Bullying in the WorkplaceBullying in the WorkplaceThe Reality and The Solution

“Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life, but define yourself.”

- Harvey S. Firestone

Forms of BullyingForms of Bullying

Source: www.bullyonline.org

Corporate bullying This type of bullying in the workplace occurs when the employer abuses employees knowing that people will be afraid to stand up to them for fear of losing their job. Instances of corporate bullying are:* Forcing employees to work more than 60/70 hours on a regular basis, indicating to those that refuse there are plenty of people out there who would work those hours given the chance.* Denies employees annual leave or sick leave to which they are entitled to.* Sees any employee as weak or inadequate if they are prone to stress, while denying and refusing to take responsibility that they are a cause of the stress.* Encourages an employee usually with promises of promotion or threats of disciplinary action to make complaints about colleagues.

Client bullyingThis type of bullying occurs when employees are being bullied by those they serve for example a teacher being bullied by pupils, nurses and care takers being bullied by those they take care of or shop staff being bullied by customers.

Secondary bullyingThis type of bullying usually is unwittingly done and often occurs when bullying is rife in the workplace and the general behaviour of all employees decreases to the point when they start turning on others

Forms of BullyingForms of Bullying

Gang bullyingGang bullying is often predominant in cooperate bullying and bullies will work in a gang to accomplish what they want to achieve. A common tactic used by gang bullying is telling everyone a different story, usually about what each have said about the person to get them against each other. Gang bullying is also called mobbing and usually involves victimization and scapegoating

Vicarious bullying is where two parties are encouraged to engage in adversarial interaction or conflict. Similar to gang bullying, although the bully may or may not be directly connected with either of the two parties. One party becomes the bully's instrument of harassment and is deceived and manipulated into bullying the other party. An example of vicarious bullying is where the serial bully creates conflict between employer and employee, participating occasionally to stoke the conflict, but rarely taking an active part in the conflict themselves.

Regulation bullying is where a serial bully forces their target to comply with rules, regulations, procedures or laws regardless of their appropriateness, applicability or necessity. Legal bullying - the bringing of a vexatious legal action to control and punish a person - is one of the nastiest forms of bullying.

Residual bullying is the bullying of all kinds that continues after the serial bully has left. Like recruits like and like promotes like, therefore the serial bully bequeaths a dysfunctional environment to those who are left. This can last for years.It is thought that the majority of all cases reported of bullying in the workplace are done by managers or supervisors and that bullying is more wide spread than documented, the main reason for bullying in the workplace not being reported is fear of losing the job and further victimization.

ExamplesExamples

Spreading malicious rumours, gossip, or innuendo that is not true

Excluding or isolating someone socially Intimidating a personUndermining or deliberately impeding a

person’s workPhysically abusing or threatening abuse

ExamplesExamples

Removing areas of responsibilities without cause

Constantly changing work guidelinesEstablishing impossible deadlines that

will set up the individual to failWithholding necessary information or

purposefully giving the wrong information

ExamplesExamples

Making jokes that are obviously offensive by spoken word or email

Intruding on a person’s privacy by pestering, spying, or stalking

Assigning unreasonable duties or workload which are unfavourable to one person (creating unnecessary pressure)

ExamplesExamples

Underwork, creating a feeling of uselessness

Yelling or using profanityCriticizing a person persistently or

constantlyBelittling a person’s opinionsUnwarranted or undeserved

punishment

ExamplesExamples

Blocking applications for training, leave, or promotion

Tampering with a person’s personal belongings or work equipment

Bullying StatisticsBullying Statistics

SOURCE: www.bullyfreeworld.com

Bullying in the workplace varies from country to country, in Norway 5% of the workforce admit to being bullied while in the UK and USA 20% of the workforce say they have encountered bullying in the workplace.

1 in 30 workers are serial bullies. Bullying can continue for years. 84% of workers at some time in their life encounter intimidating behaviour. 73% of the workforce are unhappy and say the workplace is oppressive. 65% of the workforce won’t speak up out of fear. 43% felt a great deal of pressure especially when it came to meeting unrealistic

targets. 40% of the workforce say they have encountered abusive language. 38% of the workforce have been on the receiving end of hurtful jokes or have been the

victim of pranks. 23% have come across threatening behaviour in the workplace. 15% have been on the receiving end of a physical assault. 66% of the bullies encountered within the workplace were managers or supervisors.

Setting up a bully-free Setting up a bully-free workplaceworkplace

Source : http://www.bullyfree.com/resources/teachers.php

Educate staff on bullying in the workplace (through PD

initiative) Train staff on how to deal with workplace bullying Hang anti-bullying posters in staff room Have the staff sign an anti-bullying pledge Department Head’s and Administrators need to be

approachable Do activities that promote staff unity (ex: staff retreats) Have teachers start an anti-bullying campaign Administrators should address workplace bullying at the first

staff meeting in September (and remind staff about the issue throughout the school year).

DODO

Encourage everyone at the workplace to act in a respectful and professional manner towards others.

Have a workplace policy that includes a reporting system.

Educate everyone that bullying is a serious matter.

DODO

Try to work out solutions before the situation gets serious or out of control.

Educate everyone about what bullying is, and to whom they can go for help.

Treat all complaints seriously, and deal with complaints promptly and confidentially.

DODO

Train managers and supervisors in how to deal with complaints and potential situations. Encourage them to address situations promptly, whether or not a formal complaint has been filed.

Have an impartial third party help with a resolution if necessary.

DO NOTDO NOT Ignore any potential problems.Delay resolution. Act as soon as

possible