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When we talk about a corporate institute or any firm, bullying is not the first thought that comes to our minds. After all, organizations operating in the market are well versed in how severe bullying in the workplace can be.
As a matter of fact, some people are utterly blind to the idea of bullying in the workplace. But this perception is only carried by a handful of people. Why? Because the sudden trend of posting every tiny detail about life on social media has brought awareness among people globally. Individuals have realized that employees can be mistreated at work without valid or logical reasons. Anyone can face bullying in a well-established organization, whether it’s a marketing head being bullied by a CEO or a data-entry specialist getting harassed by her line manager. Bullying has no gender biases or designation preference. And this is one place where equality hurts, right!
For anyone reading this who might have any confusion about what exactly doesn’t bullying at the workplace comprises, let me break it down for you.
What Exactly Is Bullying At Workplace
Bullying in the workplace is a harmful, targeted behaviour with ill-will that occurs in the workplace against someone. It could be sexist, offensive, mocking, belittling, taunting, or frightening. It is a pattern and is usually directed at a specific individual or a group of individuals.
Some of the examples of bullying could be:
• You are facing targeted & practical jokes.
• You are deliberately misinformed regarding work duties, such as inaccurate deadlines or unclear instructions.
• They have an unnecessary keen eye on your excelling performance at work.
• You are persistently denied a request for time off without any valid or appropriate reason.
• You are at the receiving end of threats, humiliation, and verbal abuse.
• You are facing excessively harsh or unfair criticism over anything possible.
Though I’ve included monitoring and criticizing in my list above, it’s not bullying in some cases. For instance, constructive and objective criticism shouldn’t be considered bullying. However, criticism that aims to humiliate or intimidate someone without reason is considered bullying.
So, if you really think about it, you must have seen someone facing bullying, or you might as well have been or are still a victim yourself. Let me help you identify it even more precisely.
• Your coworkers may be calmer or leave the space when you walk in or turn away.
• Getting out of the workplace, such as a party, chitchat, or even lunches for your team, is impossible.
• Your supervisor or manager might check in on you regularly or ask you to be present several times weekly without citing a reason.
• You may be required to perform additional or new tasks that aren’t part of your regular tasks without help or guidance, regardless of whether you ask the assistance.
• It may appear that your work is continuously monitored until you begin to doubt yourself and find it challenging to finish your daily tasks.
• It is possible to be required to complete complex or insignificant tasks and later be ridiculed or criticized for not being able to meet them.
• It could be a pattern to your documents, files, or other items that are related to your job or personal possessions disappearing.
The events might seem random at first. If they continue, you could be worried that the cause is something you did, and you could be concerned about being let go or reduced. Thinking about losing your job, or even taking a day off, can cause anxiety and stress.
But remember this, the behaviour of bullying isn’t always apparent. One way to spot bullying is to consider other people’s perceptions of the situation. It is possible to determine the assumption that bullying results from particular circumstances. If most people think that the behaviour isn’t justified, then it’s probably the result of bullying.
So, Here Are Types Of Bullying In The Workplace
The most commonly used behaviour of bullying is:
• Verbal – This could include jokes, mockery, insults, gossip, or verbal abuse.
• Dominance – This might include threats, social exclusion at working surveillance, and other privacy-related infringements.
• Concerning work performance – Examples include false accusations and interference with work performance, as well as theft or taking credit for the ideas of others.
• Retaliatory – In some instances, talking about bullying can result in accusations that you lie, further denial or even a denial of promotions or other forms of revenge.
• Institutional – Bullying is an institution that happens when the workplace permits or accepts bullying to take place. It could be a result of unreasonable production goals or forced overtime. It could also be the single treatment of those unable to keep up.
My Two Cents
To sum it all up, if you face bullying in your workplace, you need to report it to the Human Resources department of your company. HR is typically a department in every organization that looks after things concerning the workforce.
Or, if your company has a separate Harassment Team on board, talk to them about it immediately. I can understand the fear of losing your job can become more significant than Mt.Everest in your head. But trust me, you can’t keep quiet about such things. Otherwise, the predator becomes even more substantial.
