Lets Put Bullying Out of Business

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Lets Put BullyingOut of Business

• Muriel Jarvis
• Executive Director
• Family Plus/Life Solutions Inc.

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Content of Presentation

• What is Bullying in the Workplace?
• What does it look like?
• Where does it happen?
• Who are the Players?
• What are the Effects?
• How can targets deal with it?
• How can Work Places deal with it?

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What is Bullying in the Workplace?
Workplace bullying is psychological violence, the
act of attacking someone verbally, repeatedly,
causing hurt, humiliation, belittlement,
isolation and discrimination. The Target as a
result is at risk of a mental breakdown or can no
longer be productive at work. Bullying
encompasses all types of mistreatment at work.
All harassment is bullying as long as the
actions have the effect, intended or not, of
hurting the Target. Without harm felt, the
tyrants maneuvers are not bullying. Unchecked
one-on-one bullying quickly escalates into a
hostile poisoned workplace where everyone
suffers. Gary and Ruth Namie, Ph.D
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What Does it Look Like?

• People using power and position to deliberately
  hurt people in order to control them
• staying within the rules
• Bullying behaviors are as damaging to the mind
  and body as if they were physical
• Much of our workplace culture and norms support
  and re-enforce bullying

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What Does it Look Like?

• More women than men report being bullied at work
  (about 75 of targets are women) (NamieNamie)
• A 1994 survey by the Canadian Union of Public
  Employees found that 70 of respondents claimed
  verbal aggression was leading form of violence
  against employees
• Estimated to affect 1 in 6 workers in U.S. (17)
• (A Year 2000 Scientific Survey of
  Michigan Residents)
• Bullying 2-3X more prevalent than either illegal
  harassment (discrimination) or sexual harassment

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What Does it Look Like?The U.S. Hostile
Workplace Survey 20001335 Respondents

• 81 of bullies are bosses
• 50 of bullies are women (75 of targets women)
• Female bullies target women 84 of the time
• Male bullies target women 69 of the time
• 41 of targets diagnosed with depression
• 80 of targets reported health effects that
  impaired their productivity at work ie. anxiety,
  insomnia
• By the time the bullying had stopped, 82 of
  targets had lost their jobs, voluntary (38)
  involuntary (44)

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Are You Being Bullied?

• Your co-worker or supervisor seems angry with you
  at least two times a week, though you always try
  your best to do quality work on time
• You often feel confused because your boss
  responds to your work effort with criticism even
  when you have tried your hardest to do things
  his way
• You are upset with your working relationships.
  Your attempts at communication are constantly
  misunderstood and degraded

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Are You Being Bullied?

• You constantly wonder, Whats wrong with me? No
  matter how hard I try to please, I always feel
  that I have done something wrong.
• Your boss rarely includes you in her plans for
  work although she expects you to fully understand
  what she wants you to do
• Your boss is either angry or doesnt know what
  youre talking about when you try to discuss
  work issues.

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What Does it Look Like?

• Screaming Mimi
• Yelling
• Public attempts to humiliate
• Needs to compete and win

• Gatekeeper
• Controls all resources
• Undermining
• Setting you up to fail

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What Does it Look Like?

• Constant Critic
• Constant verbal assaults on your character
• Name calling belittling
• Attention to unimportant details

• Two-Headed Snake
• Kills your reputation
• Gets others to take sides
• Defames you with higher ups

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DOMINANT STYLE USED BY BULLIES
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What Does it Look Like?

• The newest sampling of 1000 online respondents,
  in 2003, shows
• Targets are 40-ish, educated, veteran employees
• Endured an average of 23 months of bullying
• 90 of the time, Bullies were not punished or
  held accountable
• 77 of bullies enlisted others to help- targets
  co-workers became bullys allies (48) and
  targets managers became bullys allies (24)

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What Does it Look Like?

• MEN
• Male bullies used other managers as allies
• Male bullies used more aggressive meaner
  tactics ie. Yelling in public, physical threats
• Male targets were more likely to be threatened
  with physical harm

• WOMEN
• Female bullies used co-workers as allies
• Women bullies used silent treatment, and getting
  others to turn against the target
• Female targets were more likely to have their
  input discounted

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Where Does it Happen?

• Public places in front of witnesses (46)
• In Private (34)
• Behind closed doors but meant to be heard(20)

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Where Does it Happen?Based on the Respondents in
the US Hostile Workplace Survey 2000

• 35 Corporate Employers
• 33 Government Employers
• 13 small business
• 19 Non-profit Organizations

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Who are the Players?

• TARGETS
• 63 College education
• 17 Graduate degrees
• 4 PhD
• No reports of previous bullying (67)
• Average of 16 months of being bullied

• BULLIES
• 77 bullied more than one target
• Have high need for control
• Targets those with strengths
• 81 are bosses

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Why Does it Happen?

