The Effects Of Bullying On The Workplace

* Bullying and harassment – sets out how it is dealt with for the staff being bullied or bullying others

Bullying is persistent unwelcome behaviour, mostly using unwarranted or invalid criticism, nit- picking, fault-finding, also exclusion, isolation, being singled out and related differently, being shouted at, humiliated and excessive monitoring. (Stonebridge course material p.24)

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.

Hutchinson, M., Vickers, M. H., Wilkes, L., & Jackson, D. (2010). A typology of bullying behaviours: The experiences of Australian nurses. Journal of clinical Nursing, 19(15-16), 2319.

Onorato, M. (2013). An Empirical Study of Unethical Leadership and Workplace Bullying in Industry Segments. Sam Advance Management, 78(2), 4-16

As described on my work setting Policy for Anty-Bullying, bullying is a “behaviour which is repeated, deliberated and intended to hurt, threaten or frighten another person or group of people; it is usually unprovoked and always reflects an imbalance of power”.

Companies may not have initiated an anti-bullying policy, since not every workplace experience bullying; not to mention, the misunderstanding of what is considered as bullying. According to Porteous (2002), “organizations without codes of conduct or policies of behavior may encourage bullying by omission;” however, the various forms of intimidation is difficult to define as bullying (Gumbus, 2011, p. 373). By the way, culture does play an important role in the interpretation of bullying.

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

In this course there will be 20 slides on workplace bullying, there will be two knowledge checks, a multimedia video, and a 10 question quiz to show what the trainees have learned from the training. Workplace bullying affects the organization, the workers, and the productivity of the organization however even with more research that has been done it’s still oversimplified and misunderstood situation that occurs in organizations (Branch, Ramsay, & Barker, 2013). There are some organizations that may overlook bullying because they think that competiveness and bullying are interchangeable and these are not interchangeable words. There is a distinct difference, most people have some competitive streak in them, and not all people have a bullying streak. Competiveness helps workers in organizations get quotas done in time and help push coworkers to do their absolute best but bullying make cause workers to do less than their best which then affects the productivity and work

As I continued to contemplate each individual topic given in class, I found myself drawn to the topic of bullying in the work environment. I searched through the various bullying articles in the Leatherby Library, which ensured the credibility of the source. When I came across the article Relationships Between Machiavellianism, Organizational Culture, and Workplace Bullying: Emotional Abuse from the Target's and the Perpetrator's Perspective I was immediately intrigued. In reading this article, I found it will be very helpful when writing my research paper. I was able to obtain information on how the culture of an organization can ultimately support aggressive behaviors among employees, if those behaviors are deem to bring about productivity.

Many people attend work every day; because they need the money to take care of their family or a career option for them. In the process, they gain friends, but that can go wrong. In today’s society, workplace bullying is not treated equally to sexual harassment or discrimination. Many people think that colleagues can resolve bully among their self. Similar to conflict, is it healthy for a workplace environment? Will it improve the business? Wiedmer (2010) stated, “Workplace bully is a pervasive practice by malicious individuals who seek power, control, domination, and subjugation,” (p.35). It can destroy a person emotionally, personally, and financially. There no good that comes out of bullying a person. Is fame the answer? Colleagues sometimes feel intimidated by managers because of their title. Bullying causes the defender to question their selves. Before asking the questions, no, the person is not alone, they did not cause the problem, and reputation will not be ruined.

SCoR states that 'everyone has the right to be treated with dignity and respect at work' (p1, 2009). Rob also undermines the student radiographer by remarking on her image quality. SCoR (2009) suggests that bullying can sometimes take place because the bully lacks confidence or feels insecure (p10) and this may partly explain Rob's behaviour, as he is being bullied by Asha. Meena fails to report the bullying to anyone, however SCoR suggests that members must support each other at work where bullying is concerned and 'stand together' (p1, 2009). Bullying in the workplace can lead to staff absence, a lack of desire to go to work, seeking the help of a doctor, and searching for other places of employment (NHS, 2006). SCoR (2009) also suggests that there are more severe consequences in the form of behavioural effects such as smoking or drinking excessively; physical effects like insomnia and headaches; and emotional effects which include anxiety and depression. Employers have a duty to investigate claims of bullying and where necessary take measures to stop it from continuing (Directgov, n.d.).

“Bullying is continued harassment though acts of domination towards another person, either through physical or emotional abuse.” Meyer-Adams & Conner (2008)

One of the greatest challenges to understanding and overcoming the phenomenon of workplace bullying is the lack of consensus among employers, researchers, and legislators as to what defines workplace bullying. Definitions of the phenomena overlap with some definitions being described as too broad or too narrow. Some complain that definitions are not precise enough or lack the span necessary to include all forms of workplace bullying. One reason there are so many definitions is because there are many components to consider: frequency, intensity, duration, intent, victim experience, and the effects of bullying, to name a few. Leymann and Tallgren (1989) define bullying as weekly exposure to one of 45 identified negative acts for a period of six months. The emphasis here is on the duration of the acts or behaviors, though other definitions of bullying place less emphasis on behavior. Conversely, Sercombe and Donnelly (2013) view bullying as a type of relationship rather than a set of behaviors. Hallberg and Strandmark (2006) differentiate bullying from routine workplace conflict and define bullying through the frequency and duration of attacks against a person’s dignity. Still others maintain that harm from bullying goes beyond insulting dignity to render the victim powerless to change their position or find peace at work (Sercombe & Donnelly, 2013). As you can see, there is an abundance of variety among definitions of workplace bullying.

Workplace bullying is something that is a big contemporary problem, that I feel is often pushed under the rug and not discussed. Workplace bullying can effect a person’s health, and it can also affect their role as it relates to their workplace performance. I would like to discuss workplace bullying to help those that has been through this or is currently going through this. I want to provide different steps workers can take if they feel they are being bullied in their workplace. According to the Workplace Bullying Institute (2015) workplace bullying is repeated, health-harming mistreatment of one or more persons (the targets) by one or more perpetrators. Bullying in the workplace is one of the most contemporary problems I feel that we are faced with today. According to the Waitt Institute (2016) Workplace Bullying is an Epidemic and 37% of American workers, an estimated 54 million people, have been bullied at work.