In a national survey, the workplace bullying Institute found that 19% of adults said they have personally been bullied at work while another 19% said they had seen it happen to someone else.
Bullying is the repeated health-harming mistreatment of one or more people by one or more perpetrators, including verbal abuse, intimidation, threatening, or humiliating the target. It can interfere with a person’s performance at work; it can also create a psychological imbalance between the target and the person being bullied and causes helplessness. There are four types of bullies, the aggressive communicator, the disparagement humiliations, manipulators, and pretenders.
How to Stop Workplace Bullying?
1.Speak up
The moment someone mistreats you or behaves in a disagreeable manner, speak up immediately. Do not give the perpetrator a chance to keep on intimidating you. The perpetrators love feeding on your fear.
Body language is key when telling a person what they are doing is not right. You need to maintain an upright posture and speak up clearly and confidently.
- Draft the Events
If it took longer for you to get the courage to face the perpetrators, or maybe you were afraid to react or give the perpetrators the chance to change. Start documenting by keeping a journal and document all the situations where they happen, what happens, who does them.
If the perpetrator goes ahead to use emails, text messages, or phone calls, make sure they are documented. Having enough evidence against the perpetrator is an effective way of Dealing With Workplace Bullying.
- Distract yourself
Find other things to engage in after work because bullying can take a toll on you. For instance, you can join a football team, go swimming or even do yoga after work. It helps you get your mind off of what is happening because you will be with your support system with friends and family. Keep in mind not to vent always or project to your loved ones on what is happening at your place because there is a possibility it may lead to a relationship constraint.
- Do your homework
Since bullying is not illegal like harassment, find out if your company has a policy on bullying, mistreatment, verbal abuse, humiliation, or anything similar. You might get help. Also, seek legal advice. If your situation may be harassment, not bullying, look for an employment attorney and tell your precise story to see your options.
Talk to your manager (that is if your boss isn’t a bully)
Suppose you have tried to deal with the situation, and nothing is forthcoming.
If it is your boss, then to look for peer managers or someone senior to them, don’t seek advice from someone who hired your boss, family, or friends because if he gets a window of what you are alleging, the situation might get worse for you.
- Address bullying as soon as it occurs
Using a personality test, managers will have one-on-one conversations with those who are being bullied. Leaders will steer the dialogue and take steps to keep the victim safe if they have all of the facts. It also aids them in doing a check-up on the working environment.
- Educate your whole company
Not everyone realizes how their actions affect others or how they can be misinterpreted. As a result, be aware of what is expected of each worker, as well as what is and is not appropriate. So that everyone is aware of how to assist others and prevent unacceptable behavior. So that they can be aggressive and make their own decisions.
BULLYING IN THE WORKPLACE HAS CORROSIVE EFFECTS
Bullies in the workplace have been a problem. Employers and employees, on the other hand, have begun to identify them as efficiency assassins. Businesses lose $200 billion a year due to productivity losses caused by these bullies.
Bullying also leads to a higher rate of withdrawal behaviors. With time, it erodes the company. The following are some of its negative consequences.
- Decreased efficiency, profitability, and, as a result, profit.
- Employee turnover, vacation time, and absenteeism are all on the rise.
- Loyalty has declined.
- Increased operating costs as a result of hiring and training new employees.
- Workers’ financial penalties have increased.
- Indirect costs arising from the need to devote a significant amount of time to dealing with bullies and bullying circumstances.
- Bullies have the potential to ruin a company’s reputation.
- Fines from the fault diagnosis for failing to follow occupational health and safety regulations.
Conclusion
Don’t be silent when someone gets bullied because if you are, it’s like you are echoing what that person is doing. Calmly approach the situation to avoid escalation. Ask your colleagues if they have noticed something, and so agree to join forces.
