Bullying

There is still very little research into bullying, especially in the workplace. In recent years there has been an explosion of interest in bullying in schools, peer to peer and student to teacher, and this has brought the subject of bullying more into the public domain.

However, bullying at work still remains a clouded issue and one which is not given enough credence within human resources or discussed openly within the work place. Many bullied people do not realise they are being bullied, because that is the cultural norm for them. They suffer needlessly until it is too late. Be educated about workplace bullying.

Employees and employers, the Courts and Tribunals are now, at long last, dealing with workplace bullying and harassment and awarding appropriate damages. The problem is that we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg; there remains a lot of work to be done. The bullied need to be encouraged to come forward , employers must start dealing with bullies, listen to the bullied, and society needs to be made more aware of the damage that bullies do. It is in employers interests to deal with bullying in the workplace; millions are lost annually to stress related illnesses brought about by bullying.

In the Workplace

Understand workplace bullying - What is workplace bullying?

Bullying in the workplace can be defined as repeated, unreasonable and inappropriate actions and practices that are directed to one or more people, which are unwanted by the victim, which may be done wilfully or not, but cause humiliation, offence and distress, and that interferes with job performance, and cause an unpleasant working environment.

Bully Behaviour Types

Bullying behaviours range from social bantering to teasing, verbal abuse, blame, humiliation, personal and professional denigration, overt threats, harassment (e.g. racial, sexual) manipulation of job specifications, unrealistic workload, micromanagement, aggressive e-mails or notes, professional and personal exclusion or isolation, sabotage of career and financial status, whistle blower attack, blackmail, overt aggression or violence, stalking, criminal assault and murder.

Causes: Bullying is caused by many different reasons.

Every group requires a leader to survive. Some leaders have charisma, charm, political networking skills or professional competence. They may be respectable and trustworthy but may not have been trained in leadership skills.

• Some leaders give the impression of being a good leader but boss people around instead of guiding them.
• Mean, aggressive, psychopathic or incompetent managers can be empowered by their organization, because it reflects badly on their employer to denigrate and dismiss them.
• Managers are expected to achieve goals. In some organizations, it doesn’t matter if they bully as long as it gets done or they are expected to bully to achieve.
• Anyone who wants to belong to a group must follow the leader. If a leader expects everyone to be respectful and treat others with dignity, that becomes the name of the game.
• If a leader lacks assertive leadership skills, feels threatened, has poor social skills then they may bully to remain in control or enable others to bully. This sets the pattern for everyone else.
• Ultimately bullying in enabled by our social institutions, e.g. families, schools and workplaces.
• Although no one wants to be bullied they fear, reject and despise people who broadcast their vulnerabilities. Like the animal world, a group or pack is threatened by its vulnerable members who remind them of their own fears and could even handicap their survival needs.
• Many psychological studies, have demonstrated that most people follow the general trend. Few people have the guts to stand up and say ‘this is not fair, you cannot treat another human being like this’.
• Many organisations behave as though they don’t care about their employees’ well-being, safety or even productivity. They cannot confront change without bullying and bully instead of dealing with conflict. Their respect for human capital and level of social and financial accountability is low. Their management skills are limited, job descriptions are inaccurate, nepotism, favouritism is high and staff training is restricted. Some use bullying to cover up incompetence, fraud, malpractice or criminal behaviours.

Organisational Damage

About one in six people are bullied at work; in some industries, the figure is higher.

• Any organisation can lose millions due to lost productivity, reduced motivation, brain drain, time wasted defending and protecting oneself, bystander fear, frustration and apathy, negative public relations, expensive mistakes, covering up fraud and unethical behaviours.
• The economy as a whole also suffers. Excluding general community costs such as medical costs, unemployment benefits, family breakdown and sickness.

Action and hints

Some important things that organisations can do to help the bullied person:

Validate the employees concerns

• Provide them with a safe workplace
• Use a collaborative approach not an adversarial one

Understanding the bullied person

There are many reasons why you can be bullied:

You are in the wrong place/wrong time.

• The previous person who was bullied leaves.
• You may be different to others e.g. be the only female, or have a different cultural background.
• The bully is a new manager.
• You may be a perceived threat by being conscientious, agreeable, a quiet achiever.
• You may inflame the bully by showing your distress e.g. ’walking away’ or ‘doing nothing’.
• You may whistle blow organisational difficulties, mismanagement, malpractice, fraud.
• You may have inappropriate social skills, which antagonises others who bully as payback.
• You may be tied to the job and cannot leave.
• You may be socially unassertive or avoid conflict.
• You support a colleague who is being bullied – you are next.

Injuries

People who are bullied can be affected in many different ways:

Physical – health issues, weight gain, heart attacks, stress-induced illness, suicide attempts; and some are successful.

• Intellectual - concentration affected, reduced motivation, memory difficulties, hard to learn new material
• Emotional - panic attacks, anger, depression, anxiety disorders, post traumatic stress disorder,
• Financial - loss of income/career, loss of second job, loss of promotion, forced retirement,
• Social - social difficulties, social isolation,
• Family and sex life - separation, divorce, lowered sex drive,

Understand the bully

There are a variety of bullies. The aggressive bully who screams, threatens and blames is easily noticed, whereas the passive aggressive bully, who divides and conquers, is camouflaged and difficult to identify.

There are two main types of bullies?

Research into bullying reveals two types of bullies, the malicious and the non-malicious.

• The serial bully – the person who is a psychopath, sociopath or who has antisocial personality disorder who uses bullying behaviours instinctively. (1% of the population are psychopaths / sociopaths and 3-5% have an antisocial personality disorder)
• The remainder are ordinary people who bully under certain conditions, e.g. to achieve their goals, survive, impress their manager, or avoid confrontation.

Research about bullies

There is limited research about the ordinary bully who does about 94% of bullying. Few bullies are accurately investigated from a historical (previous bullying or previous jobs) and systemic perspective, (who else is being bullied by them at work) checked against witness reports or videotaped. Few are referred for a psychiatric/psychological referral, (unlike their victims).

Most employees who bully do not realise that their toxic behaviours are harmful and humiliating.

• They do not wish to hurt people consciously
• Some experience real emotional distress when confronted.
• Most ordinary bullies do not realise that they achieve more by being respectful and fair than employing passive or aggressive power games. 

Impact on the bully

May be extremely upset, hurt and defensive.

• May be wrongly blamed by a manipulative target.
• Hate being labelled a bully, ashamed to be exposed, and deny their behaviours
• Can lack social skills and become more aggressive and disruptive.
• Dislike being blamed for doing something they have always done or did unconsciously because they were under pressure or following company role models.
• May blame others, manipulate and lie to cover up their lack of expertise or productivity.
• Some bullies make it to the top of the ladder, hurting people on their way up. Nevertheless, sometimes they are toppled. Then their bullying boomerangs back on them!
• Bullies’ actions are becoming too expensive for some organisations to correct, they are less likely to be tolerated and protected.
• Families can reject a bully’s aggression and payback e.g. an expensive divorce.
• Many cannot release their anger in healthy, assertive ways, and may be more prone to heart attacks.

Conclusion

• Bullying is everywhere – at school, home, on the road and at work.
• There will always be bullying.
• Nearly anyone can be bullied or be the bully.
• Dealing with bullying is like dealing with weeds or cobwebs, it requires constant vigilance and action.
• It is up to each one of us, individually and in our workplace to challenge it.
• Everyone needs to develop their social survival skills to block bullying behaviours wherever they are.   

Here are some links to more sites that provide information on bullying:

Directgov TUC BMA Bully Online