stress awareness week bullying and harassment in the workplace dr joan harvey
TRANSCRIPT
Stress awareness week
Bullying and harassment in the workplace
Dr Joan Harvey
Bullying Reported to be on the rise in many places Aggressive behaviour arising from the deliberate intent to cause physical or psychological distress to others Note that this includes:
Deliberate
Intent to harm
Certainty that it will reach the target
Here, will use the word bully to describe the perpetrator, victim for the recipient
Terms usedBullying is not a good word for this, as commonly
associated with childhood, where victims may be told To stand up for themselvesNot to take any nonsense
Harassment [preferred by some HR depts] is not a good word eitherIf we use it instead, we will lose some of the more
physical intimidatory aspectsPhysical bullying does happen,
So whilst neither term is good, if we are stuck with them, then we need both terms to be used together, not one or the other.
Bullybusters [and others] suggest these types: Verbal
Name calling Threats Patronising
Physical Dominant posture, pushing, sexual harassment
Indirect Ignoring, leaving you out, social exclusion Spreading rumours Telling others to stop liking the person ‘the bad eyes’ such as glaring
Technological Internet abuse Chat rooms, instant messenger etc Text messages; ‘happy slapping’ Silent or abusive phone calls
Anger, bullying and harassment
Affective angerIs usually provoked by
some behaviour of others
Instrumental angerNo emotion, calculatedMay involve establishing
power over others
Types of bullies include:
Provocative victimsMay have been victims themselvesEasily upset, cannot handle conflictPoor social adjustmentCognitive errors, attributions of hostilityTend to breed children who then do the same
Proactive aggressorsUnprovokedRewarded by their bullying
Reinforcement of bullyingBullying behaviour gets reinforced
Watching painGetting something of value e.g. pleasure derived from
controlApproval of an audience Bullies mutually supportive of each other
Bully-victim relationship is special, in that it has a ‘dynamic’As each makes a change, so the other compensatesBully gets the lions share of the reinforcementVictim just trying to survive as well as possibleImbalance of power used to abuse victims, whose
consequent behaviour reinforces their bullying
Reinforcement of bullying
Variable reinforcement schedules yield the most enduring effects
Whilst the bully may change their behaviour, the victim finds this harder to do
Bullies do not target victims randomly
Sexual harassment
Increases in potency when advances are rejected
May be condoned by managers, if the bully is ‘worth’ more to the organisation than the victim
At work….. When the bullying is premeditated, which it ofen is, bullies
are actually often well known in the workplace, even if not reported. Often when in charge, theyOvercontrolMake demandsShow contemptUse repeated verbal abuseExploit others to meet own needsIf convinced of own dominance, will make snide remarks
or use easily manipulated others as mouthpiecesRidicule arguments or ideas of othersQuestion the victims adequacy, competence, commitmentCannot tolerate humiliation themselves but use it against
others
From the organisational point of view, bullies
Will not last long if their behaviour is found out to be counterproductive; these are likely to be the too-aggressive ones
Are tolerated, even promoted, whilst they serve the organisations purpose; these are likely to be intelligent and perceived to be making a contribution
Mostly, organisations do not get rid of bullies for any moral reasons, they do it because the bully is economically dysfunctional
Development of a Bully Profile
Poor social adjustment, may be socially isolatedPoor self-esteemDifficulties in anger managementStressedMay be disaffected with the workplace
From real or perceived injusticesHistory of this type of behaviour from childhoodNeeds for power and controlAggression and other externalising behaviours
Development of a Victim ProfileMay also derive from childhood: harder to identify
victims-to-be as passive, shy, timid, withdrawn children may not be seen as ‘risk variables’
Poor interpersonal problem-solving as young children, sometimes over-reliant on adults rather than engaging peers
As children, frequently complaining of somatic symptoms
Low assertiveness against would-be dominanceLow self-esteem or self-conceptInternalising behavioursTense and anxious
Sequence of events at work Victim enters into a protective frame of mind; this stifles
initiative and innovation Victim has lower self esteem, cannot prevent being
bullied, feels anger at the organisation for not protecting them, loss of career prospects and enjoyment at work
All these bring down the victims work standards This can lad to the bully being seen to be doing well,
and competent, and likely to be promoted for this, thus reinforcing their behaviour
Whereas the victim is seen as incompetent The bully has a reinforced sense of superiority and this
erodes any feelings they had for their subordinates, so they never actually recognise their own bullying behaviour
The psychological contract
The psychological contract is about the ‘unwritten’ contract, and concerns expectations, of equity, fairness and justice in management, promotions, rewards, etc
From the victims point of view, this is broken when they are bulliedNot only being badly treatedBut no protectionOrganisation may even disregard or even support it
So what can improve things?Personal harassment policy and proceduresSupported and publicly endorsed by all
senior managementDeal with cases overtly, take formal
complaints through the procedures, discipline the bully/harasser and this must be seen to be done
Get away from the notion [often reported] that will be discriminated against or punshed in some way if take a formal complaint.
Individual strategiesAssertiveness
E.g. handling criticismActive listening and reflectionPersuasion skillsGiving and receiving fedbackNVCs
Individual strategiesConfronting the bullies
Understand why confrontation can workChoosing time and placeSpecifying behaviour, not labelsMaintain simplicityDescribing consequencesReinforce the messageProvide alternativesGaining supportTalk to HR Talk to Bully’s own managerTake careful records- time, place, witnesses if any
etc.
Strategies for employers: a healthy workplace
Better R&S of people with interpersonal skills and transformational management styles
Training managers and supervisorsAwareness-raising as a means of preventionSeeking and using employee suggestionsConflict resolutionEncouraging speaking up, caring and
communicatingStrong, enforced, policiesEmployee Assistance Programmes [EAPs],
strongly supported
Some sources of info Randall, P (2004) Adult Bullying: perpetrators and victims.
2nd ed London: RoutledgeWorkplace bullying institute
http://www.workplacebullying.org/individuals/problem/being-bullied/
HSE: advice for organisations, line managers, individual employeeshttp://www.hse.gov.uk/stress/furtheradvice/bullyingharas
sment.htm
NHS: bullying of children, at work etchttp://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Bullying/Pages/Bullyinghome
.aspx
