Bullying in the Workplace
One of the reasons why I enjoy the Saturday edition of the Winnipeg Free Press is the column on workplace issues written by Barbara Bowes. I have admired her column for a long time and I respect her thoughts and I find she is usually a trend setter in workplace issues. I have to admit that I was very surprised that she was writing about workplace bullying, particularly bullying by leadership in the workplace.
Surprised, because I thought we were over the issue. Really, we have spent a decade talking about bullying in all forms and there has been no evidence that this produces positive results. Many jurisdictions have legislated against bullying in the workplace. School divisions have spent a great deal of money providing education for all educators and students about the effects of bullying. To be a volunteer sports coach, you must take education on anti-bullying. Our workplaces claim to be inclusive, supportive, and tolerant.
So, why does Barbara Bowes think that bullying by leaders in the workplace is still an issue? I checked out "bullying" on wikipedia. I was amazed, just by the table of contents.
Contents
[hide]- 1Definition
- 2Types
- 3Etymology
- 4Characteristics
- 5Effects
- 6Dark triad
- 7Projection
- 8Emotional intelligence
- 9In different contexts
- 10Prevention
- 11See also
- 12References
- 13Further reading
External links
I really couldn't believe the amount of space that bullying occupies in our lives, so to speak. There were 108 footnotes. Very interesting reading but also very sad, again, that it occupies much space in our lives. In the pages I read, I could not find any positive effects from bullying.
Yet, we are reading a great deal about workplace bullying. There is a bank in the news that are laying off a number of workers in favour of outsourcing their work to a company that can do it cheaper. The effected employees are now being required to train their replacements. i don't know if that is workplace bullying, but it does seem heartless.
It just doesn't make a lot of sense. One assumes that our leaders in the workplace get to their positions by education and training. Education and training suggest that to be successful in the workplace, bullying is wrong and successful leaders put a high premium on employee satisfaction and development of strong teams. So, why are our leaders ignoring this and determined to put all research and literature to shame by proving that bullying works?
If little league coaches have to take workshops on anti-bullying, shouldn't our employment leaders also have to take such a course? Would it change anything? Or would it just make the bullying more covert?
I don't know the answers to this one, but, I have many friends and colleagues who have told me some pretty horrific stories about being victims of bullying. I took a course a couple of years ago and it talked about a new party in bullying, the by-stander. If suggested to me that if I witness bullying and do nothing, then I am as culpable as the bully. It made a lot of sense at the time, but easier said than done. Once you take a stand, you often take the victim's place. It does seem like an unsurmountable problem.
But, it really does't have to be. Return to basics. Return to the sandbox. If you want people to be nice and respectful to you, extend that to them. That is what real leaders do.
I have recently experienced bullying as a leader from someone trying to get me to compromise my integrity for his/her personal gain but couched in terms like it's for a group of co-workers. I'll certainly sacrifice that relationship to retain integrity!
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