Helping You Cope With & Stop

WORKPLACE BULLYING

RESPECT • CIVILITY • ACCOUNTABILITY

Workplace Bullying:  Surprising Facts You Need To Know

Many people ask “How is workplace bullying different from working with difficult people, and what exactly is workplace bullying anyway?”

Workplace bullying is repeated, deliberate, disrespectful behavior by one or more people toward another for their own gratification, which in turn harms the target.

Bullying is deliberate, not accidental.
Bullying is always disrespectful with intent.
Bullying results in gratification for the bully, where the target feels severely disrespected.

Difficult people are not necessarily out to harm another; they are out to protect their own needs.  Therefore, if you can reason with a difficult person in order to show good will for their needs, they may change.  A bully will not change; they are out to destroy your needs.

Workplace bullying occurs in every country of the world, and 1 out of 6 people will report having being bullied in their lifetime. Statistics would be even higher if employees were more aware of what workplace bullying actually is.

Stress is the result of unmanaged exposure to workplace bullying.  The fear, uncertainty, doubt and emotional devastation that result from being bullied plays out frequently in a target’s emotional, mental and physical abilities.

According to the Workplace Bullying and Trauma Institute, the top health consequences are:

  1. Severe anxiety (94%)
  2. Sleep disruption (84%)
  3. Loss of concentration ((82%)

As a result, the top consequences for an organization are:

  1. Good morale (a positive culture) is traded for a fearful culture where people become hesitant, less free and less open.
  2. Teamwork will deteriorate into group-work or individual efforts.
  3. The agreeable, cooperative and supportive environment becomes hostile, secretive and dead.

So, how can workplace bullying be stopped and prevented?

  1. The first step is an educated workforce. What workplace bullying is, how it occurs, who are likely to be targets and bullies.  In addition, systems and accountabilities need to be put in place to protect and create the kind of workplace culture that is respectful.
  2. The second step is to empower employees to create and enforce workplace-bullying policies that protect a respectful workplace, and hold a bullying culture accountable to becoming a respectful culture.

We know that people want to be treated with respect. Workplace bullying demeans the individual and destroys the trust needed to do high quality work.

Workplace bullying can be stopped, but it must not rest only on the target’s shoulders to stop this behavior.  Stopping workplace bullying is everyone’s responsibility.  Upper management must use their authority to ensure that a respectful workplace exists.

We want to help you eliminate bullying from your workplace.

Together we can make the workplace a welcoming environment for you and your co-workers alike.

*Note: Your name and email will not ever appear, it is strictly used to prevent spam comments.

8 responses to “Workplace Bullying: Surprising Facts You Need To Know”

  1. Occupational Health says:

    Bullying cannot be defended on any reasonable grounds: it’s expensive; it creates turnover of the best and brightest; it impairs productivity; it damages employee health; it reinforces a workplace culture of destruction; it tarnishes an employer’s good reputation; and it lowers everyone’s quality of life and well being.

  2. MootoHalpPror says:

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  3. MootoHalpPror says:

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  4. Avoirlarrib says:

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    Jennifer,
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  5. DRECULTERLY says:

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  6. your blog is very comfortable

  7. Jean says:

    very useful read. I would love to follow you on twitter. By the way, did you know that some Iranian hacker had busted twitter yesterday.
    Jean

  8. jill says:

    How bullism – affects daily productivity!!!!!
    Do the same principles apply???? intentionally, not doing well on the job?, intentionally lowing productivity for the dept. and the company that employs you, as well as your co-workers – pushing more work onto them – through laziness, lack of informations, the right tools and time to get the job done right the first time. How to have a bully free workplace – should be a must for all businesses, industries. There is so much GOOD information in this book and pod casts, that really help people – when faced with bullism in the workplace. We need to get more PR on this.
    Workplace bullism will not stop until we make the decision to just say – welcome to your new workplace – bully free!!!!….I will keep bringing the subject up – bully free workplace – it’s everybody’s job – to eliminate – disrespectful behavior!!!!!!! Leopards that dont change their spots – might need to go back into the jungle.

Valerie Cade, CSP is a Workplace Bullying Expert, Speaker and Author of "Bully Free at Work: What You Can Do To Stop Workplace Bullying Now!" which has been distributed in over 100 countries worldwide. For presentations and consulting on workplace bullying prevention and respectful workplace implementation, go to http://www.BullyFreeAtWork.com

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