This paper will provide a review of the 2011 article entitled Workplace Bullying: Costly and Preventable describing the impact of workplace bullying on both the victims and the organization coupled with my personal experiences of workplace bullying and concluding with the recommendation of two techniques from the Weedier article that can be implemented in workplace bullying. ‘Workplace bullying is a pervasive practice by malicious individuals who seek power, control, domination, and subjugation” (Weedier, 2011).
The Workforce Bullying Institute, the leader in workplace bullying research and data, reports hat: 61% of bullying occurs within the same gender, and 71% of female bullies target other women… Bullies typically target individual(s) they perceive to pose a threat… [bullied] targets were reportedly better liked, had more social skills, likely possessed higher emotional intelligence, and were appreciated by colleagues, customers, and management for the warmth and care they brought to the workplace. Weedier, 2011). The damage of workplace bullying tends to be more psychological and social in nature; feelings of anger, resentment, anxiety, or fear can lead these employees to perform poorly thus affecting their position thin a company. Workplace bully victims can also use the negative feelings and emotions of being to bullied to bully other employees thereby creating a harmful cycle. Workplace bullying effects not just the involved individuals but also the organization at-large.
With the ramifications of bullying posing the potential for poor work performance, the organization is less efficient as a result. Also, when workplace bullying isn’t clearly and properly addressed by the upper management of an organization it can lead to subordination. Employees can take the lead of management and “bend” the rules and mandates of the office leveling that repercussions and disciplinary action aren’t very likely.
It is for these reasons that employers and those working in management and upper- management, need to consistently revisit the company rules, ethics and other policies that prohibit bulling behavior and detail punitive action for offenders. In my professional experience I have witnessed forms or workplace bullying from time to time. In a particular instance the property manager of a building I managed blatantly singled out and treated one particular employee differently from the others.
This employee was required to perform duties outside of their job description yet another employee in the same position was given far less work to perform and seemed to serve as the property manager’s personal assistant and “friend”. Weedier (2011) details the practices of workplace bullies (including management) by asserting “Bullying is typically a series of calculated incidents that accumulate over time, carefully planned and executed by the bully to avoid legal grounds for grievance or disciplinary actions” (Weedier, 2011).
Another firsthand example of workplace bullying came in the form of one reworked distorting, misrepresenting, and twisting the words of another employee for their personal gain. In this instance the workplace bully was also a pathologic liar – they would spread untruths about others for the sole purpose of making themselves look better and more competent. In order to prevent or stop workplace bullying “Serial violators need to be identified and stopped in their tracks.
Policies, rules, and practices must be in place to make workplaces safe and conducive to workers producing at peak levels” (Weedier, 2011). These rules and policies should be discussed with all new ire’s, mentioned at staff meetings, and posted in plain sight for all employees to see so in the instance of workplace bullying, employers and business can execute a zero tolerance policy with swift disciplinary action. Another method to curb workplace bullying is to “Address reported or suspected bullying directly…
A tremendous disconnect often occurs between what employees and employers believe to be the existence and degree of workplace bullying” (Weedier, 2011). With employers being proactive in ending workplace bullying they are setting a standard not just for their respective company but for all of the staff. It may seems elementary but by invoking a sense of cause and effect relative to bullying, employees understanding that their actions cause a reaction when involving bullying results in disciplinary action.
