Workplace Bullying
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Are You Being Targeted?
According to The Workplace Bullying & Trauma Institute Web site, telltale signs you’re being bullied at work manifest themselves both in and outside the office. Just a few include apprehension about going to work and agitation and anxiety while you’re there, surprise, agenda-less meetings where you’re humiliated, never being left alone to do your job, and false accusations of incompetence.
Psychological Abuse
The essence of workplace bullying is to twist political and social power to inflict psychological abuse on a carefully chosen target. But the vast majority of such incidents are illegal according to Gary Namie, PhD, president of The Workplace Bullying & Trauma Institute and author of The Bully at Work.
One in six workers experiences workplace bullying, Namie says, and most bullies and their targets are women. However, 42 percent of the perpetrators are men. Employers and workers can both play roles to prevent or stop bullying, which can destroy careers and lives.
Management Vigilance
Companies should be concerned about bullying, if for no other reason than its potential to damage the bottom line. "Employers are frustrated with turnover and disruption caused by bullies," Namie says. It often costs a company tens of thousands of dollars to recruit, hire and train a new employee to replace a bullied worker who left.
What should companies do to prevent psychological abuse among workers? As with any form of harassment, management’s vigilance is key.
"The employer should be close enough to day-to-day activity to recognize and appropriately inquire about intimidation going on," says Craig Pratt, an HR consultant and coauthor of Investigating Workplace Harassment: How to Be Fair, Thorough, and Legal.
But such awareness won’t necessarily end bullying. "Even in the best of circumstances, there will be people who behave badly," says Kim Vosburg, director of human resources for Gene B. Glick Co., a property-management firm. "The senior HR manager must let the bully know that that behavior will not be tolerated, period."
But be aware that employers are out to protect themselves. Often, their chief legal concern is avoiding any backlash that could result from taking action against an employee accused of bullying, says Karen Karr, special counsel at Steptoe & Johnson LLP . "If some harm does come to the bullied person and the employer could have prevented it, there’s some liability”, she explains.
