Being Bullied at Work? Now What? Creative Responses to Workplace Aggression

Presentation #142

KATHLEEN SCHULWEIS, Cphil, CPCC, PCC

Confidence Connections ™

Friday, June 4, 2010

7th International Conference on Workplace Bullying and Harassment

A Black Hole

Myriad descriptions

teasing, verbal abuse, blame, humiliation, personal and professional denigration, overt threats,

harassment (e.g.Racial, or sexual) aggressive e-mails or notes,

exclusion or isolation, sabotage of career blackmail

manipulation of job specifications s,

Shifting Perspective

• Personal• Unintentional• Instrumental

Personal

Cause: Psychological

TYPE 1

UnintentionalTYPE 2

Cause: Lack of Awareness

InstrumentalTYPE 3

FameFortune PositionPower

FameFortune PositionPower

Cause:Ambition - Culture

How this Benefits Practitioners

Broadens Responses

Type 1 Personal Aggression

Responses

Type 1 Aggression

SOLUTION to Type 1:

• Confront

• Don’t confront

• Document

• Don’t document

• Report

• Don’t report

• Try to negotiate

• Tolerate it

• Leave

• Seek medical help

PROBLEMS w/ these Solutions:

• Ignores incivility and instrumental aggression

• Creates and blames the victim

• Company has no role or responsibility in problem

• Confusing and contradictory solutions

• Every incident is seen as an isolated incident

• Company help is designed to discourage

• Target is responsible

• Company culture is Irrelevant

• Policies are Irrelevant

Type 2 Unintentional Aggression

Responses

Type 2 Aggression

SOLUTION to Type 2:

• Company responsible for creating harmony

• Multiple training opportunities– Leadership– Management– Policy– Civility

• Training may mitigate legal consequences of complaints

• Mediate conflicts

• Civility policies

PROBLEMS w/ these Solutions:

• Hides personal and instrumental aggression

• Mediation blames both parties

• Assumes perpetrators will identify selves and improve

• Company has little responsibility beyond training

• No/little accountability for improved behavior

• Civility policies ignore problems

• Doesn’t empower target

• No monitoring

• Companies use training to ward off lawsuits but doesn’t change behavior

Type 3 Instrumental Aggression

Responses

Type 3 Aggression

SOLUTIONS to Type 3:

• Look for cultural causes: examine mission & values of organization

• Include “social contract” assumptions (Myth of Fairness) in your analysis

• Uncover role confusion

• Create leadership/supervisory training to clarify roles

• Create policies consistent with culture of organization

• Hire those with values that match company culture

• Training that is consistent with company culture

• Give up fantasy of a harmonious workplace

PROBLEMS w/ these Solutions:

• Change may not be possible without a major culture shift

• Dominant culture may not want to change

• Company may enjoy reputation

• People mistake competition for aggression

• Change is from the top down

• May require new leaders & new employees

• Employees have no policy protection

• Hides personal and unintentional types of aggression

Summary• Workplace bullying and harassment are age-old problems with myriad causes and

solutions. Focusing on a singular cause leads to singular solutions.

• Personal Aggression is caused by character disorders. Creates individual (private and personal) solutions. Targets are victims of isolated incidences. Organizations are not responsible for handling aggressors; victims do not hold organizations accountable.

• Unintentional Aggression is caused by a lack of awareness or insensitivity. Perpetrators are individuals who are easily trained to behave appropriately. Targets of incivility need to be flexible and trust that company training programs and safeguards will be effective. Organization is assumed to be a civil and collegial environment.

• Instrumental Aggression has roots in the culture and mores of an organization. Compounding factors include weak supervision, unclear avenues of authority, ambiguous job descriptions and no clear consequences for aggressors. Organization has a high tolerance for aggressive behavior and a reputation for retaliation against complainers.

• These types of bullying and harassment are not mutually exclusive -depends on the strength of the organizational culture. Without a comprehensive analysis of the different causes it is impossible to determine the best responses to aggression.

