While this is a very delicate topic, bullying in the workplace is not a rare thing and, for some people, it can be something that leaves definite scars on one’s personality. When a person is a bully starting with his childhood period, he will most likely be a bully for the rest of his life. This means that he will continuously try to impose and force his opinion and point of view on the others around him, including his co-workers.
There are several tactics for bullying in the workplace and verbal abuse is probably the most frequent form of them all. Humiliation is also quite frequent, as is psychological and sometimes non-verbal abuse. Fortunately, bullying in the workplace can be reported and measures can be imposed by the management team. Unfortunately, in some cases, the victim cannot prove that the bully verbally abused him.
People can be bullied by the people they work with and even by their superiors. There are many cases when employees are pointed at for not accomplishing certain tasks. In cases of bullying, employees are deliberately given tasks they are unable to complete because they lack the resources, they are given tasks above their level of understanding or they are given humiliating tasks. Such behaviors are considered an abuse of power. But that is not all. Bullying can also be caused by intolerance: people are not accepted by the team or because they have minor handicaps or the others simply dislike them. In happier cases, these people don’t turn into victims, they are just ignored. But there are cases when they are turned into victims of discrimination when it comes to a promotion or getting some bonuses, rewards and recognition.
People with aggressive behavior are generally unsure of themselves; they are not very sociable and quite incapable to empathize with others. They turn this insecurity into the need to push others around and they find it satisfactory to attack and belittle those around them. The victims are prone to unjustified comments and are being held responsible for even the slightest error. Bullies at work humiliate people in front of the other or keep them under strict supervision, they isolate the victims or completely exclude them from the work community.
Such bullies will poison the good mood at their workplace by showing inadequate behavior, making others fear them or make their victims fell anger and depression. Organizations are the ones who end up paying the price of such bullying because efficiency at the workplace is generally lower, people are absent, unmotivated and some people end up even suing the company or quitting. Studies show that people who end up being bullied at work spend half of their working hours trying to defend themselves or seeking understanding from others, analyzing the situation and trying to deal with the lack of motivation. In some cases, people will even ask for days off work. Families and friends of the victims are also affected because the victim often shows deformed behavior due to anxiety and frustration.
If you witness or area victim to bullying in the workplace, make sure to speak up and address the issue with management. Make sure to do your part in stopping harassment or aggressive behavior. Don’t be a work bully, be a work bully buster!
And please share your work bullying stories as comments and share with us how you dealt (of didn’t deal) with the situation. When we share, we all learn.
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