badworkplace

Posts Tagged ‘Bullies’

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Was Annie Le’s killer a BULLY unchecked?

In WORK - Bad Workplaces, WORK - Workplace Violence on 10/11/2009 at 9:27 pm

Bullying at work is a grown-up version of schoolyard bullying, and far too often it is ignored until the bully’s behavior crosses the line into violent behavior.  Bullies are coworkers who use ridicule, make overt or covert threats, or exert authority that the organization has not given them. At the Yale U. Lab Raymond Clark allegedly tried to give orders to others regarding footwear (not a responsibility delegated to him) and cleaning cages (his job, which he had no authority to assign to others). 

Bullies are insecure individuals who have unresolved personal problems of one kind or another. They intimidate others as a means of getting their way or to compensate for their feeling of low self-esteem. They do not feel capable of winning others over to their side by stating their positions or by competing intellectually.  In other words, they pick on and threaten others to “act out” their own feelings of worthlessness.  For that reason, they often attack the most vulnerable—the coworker who is least likely to fight back—to demonstrate their power and their worth.

Bullies also attack the most competent—the ones against whom they fear they cannot compete successfully on the basis of workplace performance. Their objective may be to get the over-achiever to slow down or quit so that he or she is no longer a threat.  Or bullying may simply be the way that individual has learned to handle his or her jealousy of another’s competence or popularity.  In this case, the negative behavior probably is the bully’s way of showing that, while an individual may be successful or popular, he or she is less powerful and more vulnerable than the bully is.

Finally, there are individuals who are so mentally unfit that they simply enjoy humiliating, embarrassing, or degrading their coworkers. Even at the risk of alienating other coworkers, they savor the moments of control over the targeted person’s sense of well-being.

Whatever the reasons or motivations, bullying behavior does not just cease if ignored.  It can advance to more serious acts, including murder.

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HARASSMENT TO GET REVENGE

In WORK - Bad Workplaces, WORK - Harassment on 09/20/2009 at 11:42 pm

Some individuals never seem to discard  their childhood playground antics, regardless of how high they rise in the workplace.

CASE: An employee is  experiencing retaliatory harassment after speaking (confidentially, she thought) with her supervisor and that person’s supervisor about the difficulty in concentrating with all the extraneous noise in a room of cubicles — workers talking and laughing, radios playing, loud telephone conversations, etc., in addition to the normal office noise such as file cabinets being opened and closed, normal conversations and telephone voices, etc.   A memo was sent to everyone, pointing out that the area sometimes gets very noisy and that all should work together to create a better working environment.  The person who “complained” is now the big-E, as in Enemy.  She experiences dirty looks, talking behind her back, bumping her, ‘accidentally’ messing up her papers, and other things. Also, some workers now seem to be intentionally noisier—slamming books on tables, banging file cabinet drawers shut, bumped carts into walls, etc.

You can surely sympathize with this worker if you have ever complained or reported to a supervisor in confidence, only to find later that the entire office knows about your conversation and the subsequent action, which now makes you Enemy #1 and the subject of ostracism.  The supervisor is probably as surprised as the worker to find that the positive memo would cause a problem for the worker who requested help.  Such an ugly reaction is frequently caused by one individual who functions as a “leader” in agitating others – often by circulating incorrect information. This same “leader” may sabotage other persons and projects without suffering any personal blame.

Does the worker in this case dare go back to her supervisor and explain that the situation has worsened? Can we assume that her coworkers received accurate information about what she said in that “confidential” meeting? Should she try talking with some or all the coworkers to be sure that her complaint has been fairly represented by the boss?

Should she try to pretend that the intentional noise is not bothering her, so they don’t get the “sick joy” of thinking that they are “pushing her buttons”?  Should she just smile at the worst offenders and hope that most offenders will cease to annoy her if she stays quit and friendly?

What has worked for you or someone you know in a similar circumstance?  Let us  hear from you.