Bullying in the workplace

As you finish your primary education, you walk away from that part of your life thinking to yourself that you will never have to deal with an other bully again. Being the target for so many years, transitioning into the workforce, you hope that the bullies have grown into functioning working adults. Yet, you still find yourself surrounded with abusive conduct like verbal abuse. Resulting in intimidation, feeling threatened and feeling utterly humiliated as a target. It can, and often does, interfere with the ability to get your work done.

Workplace bullying goes far beyond a minor disruption or small annoyance, as it creates a psychological power imbalance between the person doing the bullying and the target. The target often develops a deep feeling of helplessness. If the bad behavior is unrelated to sex, race, religion, or national origin — it might be toxic and soul-crushing, but it’s not against the law. Hence leaving the target feeling like there isn't much to be done to protect themselves. It also creates an environment where you're just always afraid of what might happen and that you can't be yourself. There are a variety of ways that a work bully can play their game.

The Screamer

This is the type of colleague who aims towards a more aggressive method of bullying. The one who will yell, send angry emails, and take on other verbal forms of hostility. Like many aspects in social settings, body language is an important aspect of communication as aggressiveness can be shown through this method.

The Constant Critic

We all have these types of people in our lives, the ones who always have something to criticize. In the workplace, you might find yourself with a boss who will manage to disparage you so regularly that you begin to doubt your abilities. In consequence, you find yourself so worn down that the quality of your work might objectively suffer. Often you will find this person pointing out your mistakes, taking credit for your work, leaving you out of things, socially isolating you, or even playing jokes on you, causing you to lose any sense of connection or belonging.

The manipulator

This is the type of colleague who will manipulate you and withhold aspects of the job. They might withhold things such as instructions, information, time, or help from others and as a result they are setting you up to fail. In some instances they might hold back on telling you the full list of procedures to complete a task, leaving you to your own devices in some ways. In other words, you find yourself manipulated into improperly completing your tasks throughout the day. In some occasions, you may even find yourself being yelled at for not having tackled something that was never brought up in the first place.

The two faced meddler

In some cases you will also find yourself dealing with the two faced meddler. The one who will do everything in their power to undermine your ability when you are not around. Making it even more difficult for you to create a case in your defense. Eventually, the truth might come out when one person breaks that rank and gives you an insider to what is being said while asking you to keep it confidential. In the end, it is quite difficult to fight something that you don't even know is happening.

How to build your way to a better environment...

At the end of the day it is very important to make sure these types of bullies are taken care of properly. As with any negative environment, it is important to take a stand early and speak up as soon as possible. Waiting too long to make yourself heard might only cause the bully to gain more power over you and take you less seriously. In many cases of abuse, it is very important to document the abuse and your performance as you progress. By doing so, you are building concrete case when the time comes to speak to a member of Human Resources. Quantifiable results are important to build a strong case and making sure you understand the workplace policies against these types of situations.

Finally, it is important to remember that your personal life outside of work is the one area you can control at a higher level. It is important to know that when you leave work there is a safe haven to escape to and replenish yourself. A place where you can shut off the negativity and be in your own zone. Somewhere you can be a part of something you truly enjoy, from dancing to reading to even simply watching that movie you've been dying to watch off your Netflix list.