Workplace Bullying
by John Rossheim
It’s hard to pinpoint how it started. Maybe it was when you saw your manager’s assistant noting those rare occasions when you came in 10 minutes late. Or maybe it was the time the boss half-jokingly trashed your performance -- in front of her higher-up.
There now seems no end to your tormentor’s campaign of psychological harassment and personal and professional destruction -- aimed squarely at you. The nitpicking, the demeaning comments, the misleading digs and full-blown lies have all come together to exact their intended effect: to make you quit or get fired.
This is the ugly picture of bullying in the workplace, painted by workers who describe themselves as targets and by the professionals who advocate for them. "My supervisor would take my case files to inspect them, and then write me up at the end of the day because the files weren’t complete," says a former employee of a social-service not-for-profit organisation. "He undermined me all around, which is not what a good supervisor does."
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.
Pushing Back Easier Said Than Done
It’s easy to say that targets should respond aggressively to bullies, but it’s not always possible. "A lot of people who are targeted can’t fight back," Namie says. "They don’t have it in them."
The alternative is to involve human resources, a higher manager or an outside advocate, such as a consultant or solicitor. But don’t confide in anyone close to the bully -- that could make matters worse. And make sure you document the abuse.
If you’re being bullied, leaving your job is sometimes the only way to salvage your physical and mental health. "My boss was killing me -- destroying my health," says a technical writer bullied out of her job. "I had three heart attacks during that time."
If you leave, tell the powers that be why. "The nature of the departure is what predicts your health," Namie explains. Bullied workers who go out fighting are likely to get past the nightmare relatively quickly and move on to a better work situation. "If you skulk away in silence, the bully gets to be the oral historian," he says.
A workplace bully could be your boss, your division head or even your company’s chief executive. Other workplace sociopaths could be peers who openly slander you or gang up to intimidate or isolate you. So when considering a response to this form of psychological abuse, it’s critical for bullying targets to consider organisational relationships.
Bullying Bosses
Perhaps the most common workplace bullying relationship is between an abusive boss and a targeted subordinate. Some 71 percent of targets report that the bully outranked them, according to a survey by Gary Namie, PhD, president of The Workplace Bullying & Trauma Institute and author of The Bully at Work.
What can you do if your boss is the bully? If your HR department collects 360-degree feedback for performance appraisals, you may be able to use your colleagues’ documented perspectives to demonstrate that your boss’s assessment of you doesn’t add up. "Everyone was happy with my work except my boss," says a technical writer who eventually left her employer under duress. The positive opinions of coworkers may have contributed to her winning a severance package.
Another option is to transfer to another group, department or division. Cast your move as a positive change for you and the company, not as an escape hatch. A geographic move, even if it’s just to another floor, may help assure a successful transfer.
If moving within the company won’t work, start an external job search immediately. It’s always better to leave on your own terms, when you want to go.
Bullying Peers
Sometimes a clique within a work group turns against a colleague. In an online forum on workplace bullying, one woman writes: "Coworkers began to group up and fire insults, doing anything and everything to agitate me, bumping into me in the halls, banging doors open in my face, ‘stalking’ me every time I left my desk."
The woman temporarily tuned out those catty comments with earplugs. But in the long run, a worker in the crosshairs of a group of peers faces an unenviable choice: She can inform her manager of the offending colleagues and risk losing management's respect, or she can let the bullies have their way, thereby putting her own career and health at risk.
The long-term solution to persistent peer bullying is to leave, either for another group or another employer. If you remain with your employer, transfer far, far away. If you stay too close to your bullies, your reputation as a bullying target could haunt you in your next assignment.
Bullying Executives
At some dysfunctional employers, especially smaller businesses, the chief executive or one of his top managers is also the bully-in-chief. In this difficult situation, reaching out to someone within the organisation, including human resources, for help can be risky and ineffective. And with a bully at the top, there’s little chance an organisational change could improve your situation. You’ve simply got to get out of there.
Be discreet in your search for employment elsewhere. Top-brass bullies sometimes use the full weight of the organisation to trash the careers of workers who turn on them.
When you interview with prospective employers, don’t discuss the negative aspects of the company you’re leaving. Instead, emphasise your accomplishments. If you describe your interpersonal skills, avoid discussing your relationship with the offending executive. Any mention of the bullying will probably trigger more wariness than sympathy.
Have all your ducks in a row before you give notice. Assume security will escort you to the curb within minutes of announcing your resignation, so get any critical personal property off the premises before quitting day. At the same time, don’t broadcast your impending resignation.
Bully OnLine has more information on workplace bullying.
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