Bullying bosses negatively impact employee performance, behaviour: Study

Employees bullied by their bosses are more likely to report unfairness and work stress, and consequently become less committed to their jobs or even retaliate, according to a study.

The findings, published in the Journal of Management, highlight the consequences of abusive supervision, which is becoming increasingly common in workplaces, said Liu-Qin Yang, an associate professor at Portland State University in the US.

Researchers reviewed 427 studies and quantitatively aggregated the results to better understand why and how bullying bosses can decrease "organisational citizenship behaviour" -- or the voluntary extras you do that aren't part of your job responsibilities -- and increase "counterproductive work behaviour."