Bullying Is The Lack Of Consensus Among Employers

Bullying which is the intentional act to inflict harm, threaten or abuse of others, can range in many ways. Kathryn Hawkins on the article the Office Bully, outlines various issues of this concept. Kathryn states that sometimes people become overconfidence that they left bullies in their past lives maybe high school, but later found out the bullies have ultimately become their bosses. Secondly, bullying may occur when bullies wants to dominate and gain back their powers if they feel endangered. So they tend to overcome their fear by threatening others. Also Kathryn articulates that even the conditions of the workplace can cause bullies to abuse their targets and workplace bully can be difficult to deal with. Although Kathryn has suggested some solutions about these issues, the claim presented does not put up with the issues, rather an encouragement.

This paper compares three studies on workplace bullying. The studies were conducted because workplace bullying is an epidemic that needs to be addressed and it needs to be understood to help future organizations prevent workplace bullying.

In such a diverse society that encompasses of wide variety of socioeconomic statuses, ages, genders, sexual orientations, races, ethnicities, and education levels, bullying is unfortunately becoming more and more common. According to the American Psychological Association, on the most basic operational level, “Bullying is a form of aggressive behavior in which someone intentionally and repeatedly causes another person injury or discomfort. Bullying can take the form of physical contact, words or more subtle actions” (Stop Office Bullying, p. 1). The root of bullying can usually be traced back to a power imbalance, often with the superior discriminating based

Fitness (2000) found that employees bullied by subordinates may be more likely to confront the offenders than employees bullied by superiors. (Trépanier, Fernet, & Austin, 2015) found out that employees who are victims of bullying at work may be able to satisfy their need for being valued and connected to others at work through other means such as confiding to other colleagues about the situation to obtain

Unfortunately there is not only bullying in schools, there is bullying in the workplace as well. These are unacceptable behaviors that arise within a workplace situation. Bullying the workplace can take many forms and it’s not easy to always identify. The Fair Work Act 2009 made recent amendments that came into effect in January 2014 to define workplace bullying as occurring when an individual; group of individuals; repeatedly behaves unreasonably towards the worker, group of workers of which the worker is a member; and the behavior creates a risk to health and safety (Le Mire & Owens, 2014). This definition focuses on three main elements of bullying behavior, it is repeated, unreasonable, and creates a risk to health and safety. All three elements must be satisfied in order for bullying at the workplace to be found. Bullying behaviors could be things that are victimizing, humiliating, intimidating or threatening, but it is not limited to just those behaviors.

Workplace bullying is a widespread issue in which people need to be educated on in order to put an end to it. Its causes are complex and multi-faceted and yet preventable. Workplace bullying puts unnecessary strain on the employees It is the employer and organizations responsibility to provide a bully free environment for their employees. Employees should have the right to feel safe in their work environment and be free from workplace bullying. Employers need to be held accountable and have a plan in place to protect the employees from this type of violence. Unfortunately that is not always the case, in some instances the employer is the one doing the bullying. Workplace bullying carries many definitions in which will be

The legislation is intended to protect victims of bullying; however, consequences for bullying may be too severe. (Garby, 2013) postulates students who are considered bullies are not criminals, but rather copying learned behaviors (p. 449). (Teisl, Rogosch, Oshri, & Cicchetti, 2012) studied 470 kids growing up in high-risk neighborhoods and approximately half of those kids were exposed to maltreatment. It was more likely that these kids were identified as bullies. Not only is legislation affecting children, but workplace bullying is also being addressed. (Greenwald, 2010) interviews Eric A. Tate who asks the questions, “Do you really want to be the subject of being sued if you lose your temper? If you're on a deadline and somebody screws up royally, how do you discipline people?” The problem is how do we punish a bully? The goal of the bullying problem is to eliminate bullying, but sending someone to jail for assault may not be in the best interest to correct the bullying problem. Consideration needs to be paid attention to those who may have grown up exposed to aggressive behavior ultimately learning that behavior as an acceptable way to deal with

Workplace bullying is a very serious act that has a negative impact on individuals and the organization as a whole. Baack (2012), describes workplace bullying as an interpersonal conflict that is a repeated mistreatment of one or more persons (ch.7, p.19). Unfortunately, despite workplace bullying being so harmful, it is often a common occurrence. In the article, Workplace Bullying: Costly and Preventable, Wiedmer (2010), cites a survey conducted in 2007 by the Workplace Bullying Institute-Zogby; in which, thirty-seven percent of the U.S. workforce surveyed reported that they have been bullied at work (p. 36). The article also states that it is a pervasive practice by malicious individuals who seek power, control, domination, and subjugation, and the article goes on to convey information about bullying behaviors, employer practices, profiles the targeted individuals, and steps to take to prevent bullying (Wiedmer, 2010, p. 35). Bullying tactics are not only harmful, physically and mentally, to the targeted individual but is damaging to the organization and entire workforce.

