Bullying and harassment in the workplace are often used as synonyms and often treated as if the words mean the same thing. While it is true that they are similar and involve intentional acts or words that harm another person, it is also true that there are significant differences in definitions. Bullying is often directed against a certain type of person or a protected group of people, which is why it is called harassment.
Workplace bullying includes tactics such as verbal bullying, physical bullying, relationship aggression, cyberbullying, sexual bullying, sexual harassment, and biased bullying. Unlike school bullying, workplace bullies form cliques and operate both openly and covertly outside their organization’s established rules and guidelines. The exact definitions of bullying behaviour in the workplace vary, but the terms and definitions are widespread.
Workplace bullying, such as bullying at school, occurs when a person or group of people inflicts pain or harm on another person at work intentionally. Bullying in the workplace, however, can also occur when the top levels of the employer bully employees and use their power to threaten and control them. Bullies in the workplace are skilful social manipulators who go to work and bully others. This behaviour can in turn create discrimination in the workplace.
Bullying in the workplace is a persistent pattern of mistreatment of others in the workplace, causing physical and emotional harm. These include verbal, non-verbal, psychological, and physical abuse, and humiliation.
This type of workplace aggression is more difficult than typical school bullying because workplace bullies operate outside the established rules and policies of their organization and society. Most cases of workplace bullying report someone acting with authority over the victim. According to a WBI survey, 56 percent of bullying incidents at the workplace are committed by the boss and it can be difficult to confront someone in a power position.
If there is a problem in your workplace, find allies among your colleagues or witness the victims of bullying yourself. Bullying does not affect just one person and it is likely that one or more of your employees have been mistreated.
This type of behaviour is repetitive, ubiquitous, and can escalate into a hostile work environment. If this happens to a bully or his colleagues, you should consider creating a less hostile work environment to make sure that your employer or supervisor is aware of the situation and can do something about it. Bullying reaches the level of harassment when a reasonable employee finds the behaviour uncomfortable, offensive, or hostile. It is important to note that the sexual harassment in the workplace should not be tolerated.
We will look at some of the most common forms of bullying and work that can be done to prevent it at work. It is important to note that the following is not a checklist as it only mentions some forms of bullying. However, it does contain ways of showing how bullying can happen in the workplace.
This October is National Bullying Prevention and Awareness Month, and we look at what many bullies go through as they grow up and work in the workplace.
One helpful way to identify a tyrant is to think about how others see what is happening. Even if most people find a certain behaviour acceptable, it can still be bullying. This goes hand in hand with another kind of bullying that criticises you in order to humiliate you.
These are few things that destroy morale in the office, tear up team cohesion and make good employees leave, rather than face victimization and harassment in the workplace. There is irreparable brand damage, declining shareholder value, increased employee turnover, lack of labour productivity, and other costly effects of non-compliance and lack of a good workplace culture. Monetary compensation is a way of disregarding your legal obligations in the context of your company’s workplace policy and training.
The Safe Workplaces Act, introduced in 2001, aims to prevent and reduce bullying in the workplace and its negative effects by providing protection for people who experience bullying. Bullying creates a toxic work environment, and many people are afraid to speak out when they experience bullying in the workplace.
Every individual has the right to a safe job, free from violence, harassment, and bullying. Bullying in the workplace is verbal, physical, social, and psychological abuse by the employer or manager towards another person or group of people in the workplace. It can occur in all types of workplaces: offices, shops, cafes, restaurants, workshops, community groups and government organizations.
Bullying prevention training can help to convey acceptable behaviour to your employees. Prevention requires that you inform your employees about the different types of harassment in the workplace and how they can prevent it. It also requires you to take a closer look at what is happening in your office and place yourself in the shoes of different types of people.
