Something that has been on my mind lately is bullying, and in particular workplace bullying.
I have close friends as well as clients who have been directly affected by bullying in the workplace by their boss, and I’ve seen just how slowly and painstakingly it has eroded their confidence, affected their physical health, and devoured their passion.
I’ve seen incredibly competent and successful people be criticised and nit-picked and given impossible tasks that couldn’t possibly be done within a given timeframe to such an extent that they start to harbour serious doubts about their abilities (despite evidence to the contrary), feel constantly stressed and anxious about work even outside of the workplace, and are generally really unhappy.
“Workplace bullying constitutes repeated and persistent negative actions aimed at one or more individuals, which results in the creation of a hostile working environment.
It happens to be a deliberate, ongoing, and subtle activity with all its negative implications carefully masked, that is.
An invisible, intensively individualised and harmful experience.” (Akella, 2016)
But actually, what is it?
It’s heavy workloads…
It’s shifting opinions…
It’s overruling the victim’s decisions…
It’s professionally attacking the victim…
It’s openly flaunting one’s status and power…
It’s excessive monitoring…
It’s unfair criticism…
It’s judging work wrongly…
It’s ignoring the victim…
It’s not returning phone calls or emails…
So you can see how each of these behaviours could be justified by the bully quite easily.. “I have a very busy workload and do not have time to get back to you about that issue this week. By the way, can you send me that spreadsheet by COB today so I can review it?”
Often the bully “has the legitimate authority and responsibility to allocate work, assess work, and provide feedback to the victim. And she misuses this authority” (Akella, 2016).
Even worse, the director/manager/supervisor often views the anxiety, stress and depression caused by the bullying as personality characteristics of the victim (ie. ‘they only feel like that because of their own inability to cope and lack of efficiency’). This can happen even when 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6+ staff have reported the same issues. The lack of insight is sometimes quite unbelievable.
It is a political tactic “exercised for the achievement of personal or organisational goals” (Hutchinson et al., 2010).
And what happens when it’s occurring?
High staff turnover (research suggests that this is a huge indicator that staff are not happy with the company, whatever reason they actually decide to give their manager for leaving)
Lowered morale
Reduced productivity (ironic, given that often the excessive monitoring heavy workloads and other bullying behaviours are often designed to try and get more out of staff)
Reduced loyalty (it’s a general rule of thumb in organisational psychology that if people feel they are being fairly treated, that they are valued, and that what is being asked of them is reasonable – they’ll stay)
Obviously this is not good for the staff member. Interestingly, it has poor outcomes for the business as well.
When friends and clients have come to me with workplace bullying issues, it’s often to seek reassurance that they aren’t going mad (gaslighting is a hugely effective technique used by perpetrators of workplace bullying – it means asking questions or making statements that make you question your own understanding or feelings about an issue). Alternatively, they may need assurance that they are at least baseline competent at their job. It’s only when the reasons that they think these things start to come out, along with objective evidence that they are good at their job, that it can be recognised as an effect of the bullying and not of poor coping on their part.
So if this is happening to you, what do you need to do. According to humanrights.gov.au:
Make sure you’re informed, and check if your workplace has a bullying policy and complaints procedure. This is especially important if you work for a large company, but can be harder in small businesses.
Keep a diary. Document everything that happens, including what you’ve done to try and stop it. This can help you if you make a complaint.
Get support from someone you trust or contact support services. Even if you don’t know anyone you can talk to there are support services which are immediately available to help and support you (see https://www.humanrights.gov.au/workplace-bullying-violence-harassment-and-bullying-fact-sheet)
If you feel safe and confident, you can approach the person who is bullying you and tell them that their behaviour is unwanted and not acceptable. If you are unsure how to approach them, you might be able to get advice from an appointed contact person, or for a colleague or manager. Sometimes though, this would lead to worse outcomes for you, so if you feel unsafe to do this, it can be better to get outside information and advice. This could be:
Your workplace health and safety authority
The Australian Human Rights Commission to get advice, or to make a complain about discrimination, harassment and bullying covered by anti-discrimination law
The union representing your industry
Lawstuff for legal information
The police (if the bullying is violent or threatening, as it may be a criminal offense)
Seek psychological therapy to help you manage the symptoms of anxiety, stress, and depression, help you to understand what’s going on, and assist you to take assertive steps to ensure the bullying and harassment stops.