If you're always having a hard time at work, for reasons that don't make any sense, you might be subject to bullying. Bullying isn't usually a one off incident, but a repeating pattern of relatively trivial incidents which all have the effect of making you feel angry, useless, scared about job security, and which prevent you from being as productive as you want to be. You might fight off criticism of poor performance by working harder, but find obstacles in your way. At first, you probably think you must deserve it for a reason you cannot see, or you put it down to the someone else's stupidity. Eventually, when it comes to a head, someone else will probably tell you you're being bullied.

When you discover you're being bullied, it's difficult to work out how to address it. If you do nothing, it can get worse. If you tackle it head on, it can get worse. According to workplace bullying pioneer the late Tim Field, once you do something to try and make it stop, it gets much worse.

If you think you might be a bully's target:

• Find out all you can about bullying by reading what's out there on the Internet. This web site is a growing resource of people looking for answers about workplace bullying, and the Links page highlights a few resources that we think are valuable.
• Join a discussion forum like the one here on MyGrievance.co.uk. You'll find hundreds of people who know exactly what you're feeling, and why.
• Read a book. Tim Field's "Bully In Sight" remains the "bible" of many, simply because of its prophetic accuracy. The employment law section is now becoming a little dated, but the principles behind the book will never go out of date.
• Keep a journal of what's happened, and what is happening. Keep it accurate and keep it safe.
• Look after your health. Bullying can damage your emotional health, and more. Fighting bullying can be as stressful as putting up with it. More important than fighting bullying is making sure you are well. Keep an eye on the way you feel and the way you react to things. Encourage a trusted close friend or family member to tell you what they think of your behaviour. If in any doubt, see your GP.

If you know you're being bullied, and you have not suffered major health problems, and you have not (yet) filed a complaint, you should at some point consider changing jobs. Take a salary drop if you have to. This seems completely unfair, but it is better to change jobs under your own control rather than waiting until you're forced to chance against your will, when you least need it and with, by then, possibly a poor disciplinary and medical record. There's more about this elsewhere on MyGrievance.co.uk

If you can't just leave, and you feel its important to take a stand, then do. Discover your legal rights and assert them. Learn about the Dispute Resolution Procedures and use them. Use this web site to identify and predict how bully-tolerant employers react to complaints of bullying

If you’re an employer who has found this page because a potential bullying situation has just come to your notice, the best time to start dealing with it is right now. I have discovered that most damage is done the moment an officer of an employer decides that it would be undesirable to admit that bullying might have occurred. This denial usually begins where an employee complains that they have been bullied. While some find denial an easy option in the short term, it is addictive, with the urge to deny increasing during the inevitable and unstoppable process of decline that follows. Nothing facilitates and propagates workplace bullying more effectively than denying its existence.

However it is done, turning a blind eye to one person’s alleged gross misconduct leads to a working environment that is inherently and openly unfair, and guaranteed to be dysfunctional – people no longer work together as effectively as they could, leading to disloyalty, litigation with former employees, increasing rates of long term absenteeism and staff turnover, declining productivity, quality and profit, and having customers place their business with competitors. This site's sponsor Humane Resources Ltd offers help to employers wanting to prevent or defuse workplace bullying situations.

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed