Bullying And Mobbing At Work

2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43

Mobbing Careful MOBBING !

Common situation? Memories of “benevolent” work colleagues, forcing you to rush in search of the fifth corner? In this case, do not rush to write a letter of resignation - employees simply sensed in you a strong competitor, a kind of “life-threatening predator”. Although, between us, you just fell victim to mobbing.

Imagine, for example, the head of the plastic cards department of one of the large banks - an excellent specialist Sidorov - just a year ago, as they say, was "outbid", tempted by a high salary. For the first two weeks everything went fine. And then one day, elated Sidorov ran into an elevator with the chairman of the bank's board, usually inaccessible to employees of his level. In response to the polite "how's it going?" our specialist enthusiastically began to talk about the project he had conceived, and now (oh, the happiest moment) the boss made an appointment for him in his office for a detailed conversation. Joyful, but very simple-minded Sidorov shared his luck with his head of department and colleagues at work. From that day on, his life changed radically. From now on, he was no longer praised, they were not interested in projects, on the contrary, all Sidorov's proposals were ridiculed, reproached for unprofessionalism. Even physical disabilities served as a pretext for bullying colleagues. After a grueling many months of struggle, trying to find a way out of this situation, Sidorov decided to quit.

This is a typical case of mobbing - psychological bullying at work, which causes terrible harm to the human psyche, destroying health and sometimes even leading to suicide.

Mobbing like herd dope

The famous naturalist Konrad Lorenz in his book "Aggression" describes one curious phenomenon - the case of a counterattack of prey against a predator: herd animals suddenly attack a wolf. For what purpose? To preserve the species, of course. Feel, so to speak, by the scent of the threat to life inherent in the enemy.

Constant stress at work makes people disabled. Now in Europe the word "mobbing" sounds almost everywhere. In the West, where in some countries the unemployment rate reaches a critical level, up to 17% of the population is exposed to psychoterrorism in the workplace. Mobbing is especially common among white-collar workers, that is, office workers. The more prestigious the position occupied by the employee and the higher the level of his qualifications, the more likely he will be attacked by colleagues and the boss.

Medical research has shown that a person who is bullied at work very soon becomes psychologically unstable. He spends all his energy on proving the most difficult and at the same time not entirely reasonable life theorem: “I'll show you what I'm worth! You will still learn and regret everything. Simply put, he begins to constantly prove to the work collective his professional and social worth. When psychoterror intensifies, the employee falls into social isolation, the so-called information vacuum. Having spent all his efforts on stupid proofs, he still does not receive the main thing - positive assessments of his actions. Becomes helpless, insecure and vulnerable. He is plagued by doubts and various phobias. Self-esteem decreases, psychosomatic symptoms accompanying stress appear - migraines, colds, insomnia … Chronic diseases develop gradually. In short, the victim of mobbing often begins to get sick, being drawn into a vicious circle: absence from work due to poor health causes industrial complaints and, of course, further mobbing attacks.

About the scapegoats

However, it is difficult to recognize mobbing. Yes, an unhealthy environment in the team (aggressive attacks of colleagues, an inappropriate tone in communication, slander and gossip) is fertile ground for him. But especially suspicious and inclined to inflate an elephant out of a fly, such a psychoterror should not be confused with an ordinary industrial conflict or unsettled personal relationships. By the way, those who are really victims of mobbing are not too willing to talk about their humiliations. Mobbing initiators also do not like to talk about their deeds. Moreover, the actions of the “villains” are often unconscious: “What is it? Doesn't he understand the jokes? A very difficult person - a terrible character …"

Why are they doing that? Well, for example, Konrad Lorenz used to say about human aggression and outright mobbing: “And the desired final situation is by no means that the enemy should lie dead in front of me. Oh no! He must be sensitively beaten, humbly acknowledging my physical, - and if he is a baboon, then spiritual superiority."

