Bulling, a Damaging Practice That Shall be Prevented
Bullying is a practice that harms not only individuals but it also damages the productivity, lowers the morale of employees, may cause legal issues and it affects the reputation of organizations. Preventing bullying is the responsibility of everyone in the organization. Creating a culture of respect, appreciation, trust and collaboration is key for success. Personal Experience
Several years ago I was working for an organization that hired a new nurse. I am Mexican and I have an accent, which I am aware and I always ask people to let me know if they cannot understand me. I have noticed this helps them to relax and feel more open to an effective communication.
To my surprise, and despite my accent, I was in charge of providing orientations to every new employee, and I was successful at it. I have always been shy, and the idea of being in front of a crowd was frightening, specially when we think that I had to do it in English, which is not my native language.
I did provide orientations for more than five years, and up to 35 people at the same time, simultaneously in English and Spanish. I always asked for feedback, I was really concerned about the messages communicated to the new employees, and I pour my will in making it entertaining and interesting.
However, this was a reason for a nurse to blame the mistakes of workers on my language skills. The nurse had been working for the company for less than three months, and she became really aggressive about my accent. In this regard, I could address the issue with my supervisor, and I started documenting every time she had a comment, and I was sure she knew about this tracking. She quit only two weeks later, however, there was a lingering sensation left behind. I did not feel completely supported by my supervisors.
Few months later, I resigned to my position, I resigned to a company that I had helped to become a successful reality. I had to resign to a dream that I achieved to turn to a reality. I had seen the company start since it was only a concept.
Who lost? Everyone lost. I did quit, the nurse quit, and just recently my former supervisor, who is one of the owners, called me to tell me I was an asset to the organization.
They had to hire another person to cover my position, he only lasted 6 months. Eventually they found someone who is a good fit, and I am happy for it. It cost the company several resources to recruit, select, hire and train someone for the position.
What is Bullying?
Weidmer (2011) provides the definition given by the Workforce Bullying Institute (WBI) as follows: “workplace bullying is the repeated, health-harming mistreatment of one or more persons (the targets) by one or more perpetrators that takes one or more of the following forms: verbal abuse; offensive conduct/behaviors (including nonverbal) which are threatening, humiliating, or intimidating; and work interference -sabotage- which prevents work from getting done.” (Weidmer, 2011).
Who Does Bullying Affect?
Bullying does not just hurt individuals, it also has direct and indirect ways to affect the employees and the organizations. Workplace bullying is the practice of employees or supervisors who feel the need to control due to personal insecurities. Bullying, also considered as psychological harassment, can be preventable by taking a series of steps that will be described in the following paragraphs.
The practice of bullying impacts all members of society for the consequences of this harmful and damaging practice. Research studies have found out that twenty-five percent of the targets leave the organization, so the direct cost for an organization is to replace and train that employee, as well as unemployment claims, severance payments and early retirement costs. The indirect cost is due to a ripple effect by lowering the employee’s commitment and morale, which translates into a reduction of productivity (Syedain, 2006).
Who are the Targets?
The most common targets of bullying are the veteran employees, those who have high ethics and honesty standards, who are bright, independent, non confrontational, who have emotional intelligence and are appreciated by coworkers, supervisors and customers. The bullies use several tactics to alienate the targets from coworkers and supervisors.
Tactics of the Bullying
Some of the tactics used by the bullies are: undermining the position, status, worth or value of the target; marginalize or ignore the target; set unrealistic goals; misrepresent, distort or change anything said or done; treat the target differently from others; increase responsibilities and/or decrease the authority; overload or reduction of workload; deny time off or leave; take credit for the work the target(s) did; deny training opportunities; interfere with work performance, coercion for quitting (Weidmer, 2011).
While working for a home care agency, a nurse used to bully a coworker who was the office manager and a foreigner with a strong Hispanic accent. The office manager was in charge of the orientations for all new employees. It was during the orientation that she would explain to the new staff members of their tasks, responsibilities, limitations, rights and paperwork relevant for the caring of patients.
The nurse would blame in meetings the office manager with the mistakes made by the workers, stating that the new employees could not understand the office manager due to her accent. The office manager had been working for the agency for more than five years, and the nurse had worked for the organization for less than three months when the bullying started. The nurse, however, always went to the office manager to ask for help using all the software programs, and she always got the direction needed and the Hispanic accent was never a barrier in their communications.
Prevention of Bullying
The prevention and stopping of bullying demands an investment of time, it requires the creation and implementation of policies that will help to create a culture of zero tolerance. However, these policies need to be not only established but published, making all the employees and managers to be aware of their rights and responsibilities. Violators of these policies need to be identified and addressed as soon as possible, in order to prevent further damage.
In this case, the target was a veteran employee who was considered by her coworkers as a resource for help, she was a whistleblower to her manager letting them know about non compliant employees and coworkers. The bully was feeling insecure and wanted to get allies by trying to minimize the target’s skills and knowledge. The situation was very stressful and finally the bully decided to leave the organization as she would not stop the aggressive behavior.
Five Easy Steps in the Prevention Process:
For a bully free culture the organization has to take five steps to let the employees know that they are supported. The necessary recommended steps are:
- to help employees understand what bullying is,
- to encourage them to report any suspected activity,
- identify the resources and possible solutions;
- and finally for the supervisors and managers to act as a role model by not allowing a code of silence.
The supervisors and managers have to transmit the empathy to their subordinates, to create a workplace of trust treating everyone as a valuable part of the organization, communicating to include everyone, listening to one another, and acknowledging thoughts and feelings, speaking positively about others and connecting with everyone. At the end of the day, everyone is responsible for a culture where bullying has no place.
References
Baack, D. (2012). Managerial communication. San Diego, CA: Bridgeport Education, Inc.
McLaughlin, K. (2014). Workplace Bullying: A Silent Epidemic. HR Magazine, 59(10), 22-23.
Rayner, C. (2006). WHAT DOES BULLYING COST YOUR BUSINESS?. People Management, 12(24), 28.
Syedain, H. (2006). NOWHERE TO RUN. People Management, 12(24), 24-29
Wiedmer, T. L. (2011). Workplace bullying: Costly and preventable. Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin, 77(2), 35-41. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/849232117?accountid=32521
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