No one should feel unsafe or belittled at work. Yet, workplace bullying remains one of the most overlooked challenges employees face.
Workplace bullying can seriously affect morale, productivity, and overall performance, both for individual employees and the business at large. Not all bullying is physical, bullying can take many forms and sometimes it’s difficult to prove you’re being bullied at work. When the bullying has been consistent and subtle over a sustained period, you might start to doubt your own sanity or convince yourself that it’s OK.
However, recognizing when someone is being bullied at work can help create better prevention strategies and improve performance. In this post, we’ll explain how to identify workplace bullying and share tips on how to handle it.
What is workplace bullying?
Workplace bullying can be defined as the repeated less favorable treatment of a person by another or others in the workplace, which may be considered an unreasonable and inappropriate workplace practice. It includes behavior that intimidates, offends, degrades, or humiliates a worker, possibly in front of co-workers, clients, or customers.
Here are some examples of workplace bullying:
- Verbal: This could include mockery, humiliation, jokes, gossip, or other spoken abuse.
- It could also take the form of intimidation, which might include threats, social exclusion in the workplace, spying, or other invasions of privacy.
- On one’s work performance, workplace bullying can include wrongful blame, work sabotage or interference, stealing or taking credit for another person’s ideas.
- In some cases, talking about the bullying can lead to accusations of lying, further exclusion, refused promotions, or other forms of retaliation.
- Some other times, it can be about the work place itself where the institution accepts, allows, and even encourages bullying to take place. This bullying might include unrealistic production goals, forced overtime, or singling out those who can’t keep up.
How to recognize workplace bullying
Warning signs of workplace bullying can vary. Below are some examples of how to recognize whether you or someone you know is being bullied at work.
- Coworkers might become quiet or leave the room when you walk in, or they might simply ignore you.
- You might be left out of office parties, team lunches, or casual chitchat.
- Your supervisor or manager might check on you often or ask you to meet multiple times a week without a clear reason.
- You may be asked to do new tasks or tasks outside your typical duties without training or help, even when you request it.
- Your work may seem frequently monitored, to the point where you begin to doubt yourself and have difficulty with your regular tasks.
- You might be asked to do difficult or seemingly pointless tasks and be ridiculed or criticized when you can’t get them done.
- You may notice a pattern of your documents, files, equipment, or other work-related or personal items going missing.
How to handle workplace bullying
As an employee:
- Keep a detailed record of each bullying incident, including dates, times, locations, witnesses, and a description of what happened. This is known as a contemporaneous record. It will be very useful if you decide to take action at a later stage. Save any emails, messages, or other forms of communication that demonstrate the bullying behavior.
- Making a formal complaint is the next step if you cannot solve the problem informally. Schedule a meeting with your supervisor or HR representative to discuss the situation and present your evidence.
- If your company fails to address the issue adequately, consider seeking legal advice from an employment law attorney
As supervisors:
- Educate your employees on respectful workplace behaviors and what acts could constitute bullying
- Develop your sensitivity and skills in dealing with and responding to conflict
- Structure your work environment to incorporate a sense of autonomy, individual challenge, and clarity of expectations. Include your staff in decision-making processes.
- Have a demonstrated commitment to what is and is not acceptable behavior.
- When bullying is witnessed or reported, take the complaint or situation seriously and investigate it promptly.
It is very uncomfortable to be in a workplace where you face bullying and have no way of dealing with it. As employees and employers, we must recognize and handle this situation to ensure the physical and mental well-being of employees, productivity and performance, to prevent legal risks and reputational damage to the company, to prevent escalation, and to ensure a sense of value and respect that’s vital to employee engagement.
Everyone should have the right to work in an environment that is free of bullying. Remember, you have the right to a safe and respectful workplace, and it’s not your fault if you’re being bullied. By taking action against bullying behavior and prioritizing your well-being, you can reclaim your power and thrive in your career.