Both a young specialist and an experienced professional can become a victim of mobbing. A common option is bullying a newcomer. Especially if he is young and still does not know how to stand up for himself. During the adaptation period, a beginner has a particularly difficult time without professional help. The boss and colleagues unleash their displeasure on him, make him a scapegoat. The logic is simple - his predecessor, though poorly, coped with his duties. But the more actively the victim tries to prove his worth, the more demanding those around him. Giving more and more grounds to criticize oneself, a person becomes more and more insecure, his positions are weakening every day. The trouble is that soon he himself begins to consider himself completely helpless. But another thing is more terrible: God forbid the newcomer to be better and more talented not only his predecessor, but also many experienced specialists - will be eaten. The reasons for bullying at work can be very diverse and trivial - personal conflict, elementary envy, and even rejected sexual claims. Perhaps the cannibal boss is used to "eating" one person a month, or the boss is offended that someone is fine in his personal life, but he is not, or his children are much more stupid and lazy than the new one. Or maybe the boss suffers from suspiciousness, and it suddenly seemed to him that a higher management favored the new employee …

The most common mobbing techniques are yelling, gossiping, overloading an employee with work, etc. In addition, there are industry-specific methods of settling accounts. For example, computer people often use viruses or hacking to change the result of work or disable the computer. It is a special pleasure to terrorize a sick person with phone calls.

What to do?

Mobbing is not only harmful to the employee being attacked. The firm itself suffers. The work process is slowed down when employees who are hunted or addicted to the game of mobbing systematically delay decision-making, hide information or deliberately distort it. According to German scientists, the financial damage from psycho-terror in an average Western European firm can be 25 - 75 thousand euros per year.

In Europe, psychologists are dealing with this problem, whole clinics specialize in treating victims of mobbing, special counseling centers help to get out of crisis conditions, dozens of mobbing sites are being created on the Internet where you can find support.

But we have no one to expect help from the victims of mobbing. However, recently we have highly qualified psychologists who offer training participants their know-how on this problem. And yet … If you have become the object of bullying, think about whether it is worth spending your strength and health on the struggle, or it is better to find another job. Well, if you feel the potential of a fighter in yourself, try to simply ignore all the attacks. Sometimes it helps …

Emotional Abuse at Work: A Silent Infatuation?

Mobbing is a collective psychological terror, bullying against any of the employees by his / her colleagues, subordinates or superiors, carried out in order to force him / her to leave the place of work. The means to an end are rumor spreading, intimidation, social isolation and, in particular, humiliation. As a result of this persistent, intensely hostile attitude, the mental and physical condition of the victim of such persecution can be severely impaired. This article sheds light on the pervasive phenomenon of mobbing and offers solutions and advice to victims, their families and organizations.

Millions of men and women of all ages, nationalities and races hate going to work, gradually fall into despair and often become seriously ill. Some have to flee from the job they once loved, others endure such a situation, unable to find a way out. “Every day was like going to the battlefield. I never knew at what point the next bomb would be dropped. For fear that anyone could be my enemy, I was afraid to trust anyone else. I was mentally and physically exhausted. I knew that soon I would definitely need to get some kind of relief. But there was no hope of respite,”Diana said when we asked what she was going through every day. What's happening? Why is this happening? How widespread is this phenomenon? What can you do about it?

The word "mobbing" means such behavior of colleagues, management or subordinates in relation to any of the employees when they periodically, for weeks, months or even years, carry out targeted harassment, attacks that infringe on his / her self-esteem, undermine the reputation and professional competence. The person is emotionally abused, directly or indirectly, is constantly humiliated and often unjustly accused. The result is always trauma and dismissal. Psychologist and medical scientist Dr. Hantz Leiman first conducted research on this phenomenon in workplaces in Sweden in the early 1980s. He called this behavior mobbing and described it as "psychological terror", which includes "the systematic repeated hostile and unethical attitude of one or more people directed against another person, mostly one." Leiman identified 45 behaviors typical for mobbing: withholding information, social isolation, defamation, incessant criticism, spreading unfounded rumors, ridicule, shouting, etc. Since the organization ignores this behavior of its employees, condones or even provokes these actions, it can be said that the victim, apparently helpless against strength and number, is in fact persecuted. The health and mental state of a person subjected to such attacks suffers greatly, diseases on the basis of nervousness and a feeling of social inferiority appear.