• Targets were bullied because
• Refused to be subservient
• Bully envied target
• Liked by co-workers and customers
• Target was too ethical (whistleblower)
• Target ignored workplace politics
• Bully had a cruel personality
• Target easily overrun by others
• Target really depended on the job
• Hostile workplace where bullying leads to
  promotion

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Why Does it Happen?

• Characteristics of Targets themselves 46
• Refusal to be subservient competent
  non-confrontational liked by others
• Characteristics of Bullies 41
• Controlling personality wish to retaliate
  personal problems
• Situational context 23
• Target couldnt leave job new to job bully
  promoted pressure on bully from above

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What are the Effects?

• Health
• Anxiety sleep disruption loss of concentration
• Headaches avoidance shame exhaustion
• Body aches diagnosed depression weight change
• Increased use of substances to cope
• Panic attacks chronic fatigue irritable bowel
• Migraine headaches chest pains

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What are the Effects?

• Work Trauma
• Similar to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
• Has same effect as PTSD triggered by disasters
• Symptoms
• Hypervigilance (paranoia, feeling edgy)
• Flashbacks (nightmares)
• Avoidance-dissociation (numbing of
  thoughts/feelings)
• 31 women/21 men exhibited all 3 symptoms
• Suicidal Ideation (21) Homicidal Ideation(22)

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How Can The Target Deal With it?

• ISOLATION IS THE ENEMY
• ASKING FOR HELP IS ESSENTIAL!

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How Can the Target Deal With it?

• Targets usually wait too long to seek help,
  thinking the problem is their fault
• TARGETS DID NOT CAUSE THE BULLYING!
• Shame and guilt are what the bully wants you to
  feel they are natural but not productive
• The most effective way to counter a bully is by
  changing the way you perceive and experience
  their behavior! by bully-proofing yourself!
• No one can make you feel inferior without your
  consent. Eleanor Roosevelt

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How Can the Target Deal With it?

• Often the most painful criticism of our work
  comes from ourselves from our inner critic
• In combination with a bullys criticism-destructiv
  e!
• Ask themself
• Do you harshly criticize yourself when you make
  an error?
• Do you often focus on what might go wrong?
• Are you afraid that others might find out that
  youre not competent in the work you do?
• Do you lie awake at night criticizing yourself
  for what went wrong during the day?

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How Can the Target Deal With it?

• Avoid the trap of self-blame and self-destruction
• When the bullying is cumulative, the target gets
  worn down
• When they get worn down, they start to believe
  the bully
• Targets often blame their failure on internal
  factors,
• ( Im stupid) and success on external factors (it
  was an easy project) leading to
  self-destructive thinking and even depression
• They need to Get Help!

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How Can the Target Deal With It?

• Document! save emails, voice mails etc.
• Find out if others are being bullied
• Explore workplace conflict resolution options
• Discreetly explore other avenues of employment

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How Can the Target Deal With It?

• Factors that others have used to deal with
  bullying
• Personal resolve, emotional strength (63)
• Love from family (60)
• Personal faith (50)
• Friends away from work (49)
• Deciding to fight back (47)
• Separation from the perpetrator (46)
• Support from Mental Health professional (37)

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Actions Taken When Target Reported
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How Can the Target Deal With It

• 62 of respondents are still experiencing
  bullying
• 38 are now bully free
• Of the bully free
• 11 transferred their jobs away from the bully
• 38 left their jobs voluntarily
• 44 were pressured to leave their jobs
• 7 of bullies were negatively impacted by their
  actions

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How Can the Target Deal With it?

• Should they stay or go?
• Only they can decide
• Weigh the pros and cons health factors, the
  support that the bully has VS their support, and
  the cost of staying VS the cost of leaving
• Remember that work shouldnt hurt!
• Get Information www.bullyinginstitute.org

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How Can Work Places Deal with it?

• Work place culture plays a role, and culture can
  be as large as the whole company, or as small as
  one work group
• Culture will either purge the bully or promote
  them- look at the internal environment is it
  healthy or hostile?
• Some warning signs
• Crisis orientation judgmental secretive
  confusion

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How Can Work Places Deal with it?

• Respectful workplace climate
• Awareness, information, education
• Alternate dispute resolution process
• Empower bystanders to act
• Workplace coaching for unwitting bullies

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How Can Work Places Deal with it?

• Trained interveners at all levels
• Trained external investigators with power to
  enforce action
• Legislation recognizing psychological harassment
  in the workplace

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What are Some Work Places Doing?

• Treasury Board of Canada Policy on the
  Prevention and Resolution of Harassment in the
  Workplace
• Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and
  Safety standards on Workplace Violence
• Government of Quebec Psychological Harassment
  in the Workplace