Buyilling in the Workplace, Research Paper Example

Abstract

The paper studies workplace bullying trying to discover the causes of this phenomenon, the impact on the employees and on the organization and the manner in which the victims respond to bullying. In doing so, the paper hopes to find effective solutions to address workplace bullying, both for the organizations and for the persons involved. In order to reach a conclusion, the researcher reviewed relevant literature in the domain and used a questionnaire in order to obtain data concerning actual cases of workplace bullying. Findings suggest that both personal and organizational factors contribute to bullying and that the victims usually do not take legal action against the aggressors. Another problem concerns the lack of action at the level of the company. Finally, the paper suggests solutions to reduce workplace bullying.

Introduction

Background

Workplace bullying is one of the forms of aggression that are mostly ignored by the authorities and by employers. Yet, different forms of workplace bullying are frequent in our society and represent a great source of stress for those affected. Workplace bullying can be defined as unfriendly treatment of one or more people in the workplace (Chaplin 2009). Workplace bullying not only affects the individual but may also affect the organization because it causes the affected persons to become stressed and produce less for the company (Samnani and Singh 2012). In addition, certain stereotypes about the workplace bullying continue to exist (Taylor & Zeng, 2011). These stereotypes may stop the employer from recognizing cases of workplace bullying before the problem becomes more serious. Avoiding workplace bullying is not only the right thing to do, but it may also be the best strategy from an economic point of view.  An employer may be held responsible in cases of bullying and harassment leading to financial impacts. Therefore, organizations should make sure that they know of all the existent laws that address workplace bullying and other forms of workplace harassment (Oade 2009).

Workplace Bullying Problems

In order to address workplace bully, employers may take several steps to stop or reduce the cases of workplace bullying. Examples include: employee training and not hiring the wrong people by neglect. If one studies carefully the applicant’s background, one can avoid hiring aggressive people. One of the most important things is to take steps to deal with workplace bullying and other forms of harassment in a timely manner because any delay only makes the problem more difficult to control (Samnani and Singh 2012). The paper will focus on the literature on the topic in order to study how researchers addresses bullying in the workplace and to what level this phenomenon is understood. Understanding bullying in the workplace, its causes, its effects and the research limitations about it, are very important because they may help employers and victims to deal with it and even, to stop it from taking place.

Literature Review

The subject of bullying in the workplace is also known as “mobbing” in many countries and it is generally felt as a complicated problem. According to Avergold, bullying is something that “comes in many shapes and shades, with multiple causes on many levels, and with diverging views on its very nature” (As cited in Cooper, 2011). A bullied employee can notice a decrease in motivation and success. Aryanne Oade (2009) claims that bullies use fear as a tool to keep their victims under their control and intimidate them in front of other people to make sure that they keep silence. There are others who suffer from being ignored by the rest of the employees and even isolated. It seems that the aim of bullying is to humiliate, intimidate, and scare again and again.

Researchers such as Einarsen and Leymann make a difference between work-related bullying and person-related bullying (As cited in Cooper, 2011). Work-related bullying refers to behaviors that involve giving too short deadlines, heavy duties or exaggerated work comments and giving unimportant tasks. In addition, Einarsen and Leyman consider that “the most extreme form of work-related bullying is probably not to assign any tasks at all to a person” (As cited in Cooper, 2011). There are also issues that are separate from the workplace and are connected to person bullying.

For instance, spreading gossip or false rumors, making critical comments, intimidating and playing jokes are a form of bullying (Samnani and Sigh 2012), Thus, most actions related to work bullying are psychological more than physical. Bullying is quite common in the workplace these days. Such acts are directed on a regular basis towards the same employee and this can become a serious source of stress. Humiliation as a form of workplace bullying can have negative effects on health and increase the effort of completing tasks (Samnani and Sigh 2012). Generally, we can discuss about the unfair power between the employers and the employees. Einarsen believes that “a victim is constantly teased, badgered and insulted and perceives that he or she has little recourse to retaliate” (As cited in Cooper, 2011).

O’Moore and Lynch (2007) and Cowie (2002) have come with an interesting theory about the main personality factors that trigger work bullying. The most important factors are timidity, lack of confidence, and low self-esteem. Dominant personalities fear of being considered weak and they express and reveal their authority by all means. Such dictatorial people may actually be quite timid or feel easily in danger of losing his or her position and thus, make use of bullying. According to O’Moore and Lynch (2007), an employee with low confidence may find a way to deal with these issues by bullying others. Also, Cowie (2002) claims that both individual factors and organizational factors are very important causes of bullying. For example, if there is an effective anti-bullying policy, there are fewer chances for bullying to occur.

In order to solve the issue of bullying in the workplace, people first need to become aware of the problem and of its importance and consequences. Michael Chaplin (2009) explains that one of the problems faced by employees was that courts refused to address their problem because there was no legal basis for action. Also, Sperry (2009) explains that untreated, trauma caused by bullying may lead to posttraumatic stress disorder and bullying is even more traumatic than sexual harassment.

In conclusion, the workplace bullying phenomenon is similar to a certain extent to domestic violence: interaction between the abuser and the abused person, lack of witness intervention and neglect from those in charge. The methods to fight against it are also similar to domestic violence, and include increased awareness, support for dedicated organizations and need for better legislation.

