Workplace Bullying: An Analysis
Workplace bullying is defined as the repeated, heath-harming mistreatment of one or more persons (targets) by one or more perpetrators within an organizational setting. It is abusive conduct in the workplace that is threatening, humiliating, or intimidating. Workplace bullies often utilize verbal abuse or sabotage to control and torment their targets through acts of commission (doing things to others) or omission (withholding resources from others). Unrestrained workplace bullying can escalate to involve others who side with the bully, either voluntarily or through coercion. Ultimately, workplace bullying undermines legitimate business interests when bullies ' personal agendas take precedence over work itself (Workplace Bullying Institute - WBI - Help, Education, Research, 2015).
For the purposes of this analysis, imagine having a boss who gets so angry that he or she turns red in the face, screams and points fingers at you, spits while talking, and even throws office supplies around the room during these tirades (Johannesen, Valde, & Whedbee, 2008, p. 173). How should one respond to this type of bullying? In order to answer this question, many factors must be taken into account such as the organizational structure in which the bullying is taking place and the policies already in place within the organization regarding workplace bullying.
Ethical standards and workplace bullying Credited as being the “father” of organizational communication,
Bullying is found in the workplace as well. Types of workplace bullying can include: threat to professional status, threat to personal standing, isolation, overwork, and destabilisation. Questionnaires were sent to 1,580 National Health Service community trust employees and 1,100 completed surveys were recorded. Out of these, 294 employees (27%) reported being destabilised and 255 (23%) reported being isolated in the workplace (Quine 230). Destabilisation in the workplace often entails giving an employee meaningless tasks or not giving them the credit for what they have done. Withholding training or special opportunities away from an employee are types of isolationism. While being destabilised and isolated are both passive acts, they are forms of bullying. Even though bullying is considered a childish act, it occurs in adulthood, and that is
Bullying in the workplace has always been an issue that has not been given much importance. It is indeed a problem that should be addressed by the concerned personnel because it can result in many health and safety issues, especially when nurses are bullied at their workplace. From the beginning of times, people who are deployed at a senior post to tend to look down upon the students or new people who have just started work. Nursing is also one of the professions in which the fresh graduates or students are bullied to the extent that they feel that they would not be able to face their seniors. They start developing inferiority complex and are unable to perform their job well. When they are taunted by their seniors and preceptors about their lack of knowledge and experience, their confidence is shattered. This implies that when they are handling a case, they are not confident if they are doing the right thing or not. In this tussle, they sometimes do not even perform the task they were really good at and put the health and safety of the patient at stake.
Bullying and harassment within the workplace can be attributed to a myriad of factors. The work
WORKPLACE BULLY Bullying is repeated irrational behaviour that could reasonably be known to be humiliating, intimidating, terrifying or belittling to a person, or group of persons, which creates a risk to health and safety. Repeated refers to the ongoing nature of the behaviour and can refer to a range of different types of behaviour over time, It does not refer to the specific type of behaviour, which may vary. Bullying may comprise a blend of behaviours. Bullying and harassment at work may be defined as repeated behavior, actions and practices directed at one or more workers, which may be carried out intentionally or unconsciously, but which are unwanted targets causing humiliation, offence, and anguish, and which may interfere with job performance and causing an unpleasant working environment.
The article provide five table illustrations. Table one is about the demographic characteristic of the targets of the workplace bullies. The table displays the characteristics of social workers ranging by age, gender, and demographic. Table two is about organizational settings and roles of targets. The table displayed supervisors, colleagues, subordinates, and clients were all identified as bullies. It showed that women were more than twice as likely (67%) to be identified as bullies as were men (33%). Table three is about the most troubling bullying behaviors. It showed that verbally and covertly hostile actions were the most troubling bullying behaviors in the workplace. In addition, being treated with disrespect and having work de-valued as the hardest aspects of being bullied at the workplace. Table four was the summary characteristics of bullies. The study showed the characteristic were either passive or assertive by the Coping Scale. The passive behavior had a ranging score of 24 and assertive was of 60. The median and mean scores were 42.5, and a multiple modal score. Table five was the classification of responses to coping scale as passive or assertive
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.
Cleary, M., Hunt, G. E., Walter, G., & Robertson, M. (2009). Dealing with bullying in the workplace. Journal of psychosocial nursing and mental health services, 47(12), 34-41. doi:10.3928/02793695-20091103-03
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.
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
Hanley , Anne O'Rourke, highlights the effects of workplace bullying to be intimidating, emotionally damaging persistent interpersonal abusive behaviour directed at one or several individuals. Workplace bullying is essentially an array of anti-social behaviours practiced by an individual to intimidate their victims within their workplace "over a period of time" or routinely. Furthermore, bullying is catalysed by "internal violence", a form which can vary in meaning (Timo, Fulop and Ruthjerse (2004). Within the European Union (EU) and Australia, bullying is commonly characterised as a "lower-level" violence, whereas in the United States, terms such as harassment, mistreatment, or emotional abuse are preferred (Mayhew and Chappell 2007). Additionally, Hanley and ORourke suggest "horizontal" violence and "mobbing" (group bullying) as other forms of bullying within the workforce to explain the "hostile" and "aggressive" nature groups of individuals abuse their victims with. Hanley and O'Rourke continue that for an 'event' to be acknowledged as workplace bullying, "consensus is that a target's exposure to such behaviours must occur frequently; that the behaviour is repeated over a period of time, and that it is not a one-time/ one-off incident"(Caponecchia and Wyatt 2011; Parzefall and Salin
Bullying, harassment and discrimination amount to core issues in all workplaces and are an integral connection between employee relations and effective human resource management. Bullying and harassment occurs when an employee is mistreated and victimized by fellow workers or supervisors through repeated negative instances of offensive slurs, detrimental feedback, verbal abuse and intended isolation through social exclusion. These instances correlate to “low satisfaction with leadership, work control, social climate, and particularly the experience of role conflict” (Einarsen et al. 1994). Not all departments within
Bullying in the workplace is the topic that Heeman has addressed and evaluated with the aid of research from additional authors. Communication plays a major role in bullying when brought into the workplace and it can continue for extensive lengths of time if not managed and handled properly. The roles of bullying are included in Heeman’s report which are the bully, the target, and the bystander. The costs on the workplace can be threatening to the staffing, productivity and the overall work environment. Percentages and research are presented proving the amount of bullying that actually takes place in the workplace. Ways to combat the bullying are introduced into the report to include understanding and taking action to stop and prevent the bullying from continuing. Heeman concludes his report by mentioning that researchers need to focus their attention on finding solutions and ways to intercept bullying to lower the statistics and ratios.
On February 14th 1999, Silvia Braun, a policewoman from Bavaria/Germany did not appear in her office in Munich. Some of her colleagues found the 22-year-old woman later in her car on a service area on a highway she had shot herself with her own rifle. Braun, an ambitious and determined woman, had no money problems, she did not suffer from any mental illness and she was not in love with someone who did not return her feelings. What was it that had made life unbearable for her? She had been being bullied for almost one year. She felt being humiliated, intimidated and sexually molested by her superior. This case shows how disastrous and dangerous bullying in the workplace can be.