According to the article ‘Office Bullies Create Workplace ‘Warzone”, the victims of workplace bullying uses the word ‘warzone’ as a metaphor of what was happening to them in their workplaces. They described their experiences as a battle, water torture, a nightmare or a noxious substance. These metaphor description comes out from the interview of 17 women and 10 men employees ranging from 26 to 72 years of age.
The respondents characterized workplace bullying in many other metaphors, here are some: “I have been maimed… I’ve been character assassinated.” Their feelings is expressed as “beaten, abused, ripped, broken, scared and eviscerated“. One employee explained, “I feel like I have ‘kick me’ tattooed on my forehead.”
An office might look professional to anybody’s perspective but it is not excluded from the fact that bullies can also be found in here. Only professional looking. They vary from screaming boss to silent treatment colleagues. They do whatever want, whenever they can. The act of workplace bullying is includes screaming, spreading gossips, destroying reputation, excessive criticism and sometimes physical abusive is also being experienced. That is just the non-subtle behavior description. Bullying can also be on a subtle attack, these are the silent treatment and excluding you from meetings and other office gatherings.
Bully proofing the workplace is shortly explained in the article. Read the full article at link.