Jump to Element
1 Organizational Culture
Organizational culture is the foundation of the model. It represents the shared values, norms, and practices that shape how people behave within an organization. Culture determines what is rewarded, what is tolerated, and what is punished.
Culture is not just a backdrop—it actively shapes whether bullying can take root and persist. In environments where silence is normalized, power is protected, and accountability is uneven, bullying becomes more likely to occur and less likely to be addressed.
Key insight: Bullying is often not an exception to the culture—it is a predictable outcome of how the workplace already functions.
2 Bullying Event
The bullying event is the triggering incident or pattern of behavior that initiates the sensemaking process. It is the moment when something happens that the target must try to understand and interpret.
— Workplace Bullying Institute
Examples of Bullying Behaviors
- Verbal abuse, yelling, or hostile communication
- Exclusion from meetings, communications, or social interactions
- Undermining work or taking credit for others' contributions
- Spreading rumors or gossip
- Unreasonable workloads or impossible deadlines
- Public humiliation or criticism
- Withholding information needed to do one's job
- Threats to job security or professional reputation
3 Bystander Response
Bystanders include workplace witnesses and personal support networks (family and friends):
Workplace Bystanders may:
- Stay silent out of fear of becoming targets themselves
- Act as if they saw nothing
- Offer private support ("I see you, I hear you, but I can't speak up publicly")
- Actively speak up and serve as witnesses
Personal Circle may:
- Listen and validate the target's experience
- Provide emotional support and understanding
- Help the target feel believed and supported
Key insight: Whether quiet or explicit, bystander support matters. Even when it does not lead to intervention, it can reduce isolation, buffer psychological harm, and help targets maintain a sense of self.
4 Organizational Response
Organizational response refers to how leadership, HR, and formal systems respond when bullying is reported or becomes known. This response sends powerful messages about what the organization values and whose experiences matter.
✅ Act
The organization investigates thoroughly, holds perpetrators accountable, and protects the target from retaliation.
🚫 Ignore
The organization does nothing—no acknowledgment, no investigation, no response. The bullying continues unchecked.
❌ Dismiss
The organization minimizes or reframes the behavior as "personality conflict," "miscommunication," or "drama."
⚠️ Retaliate
The organization punishes the reporter through demotion, isolation, increased scrutiny, or termination.
Key insight: The organization sets the tone first. Its response teaches bystanders whether speaking up is safe, risky, or pointless.
5 Sensemaking
Sensemaking is the cognitive and emotional work that targets do to understand what is happening to them. When something unexpected or harmful occurs, people naturally try to make sense of it.
The Three Sensemaking Questions
Targets ask themselves:
- "What is happening to me?" — Trying to understand and name the experience
- "What does this mean about me?" — Questioning their own worth, competence, or belonging
- "What kind of organization is this?" — Evaluating whether the workplace is safe, fair, or trustworthy
The answers to these questions are shaped by how bystanders and the organization respond. When others validate the target's experience, sensemaking leads to clarity. When others dismiss or deny it, sensemaking becomes confused and self-doubt increases.
6 Sensebreaking
Sensebreaking occurs when there is a gap between what an employee expects from their workplace and how the workplace actually responds. Sometimes that response exceeds expectations and strengthens trust. Other times it falls short and shatters assumptions about fairness, safety, or identity.
✅ Positive Sensebreaking
When the organization's response meets or exceeds expectations:
- Trust is strengthened
- The target feels valued and believed
- Faith in fairness is confirmed
- Psychological safety increases
❌ Negative Sensebreaking
When the organization's response falls short:
- Trust collapses
- The target feels betrayed
- Assumptions about fairness shatter
- Identity and self-worth are damaged
7 Outcomes
The combination of bystander response and organizational response determines whether the target experiences restorative outcomes or harmful outcomes.
Restorative Outcomes
- Justice and accountability
- Restored trust in the organization
- Psychological safety
- Preserved sense of self
- Continued engagement and belonging
Harmful Outcomes
- Moral injury
- Loss of trust
- Loss of identity
- Disengagement and exit
- Long-term psychological harm
8 Environment
The cumulative effect of organizational responses shapes the overall work environment. Over time, patterns of response create either healthy or toxic conditions.
Healthy Environment
- Psychological safety
- Trust in leadership
- Clear accountability
- Open communication
- Bystanders feel safe to intervene
Toxic Environment
- Fear and silence
- Distrust of leadership
- Uneven accountability
- Information hoarding
- Bystanders afraid to act
Key insight: A healthy workplace is not defined by the absence of harm, but by how people respond to it. Organizations that respond well to bullying build trust; those that respond poorly erode it.
9 Feedback Loop
The model is cyclical, not linear. How organizations respond to bullying feeds back into organizational culture, shaping future behavior. This creates either virtuous or vicious cycles.
When organizations respond well:
- Employees learn that speaking up is safe
- Bystanders feel empowered to intervene
- Potential perpetrators are deterred
- Trust and psychological safety increase
When organizations respond poorly:
- Employees learn that silence is safer
- Bystanders stay quiet to protect themselves
- Perpetrators are emboldened
- Fear and distrust become normalized
Key insight: Every response—or lack of response—shapes the culture for future incidents. It's not just about resolving one incident—it's about what the organization is teaching everyone who is watching.