“Carla” was invited by her colleague to access a file on her computer. While “Carla” was searching she came across a file entitled by her own name. She opened the file and to her complete amazement was a log of her lunch habits. She closed the file and said nothing knowing full well that this colleague was not well liked in the office and not invited to join them for lunch. Three weeks later “Carla” had a review with her boss and the boss said that she was taking too many lunches outside of the office and that she was supposed to eat her food at her desk. The boss was reading the file from her colleague. “Carla” quit on the spot. She did not realize it at the time but she was a victim of workplace bullying.
Stephen Hill is a seasoned Employment Counselor with a fascination for teaching people to take personable responsibility in ones career. He believes that many of the current workplace systems are a perfect breading ground for bullying where people rely on human resources or the union to take care of them. He is the co-founder of www.nobullyforme.org, a useful source of resources.
His organization has also sanctioned the first ever Canadian Survey on Workplace Bullying and while they are no longer taking cases due to a high volume of request for help, the survey will be made available on the site.
Stephen himself was bullied at work…for seven years, before he realized what was going on. He has dedicated his spare time to this volunteer cause and advocates for respectful workplace environments where high standards are maintained in communication, integrity and etiquette.
Workplace bullying is more common that you may think. Different from harassment, which is more of an attack on your rights and who you are (ie. discrimination), bullying relates to what you do and how you behave. You become a target for a bully for your style. You are not at fault for being bullied.
Most bullying is based on envy and jealousy or suspicion. You, the target of the bully, have something they don’t have. Bullies are at heart insecure. An insecure person will find something wrong with you being perfect or imperfect.
Bullying is very seldom overt. Examples include being asked to create a report and not given everything you need to perform well and then criticized for your poor output. Being asked to give feedback on something only to find out that the task has already been completed or being micromanaged by post it note. At the core of bullying is inappropriate communication to the task.
If you suspect you are being bullied you have three choices: stay and try to fix it, stay and look for a new job, or get out now. If you leave the job because of the bully you might not think that is fair. Stephen’s experience is that the impact of looking for a new job will not even come close to the trauma you may experience if you stay.
Set a time limit of three months for example where you will try and fix the situation before you look for new work. Many people who remain in bullying environments suffer from “posttraumatic stress disorder-the same type soldiers have upon returning from the gulf war.”
Interestingly, the stereotype of the male boss bullying the subordinate is not prevalent and the gender imbalance towards men being the bully is incorrect.
Philippe Desrochers, known as Dr. Career can be reached at philippe@dr-career.com and is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before…Landing Your Dream Job available on Amazon.com and 99-series.com.
drcareer
Posted on April 17, 2011
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