BULLYING AT WORK is RAMPANT (i.e.prevailing or unchecked)

www.libcom.org

Firstly I want to apologise to all my friends who have previously complained to me about bullying going on at work.  I thought they were exaggerating, and I thought they were being overly negative.  WRONG!!!

I have been unfortunate enough to witness this first hand.  Yes, Management Behaving Badly, but why is it allowed to go on in this day and age when there are so many procedures set down to prevent it, or deal with it.  Its unbelievable.  Are people too scared, scared of the consequences?  What I fail to comprehend is that even when Senior Management, or Board Level, are alerted to these unacceptable behaviours, still its swept under the carpet.

My belief is very simple.  Treat everybody with respect, care and kindness.  It appears though that some people in management really don't "get" that.  Being generous, I suppose they cannot deal with the stress in target driven situations, or they have never been taught how to deal with their staff?  Well, for heavens sake, WHYEVER NOT? Its 2009, and we are spoiled for choice with organisations offering training , communication, interaction, etc.

No organisation is exempt.  Charities, government funded organisations, councils (very popular for bullying at work!!) educational establishments.........everywhere it seems to be rampant and goes unchecked.

To be on the receiving end is hell.  Like being back at school, being left out and picked on.  Being made fun of.  It happens because you are younger, because you are older, because you come from a different culture, or because somebody just doesn't like you, or is threatened by you and doesn't know how to deal with you. Ignoring you because they are in a bad mood - for days and days on end.

I have seen Line Managers being overly friendly, speaking out of turn,being two faced about their staff members, shouting and screaming down the phone at them, reducing them to tears by sending nasty e-mails.  E-mailing behind peoples backs,telling lies, trying to control their staff as if they were prisoners-

The real question is how do these people ever get into management with no management skills?  A young inexperienced woman from a totally opposite background applied for and was given the title of team leader, which was immediately translated into Manager.  She had never previously managed or even interviewed anybody, but was given the task of recruitment as well as responsibility for senior experienced staff.  She had no training, no people skills, no management experience or ability, and clearly didn't know what she was doing.  But whatever she did was right of course.  This resulted in people leaving, other staff looking desperately for new jobs, staff taking up smoking to relieve stress, and taking anti-depressants.  This is only the tip of the problem.  Much of it, like an iceberg, remains hidden.

What is unforgiveable is the negative impact somebody like this (together with her line manager who really should take  responsibility, but won't) has on so many other peoples lives.

My advice? Please don't put up with it.  There are ways out of it, round it, ways to cope and support to be had. Your life is worth more than the misery these people are causing you.

You can always contact me  anne@realmotivation.com   for your first free session.

Here is another helpful link   www.bullyfreeworkplace.org

Comments

[joe]

hi anne, i read the above article with some interest. i have been the victim of bullying on a fairly major scale whilst at work. so much so in fact that i had to find another position within the organisation that i was working in. i was given little or no training in the job i was doing. i was talked about behind my back, treated like crap, spoken to as if i was an idiot and left out of decision making. this doesn't sound that bad to the onlooker, but when you have to put up with it day in day out it wears you down. i stood it for over a year then, for the sake of my health, i had to leave. if i had not found another post within the organisation i would have had a major breakdown. i was so miserable that one day i broke down in tears at my desk and just couldn't go on. my then team leader took me aside and tried to ask what was wrong. the problem was that this was one of the people responsible for me feeling the way that i did, how could i speak to her about it? i had to go off sick, but at this point the section manager walked in and once i had gone through how i was feeling i stated that i needed to go home she said no, that she didn't think that i should go home even though i wasn't well enough to be there. i ended up being off for a month with a major depressive episode. when i got back not only was the situation the same, but i was called up to a medical review to decide whether i was able to keep my job. i saved my job, but only because i had got unison involved. i spoke to my rep as soon as i was basically told not to go off. if i hadn't i would have lost my job there and then or at least my manager would have created a reason to dismiss me.
by the way, i am a man in my late 40's, double graduate, do i'm not stupid but these people made me feel so. I have always lacked self confidence and the ability to stand up for myself in confrontational situations and i've developed a very quick wit and sense of humour to help deflect some of the things that are thrown at me still. my current manger is a lovely person but she lacks the ability to take managerial decisions and things go on that she knows about but does nothing to prevent. so,anne, to a certain extent i understand what the above piece is about and i know how debilitating bullying can be. it sounds like you and i have had very similar experiences. i hope your situation gets better, i really do. you are not alone and that's what i would like other people reading this to know. you really are not alone.