, it was crucial that all allegations be taken seriously and investigated because “getting to the route of the problem will create a better workforce and office environment,” she added.