Bullying – It’s Not Just For Kids!
The more I hear about teen bullying, the angrier I get. Yes, I’m angry that kids suffer needlessly…..and there’s lots of press covering it…But what about workplace bullies? Adults are bullies too!
Workplace Bullying is repeated, health-harming mistreatment of one or more persons (the targets) by one or more perpetrators that takes one or more of the following forms:
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- Undermining or deliberately impeding a person’s work
- Removing areas of responsibilities without cause
- Constantly changing work guidelines
- Withholding necessary information or purposefully giving the wrong information
- Making jokes that are ‘obviously offensive’ by spoken word or e-mail
- Intruding on a person’s privacy by pestering, spying or stalking
- Assigning unreasonable duties or workload which are unfavorable to one person (in a way that creates unnecessary pressure)
- Under work – creating a feeling of uselessness
- Belittling a person’s opinions
- Blocking applications for training, leave or promotion
- Tampering with a person’s personal belongings or work equipment. Spreading malicious rumors, gossip, or innuendo that is not true
- Excluding or isolating someone socially
- Intimidating a person
Sound familiar??
Workplace Bullying…
- Is driven by perpetrators’ need to control the targeted individual(s).
- Is initiated by bullies who choose their targets, timing, location, and methods.
- Escalates to involve others who side with the bully, either voluntarily through coercion.
- Undermines legitimate business interests when bullies’ personal agendas take precedence over work itself.
- Is akin to domestic violence at work, where the abuser is on the payroll.
Being bullied at work most closely resembles the experience of being a battered spouse. The abuser inflicts pain when and where she or he chooses, keeping the target (victim) off balance knowing that violence can happen on a whim, but dangling the hope that safety is possible during a period of peace of unknown duration. The target is kept close to the abuser by the nature of the relationship between them — husband to wife or boss to subordinate or co-worker to co-worker.
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