No Workplace Bullies

What is Bullying?

Bullying is recurring, negative, and aimed at one or more individual. It involves a power imbalance between the bully and the victim, because the victim finds it difficult to defend him or herself for a variety of reasons. Bullying results in wide degree of psychological harm to the victim, and even to those observing the behavior who don't feel like victims themselves. In return, victims and observers often feel anxiety, depression, and serious dissatisfaction with work and peers.

It is important to understand, though, that bullying must be perceived by the targets as such. Two employees might receive the brunt of a bully's negative behavior, yet one may be able to "fight it off" by way of standing up for him or herself, while the other may "allow it" by not doing so.

Bullies start with everyone in the organization, and as they learn who will "allow" it, they start to target those people specifically.

This is not the victim's fault. Victims cannot fend the behavior off because they may have never learned how, may be shy, or even were victims as children.

How Widespread is Workplace Bullying?

Between 30% and 53% of employees report having felt bullied at some point during their working lives.

The Workplace Bullying Institute's recent study indicates between 54 and 71.5 million Americans are victimized.

Bullying Behaviors Include:

• social isolation or outcasting

• silent treatment

• spreading rumors or gossiping

• condescending or patronizing behaviors

• public humiliation or belittling of opinions

• attacking the victim's beliefs, lifestyle or private life

• excessive criticism

• excessive micro-management

• withholding information or depriving responsibility

• assigning tasks above or below competence level

• arbitrarily changing tasks

• punitive, severe or irrational punishment

• intimidation

• failure to give credit

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Other Facts About

Workplace Bullying

53% to 71% of bullies are in management positions

That means between 29% and 47% of bullies are either peers bullying peers, or subordinates bullying their superiors

81% of victims report being bullied as a group by one single individual, meaning the organization's members have essentially "allowed" the bully to rise to the top

Oddly, when one individual is bullying a group, the behaviors tend to last longer than when a group is bullying a single individual

The longer bullying goes on, the more severe and harsh the behaviors become, the more often they occur, and the more detrimental to the victim and observers they become

62% of employers ignore the behavior, meaning they do not take action against the bully to the protect the victims

What Makes A Bully?

Many factors contribute to the incidence of bullying, including the dynamic between the bully and victim, the organizational context and culture, the bully's personality, and the victim's personality.

Bullies are often people who demonstrate one or more of the following - Bullies:

• simply find negativity acceptable
• are unable to articulate their anger, and therefore use aggression instead
• have learned to act like a bully from someone else (such as their parents, or even other managers in the organization)
• have learned that bullying is an okay behavior by watching others within the organization become rewarded for it, with things like promotions and bonus'
• have low-self esteem
• are seeking revenge for either being outcasted, made fun of, or some other act
• are narcissists
• are motivated by the excitment of gaining power
• are stressed out