Workplace Bullying

Thanks for reading office hours. It's a delight to have you read my first post. I hope you can take a minute to leave a comment and share some ideas with me. Have a good read!

In a setting like mine (a sales job), a whole lot of actions could pass as the boss correcting a wrong behavior or challenging his employees to do better. But that sometimes goes overboard. Today I would to talk about a behavior in the workplace that is often brushed off as the "boss is just venting because I did not achieve my target".

Let's talk about workplace bullying for a minute.?Have you heard about workplace bullying? What traits would you label as such and how often have you stood against it?

I've watched a scene play out in the workplace where there is lack of vitality from the way employees walk into the office, sit at their desk and attend to the day's task with little to no energy as though beaten to a pulp. What many classify as lazy behavior of workers sometimes is the fruit of little degrading comments and responses made to individuals over a period of time (oftentimes with no knowledge about how they feel afterwards). An environment where there is constant mistreatment of individuals either verbally or non-verbally can pass for workplace bullying. Especially when this mistreatment happens on a consistent basis and evokes the same feeling from the person being mistreated.

I have classified the following behaviors in the workplace as psychologically threatening and should not be tolerated by anyone:

* Shouting at an employee when you should be correcting them like the civilized environment they work in.

* Attacking their personality when you should be assessing their work.

* Always hammering on their weaknesses when there are so many strengths to talk about.

* Using emotive words that create a psychological dent in the brains. Words such as, stupid, foolish, etc.

* Mocking a member of your team anytime he/she share his/her ideas.

* Insulting and using degrading words at individuals at the workplace.

* Unjustly criticizing an individual's work.

* Intimidating new employees when they make their first mistakes at work.

A lot more could be added to the list and I need to say that it isn't that these behaviors when done unconsciously need to immediately be reported or the employee should pack his bags. No. It's the pattern that becomes harmful and leaves the individual running out of steam and becoming unproductive at work. Behaviors that count as bullying may seem rando at first and unharmful. But immediately this behavior persists without reason, chances are that you are being bullied at work.

Are you being bullied? or do you think your boss is only expressing his displeasure because you made a mistake? Are your colleagues making fun of your ideas? or you think it's just the way they are?

Share your experience with me. #officehours