Bullying at work
February 15, 2009 by Vauna Beauvais · 1 Comment
What is bullying at work?
Bullying may also be called ‘harassment’ ‘unfair treatment’ ‘punishing conditions’.
Definition:
‘The repeated, malicious, health-endangering mistreatment of one employee, by one or more employees (bullies). The mistreatment is psychological violence, a mix of verbal and strategic assaults to prevent the person from performing work well’
How do I recognise bullying at work?
Issues include being on the receiving end of:
- Constant criticism
- Abusive behaviour
- Isolation (being moved)
- Constant monitoring
- Being ’set up’
- Being lied about
- Being lied to
There can be physical, mental and emotional symptoms experienced by people who are on the receiving end of bullying
- Physical symptoms:
- Sleeplessness
- Very noticeable weight gain or loss
- Panic attacks
- Lack of motivation
- Emotions of the person being bullied
- Anger (against self and against abuser)
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Fear
- Guilt
- Sense of failure
Possible scenarios:
Bullied person feels that they are not being heard by anyone
- There is no support from others
- People at work, shrug, or are saying that, “its all in your mind”
- Family and friends just say, “confront the bully”, or “blow the whistle”
The impact on bullied people
Trying to raise to every challenge can be draining
When you are being bullied in the workplace, your confidence has been shattered and you may have no strength to confront the bully.
You would benefit from having someone understand what you are going through.
Trying to raise to every challenge can be draining
If you were being bullied at school or at home (domestic abuse) you could contact organisations that would be happy to step in and stop the bullying.
What normally prevents people who are on the receiving end of bullying in the workplace, however, is the fear of losing their job. This usually prevents the person complaining to their employer. Sometimes the person has told their immediate manager and nothing has been done. Again, fear (of retribution, or of not being believed) often prevents the person from making a formal complaint to those higher up than their immediate manager.
Even though the bullying may have been going on for a long time (a year or more) there is probably very little hard evidence that will support the person’s case of being bullied.
What kinds of behaviours constitute a part of the bullying process?
Some typical ’small’ events can be part of the early stages of bullying:
Bullying behaviours can include such petty things as, jokes at your expense, sneering, and removal of privileges
- Jokes at the persons expense
- Abusive language Removal of privileges (e.g. parking or seating)
- Extra work
- Unrealistic targets
- Decisions being overruled (or not being consulted about decision making).
Initially, people on the receiving end of this kind of treatment can respond by working even harder, or trying harder to please people, or win their approval.
Oftentimes the level of challenge can escalate (because they do not want you to succeed in winning approval, or respect, or admiration, so they step up the punishment).
For example
- Work being criticised
- Responsibility being reduced
- Authority being undermined.
- Being isolated from colleagues and/or management
- Being set up to fail.
By this time, other people do begin to notice.
Customers, or clients, or visitors into the workplace, for instance, sense the hostile and undermining nature of the relationship between you and other people. These people may even warn you of what they can see.
How does the bullied person respond?
The person typically takes on of three choices at this point.
- They battle on, working harder and longer to ensure that there are no mistakes or in the hope that they will become indispensable to the company/department.
- They leave the company on the advise of a spouse or best friend
- They go ‘off sick’ with anxiety and / or depression.
Is the bully also a victim?
Yes , I believe so.
I have worked with people who have been labelled as bullies, and I have found out that they are often under a lot of pressure by the company) to behave in a certain way or get particular results.
The bullies that I have worked with have been concerned about their behaviour, and once the impact of their behaviour has been realised, very remorseful and / or guilty.
Sometimes the bully has been mistreated by a manager above him or her. They have been spoken to in a harsh manner and a sneer or element of disgust has been conveyed if they have not gotten the results or behaviours that has been demanded of them by the company. The problem stems from the bully feeling anxious and frightened and going on to instigate and support behaviours that undermine, ridicule or punish others, in order to get particular results. “I felt that I had to do it, at any cost” said one bully to me in session.
Findings of the National Workplace Bullying Survey (2005)
- More than half of people to responded to the survey said that they had been bullied at work
- More than a third said that it had lasted more than a year
- Almost three quarter of people said that they were aware that bullying existed in their organisation.
