Poor management skills have been blamed for the epidemic of workplace bullying after a UK survey found that two-thirds of managers believe that their own behaviour is the major factor contributing to the problem, according to research by the Ban Bullying At Work campaign and the Chartered Management Institute.

It found that poor management skills emerged as the biggest factor contributing to bullying, 56% also pointed to authoritarian management styles and personality (57%).

Other factors mentioned included unrealistic targets (27%) and failure to address incidents (37%).

The study found that 70% of managers mentioned misuse of power, two-thirds cited overbearing supervision and 55% cited exclusion.

Lyn Witheridge, chief executive of the Ban Bullying at Work Campaign, says: "We are challenging businesses to speak out against bullying to create workplaces where employees can see clearly that bullying behaviours will not be tolerated. We want to inspire managers to speak out and instil a culture where business is not frightened to stand-up to the bullies."