It can start as innocent banter at your expense from your colleagues or as inappropriate remarks from your boss. However, if it stops being an exceptional situation and becomes the norm, it is likely to be workplace bullying. In this article, we’ll look at what types of workplace bullying we know and give you advice on how to defend yourself against it.
Bullying is a form of repeated abuse, humiliation or harassment of someone. It usually takes place in an environment where the bully has power over the victim. Bullying can be physical, verbal (e.g. derogatory remarks, taunting) or emotional (e.g. excluding, ignoring). It often occurs in schools, work environments or online.
It is important to distinguish between bullying and one-off conflicts or minor disagreements that are common in everyday life. Bullying is characterised by its persistent, repeated nature and has serious negative consequences for the victim, including psychological problems, anxiety, depression or even physical health problems.
Workplace bullying most often manifests itself as long-standing hostile relationships which, over time, turn into humiliation and ridicule. The specifics include the fact that it takes place in the work environment and thus affects work performance and the overall atmosphere of the work environment.
Workplace bullying is also specific in that it usually involves an element of power, where the bully uses his or her position (e.g. managerial position) to humiliate or control the victim. This type of bullying is called bossing. However, bullying can also occur between colleagues who are at the same level of power at work. In this case, it is called mobbing.
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As we have already announced, bossing is a form of workplace bullying that is directed by supervisors towards subordinates. It is a systematic and repeated pattern of behaviour designed to humiliate, intimidate, control or otherwise harm the victim.
Specific manifestations of bossing include:
An example of bossing is when a supervisor repeatedly points out an employee’s mistakes without offering specific examples or opportunities to improve. The criticism is delivered in a way that is demeaning and ridiculing to the subordinate. However, when it is not bossing is when it is constructive criticism. For example, when the supervisor regularly provides feedback to the employee that is balanced between acknowledging positive contributions and specific areas that could be improved.
A prime example of bossing can be found in the film The Devil Wears Prada, in which the main character Miranda Priestley, the editor-in-chief of a fashion magazine, bullies her assistant Andy: – she has absurdly high expectations, does not give clear and constructive feedback, and often gives Andy tasks that have the sole purpose of causing her to fail.
Mobbing is workplace bullying between colleagues. It is therefore systematic and repeated behaviour that is intended to humiliate, intimidate, control or otherwise harm a colleague who is not in a subordinate position.
Mobbing most often manifests itself verbally in the form of humiliation and insults. However, jokes and taunts that go beyond what is acceptable are also common. Another common manifestation is isolation , manifested by excluding a colleague from group activities, ignoring their presence or contributions.
An example of mobbing is when a group of employees forms in a work environment and begins to systematically ignore and exclude a new colleague. They ignore him/her at social events, do not include him/her in important meetings, do not take his/her ideas into account and avoid him/her in joint work activities.
The last and rarest form of workplace bullying is staffing. This is bullying of a superior by subordinate employees.
Workplace bullying can have widespread and serious consequences for both the individual and the workplace. It affects bullied individuals both psychologically and physically. It causes long-term stress, anxiety and depression. The stress caused by bullying can then lead to physical symptoms such as headaches, digestive problems or sleep problems.
Bullying also affects the work performance of the bullied person as it causes a decline in work performance. It limits their opportunities for career progression and can even lead to the termination of the working relationship.
In the work environment, it often impairs teamwork and creates an unpleasant working environment. This in turn leads to reduced work performance and increased staff turnover, which in turn causes economic downturns and increases staff costs.
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Bullying is often confused with discrimination in the workplace, which has its own legal provisions. And yes, in some cases bullying does manifest itself as discrimination, but often it is not. In fact, discrimination is based on treating employees differently on the basis of their sexual orientation, nationality, race, origin, gender, etc. It is therefore disadvantaging an individual or group on the basis of their identity.
Discrimination is therefore based on specific criteria (e.g. race, gender), whereas bullying can have different motivations (e.g. power or personal).
Examples of discrimination include the situation where an employer refuses to hire a person because of his or her race, even though he or she has the necessary qualifications, or the common situation where a company pays men better than women who do the same job with comparable efficiency.
Tip: Defending against discrimination is much easier than defending against bullying because it is clearly established in legislation. Find out how to defend discrimination in the workplace in the next article.
Unfortunately, defending yourself against bullying is not always easy. In fact, bullying is often difficult to prove. However, there are options:
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Whistleblowing and the Whistleblower Protection Act play an important role in the problem of workplace bullying. This is because it allows employees or others to report illegal, unethical or harmful practices in an organisation without consequential sanctions.
Tip: In some cases, mobbing and bossing can be a criminal offence. When Find out in our article.
Bossing and mobbing are serious workplace problems that can have long-term negative effects on both individuals and the overall work environment. It is important to distinguish between constructive criticism and bullying, which is characterised by systematic and repeated humiliation or intimidation. There are defences to bullying, such as collecting evidence, communicating with supervisors or the HR department, and in extreme cases, legal action.
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