Our workplace safety is in need of reconstruction, not because of physical, ergonomic, chemical or biological hazards but because of bullying. According to Hanley and O'Rourke (2016, p. 352) workplace bullying is a "psychological hazard" towards its victims health and undermines the "successful pursuit of corporate and employee objectives". Workplace bullying is certainly a prevalent issue that is consequential to its victims and the state of Australia's companies. Although there have been Fair Work Commision jurisdictions placed against anti-bullying (eg. January 1 2014) Hanley and O'Rourke argue that these laws are a "minimalist" solution to this anti-social epidemic. Workplace bullying with its many forms should be recognised as a criminal

Incivility, bullying, and workplace violence are part of a larger complex phenomenon, which includes a “constellation of harmful actions taken and those not taken” in the workplace (Saltzberg, 2011, p. 229). The term “actions taken and not taken” provides an overarching framework that includes using explicit displays of uncivil or threatening acts, as well as failing to take action when action is warranted or required to address incivility, bullying, or violence in the workplace.

Regardless of how Americans feel about bullying, it is still a major problem today. It is very evident in the American workplace. According to an article by Cynthia Plonien, she explains that, “In a recent survey conducted by the American Nurses Association involving 3,765 RNs, 50% of the respondents reported that they have been bullied in some way by a peer…”. This means that in the nursing field alone, a large percentage have been bullied by fellow workers. Everyone is affected by this problem, and there must be a focus on reducing it.

Heeman, V. (2007). Workplace Bullying: A Distinct, Interpersonal, and Communicative Phenomenon. Paper presented at the meeting of the National Communication Association.

In today’s competitive world where every single person is trying to be better than his/her peers or subordinates, the instances of workplace aggression leading to workplace bullying and workplace harassment are very common. Work organizations are like any other social setting where scarce resources, competition, time constraints to complete goals, personality of individuals often leads to workplace bullying and workplace harassment. Bullying and harassment are situations where a worker or supervisor is systematically mistreated and victimized by fellow workers or supervisors through repeated negative acts like insulting remarks and ridicule, verbal abuse, offensive teasing, isolation and social exclusion, or the constant degrading of ones’s work and efforts (Einarsen, 1994). The literature has shown that employees who are victims of workplace bullying and harassment show more negative well-being (anxiety, depression, irritation, psychosomatic complaints) and tend to be neurotic and less agreeable, conscientious and extravert. Edelmann and Woodall (1997) found some initial effects of bullying include: a loss of confidence (reported by 44.2 per cent); physical ailments (38.4 per cent); and stress (37.2 per cent). Most long-term effects included physical or psychological ill-health (53.5 per cent), inability to cope (21.5 per cent), and low self-esteem (19.8 per cent). Furthermore a lot of research has gone into workplace bullying and harassment, their effects on

Bullying has been a great problem in every workplace over several years (Bauman, Rigby & Hoppa, 2008; Smith & Brain, 2000; Olweus, 1994). Researchers have shown interest in this topic consistently (Policy, 2014; Sampson, 2009; Einarsen, Hoel & Cooper, 2003). This literature review will cover the various definitions of bullying, bullying and emotional abuse in the workplace and school, various possible outcomes of bullying along with the international review and strategies for bullying. The various ways of coping with bullying are also explained in the literature review.

Workplace bullying is a form of psychological violence. Bullying is not about mild mocking neither does it consist of suggestive farces, racial insults nor obnoxious advances that are indications of legally defined harassment. Dr. Heinz Leymann, a Swedish pioneer in the study of workplace bullying, explains this phenomenon as “psychological terror involving belligerent and improper communication directed in a systematic manner by one or a few persons chiefly against one fellow (Leymann, 1996). Whereas there is not a distinctly agreed upon definition of