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The media and lawmakers have been abuzz with talk of bullying in schools; but bullying doesn't end when you graduate. his alive and well in the workplace, too.
According to research by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 25 percent of workplaces contain "some degree of bullying." Recent CareerBuilder research reported that one in four of 6,500 survey respondents say they are bullied at work. A study by the Employment Law Alliance (a group of 3,000 attorneys worldwide) found that 44 percent of employees report being bullied.
What is it?
By definition, bullying is systematic and repeated aggressive behavior that creates an unhealthy power imbalance and causes severe psychological trauma for "targets" and witnesses. Bullying behaviors are often covert, making it difficult for targets to describe and for managers to identify. Behaviors include the following:
* aggressive communication: social isolation, yelling, intimidation, making threats, aggressive body language, and invasion of personal space
* humiliation: public scathing, gossip, and persistent criticism
* manipulation of work: excessive micromanagement, erratic punishment, assigning work far above the target's competency level, perpetually changing assignments without reason, and assigning unmanageable workloads and deadlines.
Many of us have probably experienced these tactics at some point during our careers. But when one person targets another and harasses him regularly for an extended period of rime, these behaviors take a toll on the employee's self-esteem and performance, as well as the workplace culture overall.
Effects of such bullying for the individual include increased depression, anxiety, and absenteeism, as well as decreased motivation, quality of work, job satisfaction, and ability to meet goals. The organization suffers when communication ceases, problems can't be solved, people can't learn, gossip abounds, and stress prevents effective decision making. Employees who witness the behaviors - even if they don't feel victimized by bullying themselves - lose faith in management, and their work suffers, too. These consequences ultimately hurt the bottom line.
For workplace learning and performance professionals who are being asked to demonstrate return-on - investment...