Further research

• Clarify relationships between the different types and recommended interventions

• Study impact of specialized anti-bully training programs on company culture

• Study the relationship between company missions & values and the prevalence of bullying and harassment

Citations (Page 1 of 3)

1. Bowie, V.(2003) Defining Violence at work: A New Typology. In M. Gill, B. Fisher, & V. Bowie (Eds.), Violence at Work: Causes, Patterns and Prevention. Collumpton, UK: Willan Publishing

2. Brooks, etal, Incivility in the Workplace, 2010. http://www.publicvirtues.com/incivility_Study.html

3. Bultena, C.D., R.B Whatcott, 2007. Bushwacked at Work: A Comparative Analysis of Mobbing & Bullying at Work. Proceedings of ASBBS. V15.

4. Bullied Academics Blog, 2009. http://bulliedacademics.blogspot.com/

5. Cassell, M.A. 2010. Bullying In Academe: Prevalent, Significant, and Incessant. ABR & ITLC Conference Proceedings.

6. Coyne, I., E. Seigne, & P. Randall, 2000. Predicting workplace victim status from personality. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, V9.

7. Crawshaw, L. 2007. Taming the Abrasive Manager. Wiley

8. Einarsen, S., M.S. Aasland, & A. Skogstad, 2007. Destructive leadership behavior: A definition and conceptual model. Leadership Quarterly, V18.

9. Einarsen, S., H. Hoel, D. Zapf, & C L. Cooper, ed., 2003. Bullying & Emotional Abuse in the Workplace. 2003.

10. Fast, N.J., S. Chen, 2009. When the Boss Feels Inadequate. Psychological Science. Association for Psychological Science. V20.

Citations (Page 2 of 3)

12. Ferris, G. R. Zinko, R. Brouer, M. R. Buckley, M. Harvey (2007). Strategic bullying as a supplementary, balanced perspective on destructive leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, V18.

12. Field, T. (1996). Bully in sight. Wantage, Oxfordshire: Wessex Press.

13. Fletcher, T.D., D.A. Major, D.D. Davis. 2006. The Interactive Relationship of Competitive Climate and Trait Competitiveness with Workplace Attitudes, Stress, and Performance. Journal of Organizational Behavior. V29.

14. Galinsky, A.D., J.C. Magee, M.E. Inesi, D.H. Gruenfeld. Power and Perspectives Not Taken. 2006. Psychological Science. Association for Psychological Science, V17.

15. Giacalone, R. A., J. Greenberg. Antisocial Behavior in Organizations. 1997. Sage Publications

16. Lewis, D, M. Sheehan, C. Davies. Uncovering Workplace Bullying. J Workplace Rights. V 13.

17. Leymann, H (1990) Mobbing and psychological terror at workplaces. Violence and Victims, V5.

18. Pearson, C & Porath, C.2009. The Cost of Bad Behavior. Penguin Books, NY

19. Saam, N. 2009. Interventions in workplace bullying: A multilevel approach. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology.

20. Salin, D. 2003. Bullying and Organizational Politics in Competitive and Rapidly Changing Work Environments. International Journal of Management and Decision Making. V4.

Citations (Page 3 of 3)

21. Salin, D. 2003. Ways of Explaining Workplace Bullying: A Review of Enabling, Motivating and Precipitating Structures and Processes in the Work Environment. Human Relations V56. Sage Publications.

22. Solomon, M. 1990. Working with Difficult People. Prentice Hall. NY

23. Sperry, L. 2009. Workplace mobbing & bullying: A consulting psychology perspective and overview. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice & Research. V61.

24. Westhues, K 2009, http://art.uwaterloo.ca/~kwesthue/mobnews06.htm@SIUC5

25. Wheatley, M & D.T. Wasieleski

26. Yamada, D. http://newworkplace.wordpress.com/

Kathleen Schulweis, Cphil, CPCC, PCC

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