- Over 40% said that they did not have bullying policies in place at work
The conclusions of the survey suggest that the major factors preventing organisations dealing with bullying effectively are:
- Management style
- Reluctance to confront the issue
The impact of workplace bullying (reported in the survey)
- Half of all respondents said that they had taken time off work
- More than 60 % of respondents said that their level of performance and their work had been affected.
Therefore, can we also say that the organisation also becomes a victim.
Sickness absence cost the company.
Staff turnover disrupts working relationships and productivity.
Research (British occupational health research) estimates that between a third and a half of all workplace stress could be a result of workplace bullying.
The organisation has a duty of care to its employees to provide a safe working environment, and to take steps to take steps to address stress related illness in the workplace (see The Court of Appeal 16-point Guidelines on Stress - dated 15th April 2002, Govt dept, ‘Health and Safety Executive’)
- Point 7 - To trigger a duty to take steps, the indications of impending harm to health arising from stress at work must be plain enough for any reasonable employer to realise that he should do something about it.
- Point 8 - The employer is only in breach of duty if he has failed to take steps that are reasonable in the circumstances, bearing in mind the magnitude of the risk of harm occurring, the gravity of the harm that may occur, the costs and practicability of preventing it, and the justifications for running the risk.
- Point 11 - An employer, who offers a confidential advice service, with referral to appropriate counselling or treatment services, is unlikely to be found in breach of duty
Moreover, the organisation needs to show that it takes the issue seriously, for example by implementing a ‘dignity at work’ policy.
Of those who responded to the National Workplace Bullying Survey,
- Over 50% of employees looked for another job
- 22% of employees sought legal advice.
To make real change, organisations can appoint a member of staff to ensure the policy is used within the company - i.e. someone who is responsible for investigating reports of bullying, and also for ensuring that support is given to both bullies and the bullied.
Counselling for workplace bullying / harrasment / unfair treatment
What happens when I come for counselling if I have been bullied or harassed in the workplace?
If you are the person who has been (or is being) bullied:
- When you come here for sessions, you will be listened to, and you will be believed.
- We will talk through what happened to you (or is still happening) and how it has, and is, affecting you.
- I will support you, and help you to clarify what you want to do.
- I will help you to regain confidence as well as assist you to find skills and strategies to regain control over your work and home life. And help you to get your functioning back up in the workplace, as well as recovering joy in the areas of your life that are important to you (e.g. family relationships, sports, socialising)
- Eventually, you may wish to move on to looking at what went on from a different perspective, without fear or defences, and enable yourself to identify what it was that you might have contributed to the bullying. This will protect you in the future.
If you are the person who has been labelled as the bully:
- I will listen to you without judgement, knowing that I do not know how it felt to be you in that situation at that time.
- You can tell me how you felt, and are feeling, and what responsibilities you have/had.
- You can let me know about the pressures and demands on you.
- Together we can understand and evaluate the impact on your behaviour. And help you to deal with any feelings that may arise in you as a result.
- We can address issues such as how to deal with feelings or actions of others as a consequence of what took place in the workplace.
- We can use techniques of anger management and stress management to help you to manage your feelings or responses in difficult or demanding situations.
- Eventually, you may wish to move into a deeper kind of counselling, and address the normal human needs of craving attention or adulation and how you can get those needs met in a way that is free of problems.
If you are a manager or an employer and you are dealing with a bullying issue in your workplace:
- We can look at any cultural or managerial styles that may contribute to the issues surrounding bullying and I can assist and support you in being proactive in implementing dignity at work policies, addressing the culture in your organisation, managing investigations into reports of bullying
Choosing a counsellor to see about workplace bullying
BREAK FREE FROM THE MACHINE
There is clearly a demand for counsellors who understand the workplace. People who are affected by issues of workplace bullying want to talk to someone who understands the politics and pressures involved.
Employees feel safer in the workplace if:
- There is a dignity at work policy implemented
- There is a provision of counselling for employees regarding stress related illness (including that caused by bullying).
Knowing that their situation has been taken seriously, and that the organisation cares about them, gives an employee some confidence in the organisation, and in themselves.
Counsellors can help employees feel safer at work by listening and supporting them, helping them regain their confidence and sense of personal power (rather than having power over anyone).
If employees feel safer at work, this will have a beneficial effect on the performance of the individual, and on the workforce as a whole, once the feeling of protection spreads.
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