THE BULLY AT WORK
Quiet Intimidation ©2014 Gail Pursell Elliott
“No more fiendish punishment could be devised, were such a thing physically possible, than that one should be turned loose in society and remain
absolutely unnoticed.” – William James
Of course when people are noticed in ways that are less than flattering or when only their shortcomings are noticed or taken into account, it is another form of intimidation that often crosses the line to abuse. People have a tendency, especially evident in the media, to jump on some information and begin to expand the possibilities for negativity. I call this being ready, willing, and able to be offended and to spread that idea far and wide. Actually, this is a form of mobbing and one which I find deeply disturbing, not only because of the correlations that I see but also the willingness of others to believe, participate and expand the possibilities in a destructive way.
People who may be bullied or harassed within your own organization may feel intimidated to the point of silence and for the same fear of making the situation worse or losing their livelihood. I recall one person with whom I consulted, telling me that when seeing management staff mistreating an employee, she whispered to a co- worker, “This is wrong.” The remark was overheard by a supervisor who said, ‘You’ll keep your mouth shut if you want to keep your job.”
However bizarre this may seem, such things do happen and may be happening under the noses of professionals who mean well but do not have their “fingers on the pulse” of the organizational climate.
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2014 WBI U.S. Workplace Bullying Survey Workplace bullying is repeated mistreatment and a form of “abusive conduct.” The closest analogy to workplace bullying is domestic violence. Bullying is a non-physical form of workplace violence. Over one-quarter of adult Americans (27%) said they directly experienced abusive conduct at work. Recent research of those who vicariously experienced bullying found that the severity of emotional injuries were similar in severity to injuries suffered by bullied individuals. The number of U.S. workers who are affected by bullying – summing over those with direct bullying and witnessing experiences – is 65.6 million, the combined population of 15 states.
What You Should Know Read more
What You Need to Know About Workplace Bullying By Ellen Pinkos Cobb, J.D.
Think about sexual harassment. It’s not done. And yet, it was done, flagrantly, constantly, with a wink and a nod, until not that long ago. It still happens, but less, and public perception has changed.
In the United States, workplace bullying has been found to be four times more prevalent than sexual harassment.
In general terms, workplace bullying describes a wide variety of negative workplace behaviors including verbal threats, personal attacks, humiliation, innuendo, and deliberate isolation of a colleague. Separate incidents may be relatively innocuous, but are often sustained or persistent in character, with a cumulative negative effect.
Many are aware that workplaces in which bullying is allowed to occur undermine the pursuit of a business’ growth and profitability and may lead to a detrimental impact on the corporate image with the public at large. Costs of workplace bullying include time and pro- duction lost due to factors which include employees’ preoccupation with negative circumstances, and resulting costs to the company’s overhead, loss of skill and experience when a worker leaves due to being bullied, lowered employee morale, medical and insurance costs, and harm to a company’s reputation.
Lesser known, though, are the following results:
Research has found that workplace bullying, an internal occurrence undertaken by manager and/or co- workers, leads to more workers leaving their job than violence, which is typically inflicted by sources external to a company.
Research has also found that workers who witness bullying can have a stronger urge to quit than those who experience it firsthand. Findings from a July 2012 study of nurses in Canada showed that all who experienced bullying, either directly or indirectly, reported a greater desire to quit their jobs than those who did not.
Workplace bullying has become generally acknow- ledged as a global issue, affecting all countries, professions, and workers.
Under workplace health and safety legislation, employers in most countries have a duty of care to provide a safe work environment for employees. This requirement is increasingly interpreted to require ensuring persons in the workplace are both mentally and physically safe at work and that their health is not adversely affected by work, and has been also interpreted to require a workplace free from bullying.
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