While mobbing and bullying are similar concepts, mobbing refers to the harassment of an employee by a manager, line manager, colleague, or subordinate who engages others in systematic and frequent bullying. Bullying refers to one-on-one stalking. When it comes to mobbing, management is often tacitly involved in the process. This is why, in such a case, the victim is very rarely able to get help. Anyone can be mobbed. It is not aggression directed against someone who belongs to a certain circle that is protected, such as discrimination based on age, gender, race, religion or nationality. Therefore, bullying / mobbing refers to activities that David Yamada, professor of law at the University of Suffolk, called common to all, or “status-blind”.

The consequences of mobbing

Mobbing is a form of violence, emotional abuse. In the book Violence at Work, published by the International Labor Office (ILO) in 1998, mobbing and bullying are mentioned along the same lines as murder, rape or robbery. While bullying or mobbing may seem harmless compared to rape or other forms of physical abuse, the effect they have on the victim, especially if it lasts long enough, is so destructive that some people consider committing suicide. … And we do not exclude the possibility that some cases of attacks of unmotivated aggression may be the result of the feelings experienced by people who have been emotionally abused at work.

The consequences of mobbing and bullying primarily affect the health and mental state of a person. Depending on the severity, frequency and duration of such exposure and on how psychologically resistant a person is to it, people can suffer from a number of psychological and physical disorders: from occasional sleep problems to nervous breakdowns, from irritability to depression. from difficulty concentrating to panic or even heart attacks. If an employee is only occasionally absent from work, then in the event of mobbing or bullying, this can turn into frequent and prolonged sick leave.

Many who have been the target of mobbing are so severely impaired that they can no longer carry out their official duties. In the end, they leave of their own accord or against it, their contract is terminated, or they are forced to retire early. Oddly enough, the victims are made to blame for this, they are presented as people who themselves brought on these misfortunes. And in many cases, after a person is fired or he leaves, the health problems that have arisen can remain and even intensify and lead to such a diagnosis as post-traumatic stress. But it is not only the mental state and health of a person that are strongly negatively affected. The consequences also seriously affect the families of these people and the organizations in which they work. Relationships suffer, the level of labor productivity in the company falls, because people's energy is channeled into mobbing rather than important daily tasks.

How it starts and why it happens

It often starts with a conflict, any kind of conflict. Such a conflict often arises due to various kinds of changes. And it doesn't matter how hard a person tries to solve the problem - the conflict is insoluble. It seems to such a person that there is nowhere to get help. The conflict does not disappear, but gradually escalates to the point where there is no turning back. What could have been resolved with a little goodwill and with the help of appropriate local governance mechanisms is now turning into a “who is right and who is wrong” dispute.

Some of the blame and humiliation of an employee can be caused by an unhealthy psychological atmosphere that reigns in the organization and requires you to find your "scapegoat", as well as a desire for power over others and personal anger dictated by fear or envy. This is where group psychology and the complex interweaving of social processes of organization come into play.

Why is this happening, you ask, and why such harassment in the workplace is tolerated when more structures and laws are in place to protect workers than ever before? We believe there are three reasons why this is happening. The first of them is ignoring the manifestations of mobbing, tolerating it, misinterpreting it or actually deliberately provoking it by the company itself or by the leadership of the organization. The second reason is that such actions are still not regarded as actions in the workplace that are completely different from sexual harassment or discrimination. And finally, the third reason is that in most cases the victims are simply exhausted. They are exhausted and unable to defend themselves, let alone start a lawsuit.

