Workplace bullying is not always easy to spot or openly hostile.
A common myth about bullying for example – its simply holding people to high standards or having a competitive personality- suggesting that bullying does not harm and may even spur performance.
A common assumption is that bullies are often star performers and that high performance justifies bad behaviour. In reality, bullies are usually mediocre performers who appear to be stars – while, in fact they often take credit for the work of others.
Bullies are usually not motivated by organizational goals. They are in fact, driven by self-interest, often at the expense of the organization. Research indicates that bullies often envy and covertly victimize high performers. Bullying can take subtle forms like gaslighting, where the bully engages in abusive behaviour but then denies the abuse – causing the victim or target to doubt their reality.
We should not confuse bullying with aggression. Aggression usually involves a single act whereas bullying involves repeated actions against the target. Bullying is an abuse of power.
What does Workplace harassment look like?
The hallmark signs include – berating others, dismissing someone’s efforts, minimizing others concerns, coercing people to do things they do not want to do, criticizing others unfairly, embarrassing an employee in front of coworkers, blaming an employee without any reason, shouting at an employee, telling an employee that they should quit.
Bullying in the workplace causes the targeted employee to experience one or more of the following – anxiety, headaches, sleep deprivation, loss of confidence, loss of self-esteem, depression, burnout.
Workplace harassment affects organizations in the following ways.
- Low commitment to work
- Lack of job satisfaction
- High rate of absenteeism
- Increased employee turnover
Why should bullying in the workplace be prevented?
Workplace harassment causes a loss of productivity and creates an unhealthy, volatile work environment. It decreases employee morale and increases work place stress, higher employee turnover, increased absenteeism.