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Will you be the next victim of the bully at work?

by Jo Anne Brown

“Bullying only happens to weak people.”

“It only happens in school playgrounds.”

“It’s just a ‘personality clash’.”

“You get better results with ‘strong’ management.”

Actually, none of these myths are true but just a few of the excuses that stop workplace bullying being taken seriously and better understood. Many victims don’t even know what they are going through until a list of behaviours are put in front of them and they respond: yes, yes, YES! So what exactly is bullying?

This behaviour is often an abuse of power [for example removing work and staff to isolate you or changing your working hours or other conditions without adequate reason or notice], malicious rumours, verbal insults, unfounded criticism [and sometimes persistent nitpicking over small things], threats [about job security or violence], being undermined [setting someone up to fail, increasing workload].

Recent "shocking" findings by the Royal College of Nursing in Scotland said 21% of nurses have suffered abuse from fellow staff and managers. The college added that victimisation has led to a quarter of nurses trying to change jobs and almost 10% had given up their jobs as a result.

Each incident of bullying may seem minor but it’s the repeated pattern and drip-drip effect that disables, so insidious that most don’t realise what’s happening until it’s too late.

Bullying can happen because of intolerance against a person’s race, nationality, sex, disability or other issues considered to be against the law in the UK. It can also be because a person is perceived as a threat, obese, got big teeth or any other reason, irrational or not, that marks you out as different.

The main relationship reported between bully to bullied is a hierarchical one, in other words it’s more usual for the boss to bully a subordinate. However, it’s also important to know that bullying happens between peers - maybe one trying to damage a colleagues reputation in an attempt to get the next promotion. It’s better to resolve a conflict situation early but as time goes on, persistent, recurrent or malicious negative behaviour may not be so easy resolved because of the damage caused both to the working relationship and the health of the victim.

Bullying and harassment is a growing problem both in the UK and across the world. Currently, the law in the UK focuses on discrimination based harassment, although a recent House of Lords ruling means employers are liable for any harassment at work.

Bullying can happen to anyone, at any employer and at any time. It is unacceptable; not something that happens because someone deserves it or ‘needs’ to be treated like that in order to get them to do their job. Let’s face it, if someone isn’t performing or doing their job right, there are ways to manage the situation. But ‘bullying’ isn’t ‘managing’.

It’s reported that each worker has a 50% chance of being bullied over their working life – and that one in five will be bullied at work right now. Are you?

Tips on dealing with bullying at work

• Keep a diary of incidents including time, date, what happened, whether there were any witnesses and how you felt or suffered because of it. Keep all evidence to back this up including emails and post-it notes.
  
• Know your employers’ policies regarding bullying and harassment, discrimination/diversity and the grievance procedure. Follow it to the letter and point out [preferably in writing] any failings in your employers practice.
  
• Challenge the bully – do this assertively, question why they did what they did and ask them to not do it again. If they continue, escalate your complaint to your employer as an informal, then formal, grievance
  
• Know your rights - Time limits for tribunals in the UK are a major stumbling block for many workers with a grievance. Get independent advice as soon as possible to protect yourself.
  
• Get support – talk to family and friends, find a peer support group and if you can, talk to others at work – you might find you’re not the only one suffering!

 

This article was published in the September 2006 edition of Mizmo Magazine. Mizmo is for Filipino nurses and care staff working in the UK. Copyright Jo Anne Brown.