Workplace Bullying Manisha

Workplace Bullying DR.Manisha Agarwal. Astt.Prof. University college of commerce and management Studies .Udaipur (raj) INDIA . All Human Beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, not to attacks upon his honor and reputation

We spend more of our waking lives at work than we do with our friends or family.Therefore,the quality of our work lives has the most direct consequence on our quality of life as a whole than any other factor .The biggest factor that affects the workers’ happiness is the equality of their immediate boss ( supervisor ) .If worker are tormented by a supervisor who employs fear ,intimidation and “bullying” in his management methods then the quality of life for both the workforce and the company gets depreciated greatly. Bullying is the misuse of power to intimidate somebody in a way which leaves them feeling hurt, angry vulnerable or powerless. It includes “all types of mistreatment at work.” Workplace Bullying is one of the most insidious and destructive problems ; it is the least documented and the most tolerated .Bullying at the workplace as an issue came to prominence in 1990’s. Unwanted behavior whether physical or verbal which is offensive, humiliating and viewed unacceptable to the recipient. -Marks and Spencer It constitutes unwanted, offensive, humiliating, undermining behavior towards an individual or group of employees. It affects working conditions, health and safety, domestic life and the right to equal opportunity and treatment.

Bully’s Behavior (offender) Known as bullies, jerks or tyrants. Bullying follows a pattern of behavior which includes harassment, emotional abuse and targeted aggression. Some of them are: • Yelling or ridiculing a co worker or sub ordinate publicly for disagreeing. • Undermining an individual or a group with humiliating words • Stalking and other forms of intimidation

An implied threat of physical attack especially in blue collar environment. Excessive dumping of work or assignment of unpleasant jobs. Threatening the individual's work status. Threatening personal standing (e.g. ageist or sexist comments).  Isolating the individual from information, giving opportunities, outings, etc.  Undermining the individual such as demeaning their standard of work, Not giving credit, setting up projects to fail, reminders of mistakes.

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Bullying is intended to affect people psychologically. In some settings it is directly structured as test of belonging and a (misguided) way to ensure that unsuitable people are quickly identified and excluded from that culture. According to Social Psychologist and professor Loraleigh keashly, abusive behavior includes:  Aggressive eye contact, either by glaring or meaningful glances;  Giving the silent treatment intimidating physical gesture including finger pointing and slamming or throwing objects ,yelling, screaming and cursing at the target;  Angry outbursts or temper tantrums  Nasty, rude behavior and hostile behavior.  Accusations on wrong doing  Insulting or belittling the target often in front of other workers  Spreading false rumors about the target.  Breaching the target’s confidential  Withholding needed information. Gary Namie an industrial psychologist says: Bullies target; nice people because nice people are unlikely ; Vulnerable people ; bold, best and the brightest.

Bully’s characteristics(offender) • Need to control others • Quicker to anger • Little empathy for the problems of others • Exposed to the model of aggressive behavior • Chronically repeat the aggressive behavior • Angry and revengeful • Parents are poor role models • Find only aggression as the way to preserve their self image • Have many family problems

• Suffer physical and emotional abuse at home • Exhibit obsessive or rigid actions. • Psychosomatic disorders.

Effects of work place Bullying (on The Victim) Psychological effects:  Stress.  Depression  Mood swings  Loss of sleep  Feeling of shame  Guilt  Fatigue feelings  Embarrassment  Most severe effect could be Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) if left untreated, may cause an individual to react violently against either the bully or anyone else who happens to be in the vicinity. Three signs of PTSD are:  Hyper arousal  A feeling of constant anxiety and over vigilance  Obsessive thoughts concerning the Trauma Physical Effects:  Reduce Immunity to infection  Stress Headaches  High blood pressure  Digestive Problems  Angina and Heart problems  Insomnia or sleep disorders  Allergies  Anxiety Business Effects:  Direct cost: a significant increase in medical and workers compensation claims due to work related stress and the cost of lawsuits arising from abusive work situations.

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Indirect cost: Fear and mistrust resentment hostility feeling of humiliation, with drawl strategies, hiding mistakes. Anxiety and fear stifle creativity, High turnover poor customer relations, act of sabotage and revenge. A bullying boss cause serious health effects on his staff which elevates an organization’s cost in health insurance, premiums and absenteeism due to stress related illness

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Opportunity cost: workers may disengage from their workplace committing themselves to outside activities. Spending excessive time on the job talking about how poorly they are being treated .Abusive work environment results in a worker’s effort falling between the maximum effort of which one Is capable and the minimum effort one must give in order to avoid being fired.

Research Support An internet project conducted completely online received 157 responses reveled that most prevalent effects were stress and anxiety(79%) ,depression(65%),exhaustion(64%);insecurity and self doubt(59%);shame, embarrassment and guilt(58%) Obsessive thinking and nightmares (58%) poor concentration (56%) and helplessness (53%). Mika sleKivimaki,PhD interviewed 5,500 hospital workers and founded that 50% were suffering from workplace bullying and fell isolated devalued and physically threatened. Some 66% had chronic disease compared with only 49% among non victims. Hospitals plagued by bullies often suffered from reduced employee motivation and compromise patient care.

Overcoming workplace bullying Workplace bullying is not a tempest in a teapot, but e real endemic curse in the workplace and that is indeed worth examining further. Some victims of bullying pay the ultimate price by taking their own lives.

Individual Role (Victim)  Doing nothing  Confronting the bully  Using silence to combat the bully  Using informal methods to get help like going to the boss, personnel, union or staff association  using occupational health

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Using volunteer networks Making a group Complaint Leave the scene for time being Going to the Law Leaving the organization

Organization’s Role (Offender) 

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Create an environment which could encourage to speak about bullying Educating the supervisors and employees to cope better with the organizational change Reviewing the physical layouts of the worksite Awareness of the interaction between an alleged bully and target Company wide training to heighten the awareness about what is bullying. Training the people who are repeat aggressors on the use of soft skills including stress management and rehabilitation opportunities to help them. Interpersonal communication and dealing with different people. Implementing an anti harassment policy, carefully monitoring bullying at work Tackling pockets of bullying Finally auditing the process to ensure it is under control.

Conclusion Thus it can be seen that if the workers are tormented by a supervisor who employs fear intimidation and bullying in his management methods, the quality of life for both the workforce and the company gets depreciated greatly. Based on the above study organizations have a financial, legal, and moral obligation to stamp out this behavior when observed and prevent it from ever occurring in the first place