Enjoy this article?
Most Museums Journal content is only available to members. Join the MA to get full access to the latest thinking and trends from across the sector, case studies and best practice advice.
Policy | We’ll fight to end bullying
To address bullying in museums, we need to lead by example
Sticks and Stones is our recent research into individuals’ experience and observation of bullying behaviours in museums.
An individual’s negative experience of work can be debilitating, and those experiences have an impact on creativity, motivation and performance. Bullying and bullying behaviours are “othering”, singling people out often due to difference. This holds the risk of shutting down voices, increasing staff turnover and disincentivising diverse candidates.
Our research has led to a summary report and recommendations at five levels: the sector; leaders and managers; colleagues and peers; bullying targets; and the bullies themselves.
The Task and Finish group deliberated about whether to include this last group in the recommendations, but not doing so places an undue burden and responsibility on the others. To address bullying in museums, we need to lead by example and include people, not “other” them.
We are committed to supporting wellbeing and the summary report can be found in our Workforce Hub on the Museums Association (MA) website. It includes guidance on resilience building and difficult conversations. It also refers to other organisations/resources.
If you would like to discuss Sticks and Stones, or workforce wellbeing in general, email tamsin@museumsassociation.org
Tamsin Russell is the workforce development officer at the MA