Identifying Bullying and Harassment
- Andy Miller
- Aug 8, 2018
- 4 min read
One of the current hot topics and one in which I have had some experience - how to reduce and eliminate all types of bullying and harassment?
I'm not going to go into who gets bullied because the stats are out there and the results of bullying can be so devastating to the individual - you don't care if you are "an unusual case" or not. They just want it to stop!
The approach to bullying and harassment should be two-pronged; firstly, to stop bullying and harassment in its tracks when it does occur and, secondly, to make people think about their behaviour in the workplace and reduce the amount of bullying and harassment in the workplace (before it even begins).
Identifying Bullying and Harassment
The most important step!
In my many years as a union rep most of the bullying and harassment cases I dealt with were quite easily cleared up once the bully was informed that their behaviour was unacceptable! They didn't know that their behaviour was seen by others as bullying!
Here are some behaviours that can be seen as bullying:
Yelling
Shouting at people is a really effective method of bullying them, because:
you can bring others in the area into your act of bullying (support?)
you can both physically and emotionally intimidate people by yelling
you can also intimidate others who might be in a position to assist the person you are bullying
Insulting Remarks
Constantly belittling others can really affect their mental wellbeing by undermining their confidence and boosting any self-doubts people have.
If insulting people on a regular basis is your idea of humour then you need to find a different outlet - one which doesn’t rely on making others feel bad.
Ignoring / Excluding
Regularly ignoring people and leaving them out of activities is really effective for alienating them.
Especially social events!
Inappropriate Non-Verbal Behaviour
All non-verbal indicators for aggression, devaluing and belittling that include:
Pointing
Staring
Dismissing gestures
Turning your back
Spreading Malicious Rumours / Gossip
Gossiping is always bad in the workplace, because it is very rarely complimentary towards the target of the gossip and is never the whole truth.
Simply put; gossip has no place in the workplace.
If that gossip is intentionally malicious (or perceived to be malicious) then it becomes so much worse – and difficult to counteract because it is “hidden”.
Applying Different Standards
Different standards applied to different people immediately sends the message that “you are better / worse than them”.
Being regularly at the “wrong end” of decisions about annual leave, tasks to be done or who to work with can make people feel worthless.
Imposing Unreasonable / Inappropriate Work Demands
An effective way to bully people in the workplace is to give them demands which are impossible to complete or not appropriate for their role.
It is seen as “setting them up to fail” and can be really demotivating.
This shouldn’t be mistaken for “stretch projects” or developmental work when you are supported through the process.
Unduly Criticising Work Performance
Continuous criticism without discussion about improvement is effective bullying.
It can really undermine anybody’s confidence.
Making False Accusations
Making false accusations about somebody, especially if they are not present to give their side of the situation, is classic bullying behaviour.
This is even worse if discussion occurs around the accusation (and decisions made) without the target being present.
This is a favourite bullying technique for colleagues or teams when they want to bully their manager.
Stealing Credit for Another’s Work
This is another regular bullying behaviour - as well as stealing we should also count “regularly forgetting to include a person’s contribution” to a piece of work.
We all forget from time to time (and then feel guilty about forgetting) but, when this happens regularly then it becomes an effective form of bullying.
Denying Training / Resources for Success
Just like excluding others, denying them access to activities which allows them to improve can be classed as bullying.
This doesn’t mean we are being bullied when our manager says “no” to a training opportunity; it becomes bullying when it happens on a regular basis and when others in the team are continually given the access you are not.
Not only does this damage a person psychologically, it can damage their career opportunities and the company itself.
Uninvited Invasion of Office Space
This doesn’t have to be a physical office – it can be any work area or personal space.
Invading people’s space, like "getting in their face", is aggressive and undermining.
Interfering in Other’s Work
Everybody wants to help their colleagues out with their work - but there are differences between helping and interfering.
When you regularly interfere with another person’s work the you bully them by undermining them and reducing their confidence.
REMEMBER!
Reading that list might make you think that we are all bullies and can actually do nothing at work in case we are accused - we've probably done some of the things on that list!
Are we all bullies then?
It is very important to note that if something happens once then it (usually) cannot be classed as bullying – it might be inappropriate or distressing, but it isn’t bullying.
Bullying happens over time and regularly
Be sure you know the difference!
My Advice
If you see behaviours like this in the workplace, from anybody(!) then point it out to them with a comment like:
"That could be construed as bullying!"
"I'm not happy with that type of behaviour"
"Could you find a less aggressive way of expressing that, please?"
"That sounds very unfair"
You might get told to "go away" but the point has usually been made! If that is the case then don't escalate things there and then as that (usually) only exacerbates the situation.
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