Findings

Findings from the literature indicate that there are different types of bullying which can occur in the workplace. Results suggest that ignoring the victim is one of the most common and serious types of bullying. The aggressor can refuse to give assignments to the victim, or exclude him from a group. Also, various causes of bullying have been found, such as issues about the attacker, the victim, the company policy regarding bullying and the absence of competence to address this problem in the law and in the society.

Regardless of the type, bullying affects both the individual and the organization, causing mental or physical problems to the victim and therefore, his efficiency in the workplace. The organization will record lower productivity and will end up by losing money. Both because of the impact on the organization and on the individual, researchers tried to find why bullying takes place and what can be done about it. Findings demonstrate several causes of bullying and that efforts are made to deal with this problem at different levels.

Findings from a questionnaire presented to workers in a company from the semiconductor industry showed that 9 of the 20 participants were bullied at the workplace, of which 6 were females and 3 were males. All the participants identified he line manager as the bully. Five of the participants were bullied verbally while the other 4 experienced cyber bullying.  Bulling included racism in the case of 4 of the participants and sexism in the case of the other 5. All respondents declared that the bullying lasted for 9 months and that it affected their life and their personal relationships.  None of the respondents took official action against the bully and all 9 have been signed off work as a result of the abuse.

Discussion

There are still many unknown factors regarding the bullying process. For example, Len Cowie et al. (2009) associate bullying at the workplace with bullying in school, arguing that the same personal factors, which include low self-esteem, timidity, or lack of friends are major causes of bullying.

Also, the manner in which work bullying is seen by the population and in the society is important.  People generally do not know much about this phenomenon and how to address it if they become victims of bullying or they witness it. Also, the law does not address this problem as it should and employers do little to stop it or to deal with it in an efficient way. Overall, there is little knowledge concerning it and people do not know how to act if the witness a person is bullied at work, or if they become victims of bullying. Also, employers do not treat bullying cases with gravity and do not see what consequences it can have on the activity of the company. Employers and those who are in charge with security in the workplace may also not have the needed information to deal with this phenomenon.

Finally, there is little knowledge on the causes of bullying. As shown above, there are various positions in this respect. Cowie et al. (2002) claim that both the organization and the victims may have certain characteristics that facilitate bullying. The organizational flaws are major causes of bullying. Also, shy individuals with no social skills are easy victims for bullies.

Solutions for workplace bullying must come, from the legislative system in the first place. Chaplin (2009) explains in this regard that the first Bill which was created to address the problems of bullying specifically is the ‘Healthy Workplace Bill’ which “makes it unlawful for an employer to (a) subject an employee to an abusive work environment (as defined in the Bill) or (2) to retaliate against an employee”(451). However, Chaplin explains that this Bill is not perfect because it does not explain what behavior may be considered bullying and one may not.

Companies are nevertheless the first that can act so as to reduce the cases of bullying. According to Cowie et al. (2002), “a number of organizations now recognize the need to change the culture of the workplace and have developed clear company policies to offer protection from bullying to their employees”(p.34). Employers must show their support for the victims and little tolerance from aggressors. They must promote an open attitude regarding this issue that would encourage employees to admit that they had been bullying. Discretion is also important because employees may be afraid or may feel ashamed to report cases of bullying. Other solutions are related to raising the awareness of the population. The population needs to be instructed in the media and at the workplace regarding their rights in case of bullying, and the companies’ anti-bullying policies.

Conclusion

Much research is still needed in order to understand bullying in the workplace completely. First, researchers must define the phenomenon and must come to an agreement about what work bullying is and what it is not and enters another sphere. Moreover, researchers must understand better the causes of bullying. This way, they may be able to identify factors that could lead to bullying and therefore, to help employers to stop bullying. Finally, by understanding the causes, researchers may find methods to help the victims to ease the trauma and even to resist being bullied.

References

Chaplin, M. (2009). Workplace bullying: the problem and the cure. University of Pennsylvania Journal of Business Law, pp.437-451.

Cooper, C.L. (2011). Bullying and harassment in the workplace: developments in theory, research and practice. Taylor and Francis Group, pp. 4-15.

Cowie, H., Naylor, P., Rivers I., Smith, P. and Pereira, B. (2002). Measuring workplace bullying.  Aggression and Violent Behavior, 7, pp.33-51.

Namie, G and Namie, R., (2009). The Bully at work: what you can do to stop the hut and reclaim your dignity on the job (2^nd ed.).Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks, Inc.

Oade, A. (2009). Managing workplace bullying: how to identify, respond, to and manage bullying behavior in the workplace. New York: Macmillan.

O’Moore, M., Lynch, J. (2007). Leadership, working environment and workplace bullying. International journal of organization theory and behavior, 10(1), 95-117.

Samnani, A., Singh, P. (2012). Years of workplace bullying research: A review of the antecedents and consequences of bullying in the workplace. Aggression and Violent Behavior 17(6), pp.581-589.

Sperry, L. (2009). Workplace mobbing and bullying: a consulting psychology perspective and overview. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 61(3), pp.165-168.

Taylor, C., & Zeng, H. (2011). Case study in threats of workplace violence from a non-supervisory basis. Mustang journal of law and legal studies, pp. 55-64.