People say sticks and stones may break your bones, but names can never hurt you, but that’s not true. Words can hurt. They hurt me. Things were said to me that I still haven’t forgotten.
Demi Lovato
What is Workplace Bullying?
Workplace bullying occurs when “an individual or group of individuals repeatedly behaves unreasonably towards a worker or a group of workers at work.” The main difference between bullying and bad management lies in what falls under ‘unreasonable’ behavior.
This unreasonable behavior is stemmed out of the conscious effort to hurt, belittle or demotivate a colleague. The actions like intimidation, threats, humiliation, shouting, sarcasm, victimization, singling-out, malicious pranks, physical abuse, verbal abuse, emotional abuse, belittling, harassment, conspiracy to harm, ganging-up, isolation, rumour-mongering, disrespect, mobbing, mocking and discrimination qualify for unreasonable behavior.
Effects of Workplace Bullying
It is just not the victim but both the Organisation and spectator employees are affected by Workplace Bullying;
How does Workplace bullying affect the Victim:
- Causes Stress related health problems like depression, neck pains, insomnia, cardiovascular diseases or gastrointestinal problems.
- Lack of motivation in general
- Loss of self confidence
How does Workplace bullying affect the Spectator Employees:
- Spectator employees are the ones who are not directly involved in the act of bullying. They neither gang up against the victim or support the bully not do they stand up for the victim.
- Due to the fear induced by the work environment, they are more reluctant to share their ideas or concerns.
- Loss of a sense of safety at work.
- Loss of job satisfaction and lowered morale.
How does Workplace bullying affect the Organisation:
- Demotivated employees, therefore lack of quality outputs.
- Increased attrition rates.
- Loss of reputation in the market place thereby loosing out on potential new employees.
Counteract on Workplace Bullying
It does take a while to realize that you are a victim of bullying at workplace. The reason is that these bullies are usually high performers and they always tend to take that as leverage and try to humiliate you by showing your set backs under microscope. There are a few ways in which you can get yourself out of such situations;
- Stand up for yourself ; You need to stop the bully the first time get a whiff that they are bullying you. A simple firm statement like “I understand what you are saying but you don’t have to yell. It would be hard to treat with you with respect if you cannot do the same to me.” will do the trick.
- Journal Every incident ; Make sure that you make a note in your journal about what the bully has said, who were present, the day and occasion and other information you think that effected you. This will help you in understanding the situation better and also will be a great proof when you decide to report them.
- Human Resources Department ; Do reach out to your HR manager. But before you reach out to them make sure that you have a little mock trial with your family members or friends or someone you can trust. Try to discuss only your experiences like what had happened(this is where the journal can greatly help) and refrain from calling any names or profane words while addressing the bully.
- Reach Out for help from outside; You may consult a psychologist to help you deal with the stress and managing your work life better while circumnavigating the negativity from the bully even if you can completely bypass them.
- Find a new job ; Some battles are not worth fighting. In such scenarios it is wise to let go of things. Remember you hate the bully not your job. So keep faith in your abilities and find a new job. After all we need the paycheck to survive!