Moral harassment and human resources management: An analysis of moral harassment in organizations and the role of the human resources management

Abstract

This essay analyses the procedure of moral harassment in organizations and the role of the human resources management area, specially, in practices adopted for identifying and managing work circumstances factors which may propitiate the appearance of the moral harassment phenomenon. In order to accomplish this objective we have used a new point of view, since most researches show the view of harassed employees, of victims, and in this essay, we have tried to analyze managers' perception of moral harassment in work environment and what is the best way for organizations to avoid this to happen. Since organizations are looking for a more ethical orientation and the improvement of work environment, the discussion of this subject has a huge significance. From this point of view, the analysis identified that employees feel safer in denouncing cases of moral harassment in enterprises with a clear policy about the subject, with appropriated communication channels, with a less hierarchical work structure, and with a respectful and trustful organizational climate.