Mobbing fee

In 1991, Brady Wilson, a clinical psychologist who specializes in treating trauma at work, wrote in Personnel Journal (now Workforce Magazine) that “Psychological abuse of workers resulted in the loss of billions of dollars. The psychological trauma sustained at work as a result of mobbing is more destructive for the employee and employer than all other work-related stresses combined. The actual costs, which translate into reduced productivity, health care and litigation costs, not to mention socio-psychological impacts, have yet to be quantified. Dr. Harvey Hornstein, a professor of social organization psychology at Columbia University College of Education, estimates in his book Brutal Bosses and Their Prey that as many as 20 million Americans face abuse at work each. day, and just right to talk about an epidemic.

More and more people learn about the problem

Be that as it may, but more and more people learn about this phenomenon. The problem of bullying and mobbing at work is increasingly being discussed in the media and professional communities. Scientists studying the characteristics of behavior in organizations are now paying attention to this problem as well. Thus, over the past two years, a number of publications have appeared in scientific journals and several books have been written that are devoted to ill-treatment in the workplace, brutality of the authorities, the problem of bullying and mobbing.

What can be done

Raising awareness of the problem has led to the creation of several organizations that provide help in case of difficulties at work, where people can turn for support. Those who have been mobbed or targeted for bullying have a number of options to deal with.

The most important thing is that they must understand that what they have to experience now has a name, this phenomenon has become well known and is being studied more and more. They need to understand that they have been made victims and that there is almost nothing that can be done about it.

Second, they need to consider their options for solving the problem in the short, medium or long term: is there a way to get help that they haven’t tried yet? Is it possible to transfer to another position within the company? Are they ready to look for another job? What needs to be done to prepare for this transition? Do you need medical or treatment-and-prophylactic assistance?

We advise these people to carefully assess all the possibilities, try to be confident in themselves and, most importantly, to control the situation. We also advise you to leave this place of work, and the sooner the better. It is better to make these temporary sacrifices than to endure the ongoing humiliation, which can later have a much stronger negative impact on health.

Management also needs to be vigilant and recognize early signs of mobbing. A company policy that obliges employees to treat each other with respect and encourages courtesy helps to prevent mobbing. Experts from the European Association for Psychotherapy have a special right to identify mobbing as a possible reason for an employee to seek help. Often they are the first to whom an employee turns or is sent, who has problems of a socio-psychological nature. Therefore, it is imperative that people are aware of the consequences of mobbing at work as a possible high risk factor.

Thanks to the large amount of literature and media covering this topic in Europe, the problem of mobbing in the workplace has become widely known. Not only has mobbing become a well-known word in Scandinavia and German-speaking countries, but in order to address the problem of mobbing in a legislative way, several countries have adopted new laws to prevent the occurrence of this phenomenon, to protect and ensure the safety of employees in the workplace, including the emotional component of health in work.

For example, in 1993, the Swedish National Occupational Safety and Health Administration passed a regulation on workplace harassment. Moreover, new organizations have been created to assist victims of mobbing throughout Europe and Australia. Measures to combat manifestations of mobbing, to provide assistance to its victims and prevent the occurrence of this phenomenon were subsequently taken in a relatively short period of time. For example, the daily press published hotline telephone numbers and contact addresses for advice on this matter.

Summary

Mobbing is emotional abuse, ill-treatment, which is directly or indirectly carried out by a group of employees against any of the employees. People who have been mobbed experience severe suffering. Mobbing is a serious workplace problem that in most cases results in employees being fired at their own will or against them. The social and economic consequences of a syndrome called "mobbing" have yet to be quantified. Mobbing can continue to exist as long as it is allowed. The leadership of the organization plays a critical role in preventing this phenomenon. By insisting on good manners, courtesy, good work ethic and a caring atmosphere for employees, mobbing and bullying can be prevented. Millions of executives at various levels and thousands of companies do just that. They serve as a good example and a real haven for their workers.

Noah Davenport is a professor of conflict management at Iowa State University and co-author of Mobbing: Emotional Abuse in the US Workplace. Recently, he has been a trainer at the consulting company DNZ Training and Consulting.