Toxicity in the Workplace

Bullying can produce and maintain a poisonous work environment. Nurses who bully can wear down the job satisfaction of their co workers which can result in a loss of productivity and increased absences in the workplace (Stokowski, 2010). Victims of bullying often have a feeling of impending doom and dread when they think about their upcoming work days. Each time the bullying reoccurs, the victims usually

Workplace violence has existed throughout history. However, historical documentation of workplace violence is vague and sometimes non-existent. Documented workplace violence is believed to have existed during the Roman Empire, the Renaissance Era, and it continues today. It seems unfortunate, but as long as a “society” exists, workplace violence will more than likely exist. Therefore, employers must understand: the history of workplace violence, the effects it has on the organization, the reasons why it occurs, the warning signs, and ways to prevent it from occurring. Most importantly, it is the responsibility of the Manager, to not only understand workplace violence, but to ensure that all employees

At the same time, workplace incivility happens between colleagues and between manager and subordinates, it is happening almost every day in healthcare settings such as in hospital and clinics where workers are directly uncivil to disrespect each other. For instance, when a nurse is deviant or does not follow the supervisor intensely because of differences in opinion or an act of retaliation when the manager is being rude, treating their staff with rough words, discourtesy, and lack respect to his staff, there are also times when the uncivil behavior is not intentional or

Hatred in the work environment breeds various issues for workers. For example, representatives working in a negative situation will probably discover issues with confidence and low profitability. Also, a negative work environment can prompt high representative turnover rates. To build energy in the work environment, workers must to make a positive workplace and do what it takes to maintain and cultivate this culture. According to Yoder-wise (2011), “the definition of violence includes overt and covert behavior ranging from offensive threatening language to homicide” (Yoder Wise, 2011, p.498). Violence can be noted as the general term that represents lateral aggression,

First, it is imperative to understand what horizontal violence, lateral violence, or workplace bullying is to become fully aware of this issue’s extent; these terms are often used interchangeably. A commonality among sources is the description of horizontal violence as “acts of aggression” committed by one coworker against another (Becher & Visovsky, 2012, p. 210). Astonishingly, the range of what is considered horizontal violence is vast, and these aggressive acts are revealed in several forms. Some violence is unmistakable such as threatening, name calling, criticizing, or public humiliation; however, other acts are less obvious such as withholding information, eye rolling, silence, and isolation (Becher & Visovsky, 2012). Still, other violence includes “scapegoating

However, there continues to be bias and prejudice in places where people come to work. Cortina quotes from a research project (Andersson and Pearson) that found the existence of "…low intensity deviant behavior with ambiguous intent to harm the target" (56). Some researchers allude to the above-mentioned problem as "…employee deviance" which reflects a kind of "incivility," and has as its intention rudeness (Cortina, 56). This incivility, while not an overtly

The research of aggression in the work place is the focus of this paper. Taking an advanced look in how these behaviors can affect not only the employee but also that employee’s family.

Toxic workplaces is a systemic and systematic problem to an organizations sustainability. It is important that the leadership develop an organizational culture that does not tolerate aggression and behaviorally supports employees in dealing with it. It is imperative that leaders are equipped with the skills to appropriately access the environment , have the ethical temperament needed to take responsibility for the problem and the skill-set to effectively correct the problem (Ellen & Ascalon, page 189). Emotionally and psychologically toxic workplaces can be framed through the following theories for redress: systems theory explains the interconnectedness and interrelations

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.

Bullying and incivility causes an unhealthy work environment, which affects the staff, patients, and the organization. Some of the effects on staff include burnout, anxiety, depression, increased absenteeism, poor communication, decreased moral, decreased job satisfaction,

The positive consequence for conducting this study is to explore ways to avoid recruiting these individuals and explore ways employees can manage these incidents when they occur in the workplace. Future research needs to be conducted on how to manage these individuals that display these toxic behaviors and help them to recognize these behaviors when they occur and address them.

Employees should have the right to feel safe in their work environment and to 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. Barbara McCulloch is a mediator who has developed a process of mediation to address the complicated issues of bullying behavior in the workplace (McCulloch, 2010). Barbara suggests that

Abusive leaders blame, divide, marginalize, undermine, and intimidate employees (Kellerman, 2004; Kusy & Holloway, 2009). They torment their subordinates to the detriment of both the mission and people, undermining a positive organizational climate (Ashforth, 1994; Reed, 2004). Their behaviors create an environment that build walls, and crushes creativity and loyalty. As this type of incivility whether from a leader or colleague, has been found to impact productivity. For example, Kusy and Holloway (2009) found that 50 percent of those who experienced incivility reported spending time concerning about it instead of working, while 25 percent explicitly said they cut back their work activity. These responses indicate that long term toxicity can and often decrease creativity and innovation.

Max is a victim of “workplace bullying, a form of harassment that results in employees experiencing mental distress, physical illness, loss of productivity, and a higher propensity to quit to avoid being in a toxic workplace” (Gomez-Melia et al., 2011, p. 490). Max’s peers were constantly talking and spreading rumors about him. His peer, Nicole Ianucci told other peers that he was probably having a mental breakdown because she saw him getting a prescription at the CVS (Roche, 2003). This persistent pattern of “targeting an employee to rumors or gossip with intentions to harm” (Gomez-Melia et al., 2011, p. 491) is an example of bullying behaviors.

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