Spread of bullying’ behavior shows violence doesn’t have to be physical
Verbal abuse, harassment can be significant threat to employee health
Incidents of workplace violence have drawn both headlines and the concerned attention of health promotion professionals with a growing and worrisome frequency in recent years. While most of that attention has been focused on acts of physical and verbal violence, bullying and harassment are also on the rise, posing a real threat to employee well-being.
"Workplace bullying is one of the fastest growing complaints of workplace violence," noted a study commissioned by the International Labour Office (ILO) in 1998.1
"As a private practitioner, I can say it is a very serious, very frequent problem," adds Barry L. Klein, PhD, a licensed psychologist practicing in Atlanta. "It’s shocking — the number of people who come in with [workplace bullying] as one of the primary presenting issues. It’s at least in the top five of reasons people come to see me."
And victims of workplace bullying can be affected physically, as well as psychologically.
"Bullying can produce poor concentration, forgetfulness; stress anxiety and irritability; feelings of insecurity; nightmares; indecisiveness; spontaneous crying or loss of sense of humor; panic; depression; social withdrawal from co-workers, family, and friends; and fatigue," notes Don R. Powell, PhD, president of the American Institute for Preventive Medicine, Farmington Hills, MI.
"It can shatter self-confidence and self-worth; it can even cause post-traumatic stress syndrome. In extreme cases, the victim can become violent — either through suicide or retaliation — like the postal worker who felt bullied by his supervisor and decided to not only get’ the supervisor, but others, as well."
"Purely physical" reactions to bullying can include stress headaches, reduced immunity to infection, menstrual difficulties, colitis or irritable bowel syndrome, asthma or allergy attacks, migraine, high blood pressure, peptic ulcers, indigestion, and could even lead to a heart attack, says Powell.
What is bullying?
According to the ILO study, bullying "constitutes offensive behavior through vindictive, cruel, malicious, or humiliating attempts to undermine an individual or groups of employees through activities such as:
• making life difficult for those who have the potential to do the bully’s job better than the bully;
• shouting at staff to get things done;
• insisting that the bully’s way of doing things is the only right way;
• refusing to delegate because the bully feels no one else can be trusted;
• punishing others by constant criticism by removing their responsibilities for being too competent.1
"Technically, it can be classified as a form of workplace violence because while it’s typically verbal, it very often uses either verbal intimidation, yelling and screaming, name-calling, and the use of foul language directed at a particular individual," Klein explains. "It can also take the form of verbal threats: If you don’t do what I tell you to do you’ll be fired.’ Or, You’re a stupid idiot,’ You’re a jerk,’ or some foul language."
"It’s all about power; and, if you will, the mismanagement of power," says Stephen Heidel, MD, MBA, CEO of San Diego-based Integrate Insights, which provides occupational mental health services. "It’s something that’s very common, and goes on in large organizations on a day-to-day basis. It could be as simple as not giving someone the information they need to better do their job. We might see it as a destructive competitiveness.’"
Suffering in silence
One of the classic dynamics in bullying is that, as in many other cases of abuse, the victim is reluctant to come forward. "The people who come to see me typically have suffered with this for a long time," says Klein. "Sometimes, they have tried to address it through the hierarchy of the organization and have gotten nowhere. In a typical case, the victim has tried to address the situation in a professional manner and the complaints have fallen on deaf ears. Others have suffered in silence because they feared they would lose their jobs."
The resulting frustration on the part of the victim only serves to exacerbate the problem, says Klein. "They’re typically depressed, and many times they also develop anxiety disorders, they can’t sleep, can’t eat, they dread getting up in the morning.
"Many of these people have invested a lot in their jobs, but they feel trapped — and afraid to extricate themselves from the situation. So, you see much greater absenteeism. Many times, they will go out on disability because they just can’t go to the workplace any more. And when they do show up, they’re not as efficient or effective. They just sit there and cower and wait for the next outburst." (For a closer look at what happens to a victim of bullying, see box, p. 123.)
Employees who feel they are victims of bullying have a number of options, one of which is the employee assistance program (EAP), if their company provides one.
"If there is an EAP, the employee can voluntarily access it and talk about these interpersonal issues," says Heidel. "The counselor could coach an individual on how to assess the situation and handle these interactions better. You may have a power-hungry supervisor, or there could be vulnerability in the victim that help set this situation up. In some cases, the bully may not even be aware of the negative impact of his actions."
Klein agrees that in some cases, the bully simply needs to be confronted. "Here’s what I tell people to do: First of all, address the situation with the bully. Ask for a private meeting, and address the concerns. I recently had a situation where that worked out just fine. A middle-aged guy came to see me, and said his new supervisor ruled through intimidation — that he would get in people’s faces and yell and scream, and this man was extremely upset. I told him he needed to address the problem with the individual first, and see if they could reach an understanding. He did that — and the supervisor was very apologetic. He said he had been under a lot of pressure, but wanted a good relationship with his employees, and thanked him for coming to see him. He has since followed through with more appropriate behavior."
Not always that lucky
Unfortunately, not every employee is that lucky — partly because of the nature of corporate structure. Heidel explains: "The EAP is one thing, but you have to remember that human resources is a management support function," he says. "If nobody else is complaining, they will be reluctant to intervene unless the behavior is really egregious, because they are a part of the organization. They can’t take every minor complaint back to management — they have to pick their battles."
Klein has had that frustration. "That’s one of the really shocking things I’ve experienced in this area — that even when the problem is brought to a company’s attention, more often than not, it falls upon deaf ears."
"If your supervisor is bullying you, you need to go around them to their supervisor," says Powell. "Express to them that this is an intolerable work situation for an employee. You can sometimes ask for a transfer within the company, or in some cases, it may even appropriate to leave the company. But a good manager will write the supervisor up for inappropriate job performance."
Klein has another tactic that has worked well. "I will typically write a letter to the human resources director, and state that I have recommended the employee go out on disability as a direct result of harassment, intimidation, and bullying in the workplace. That usually gets their attention."
Such tactics should not be necessary, says Klein. "Everyone knows about sexual harassment and racial discrimination. Companies have posters on their walls warning against such actions, but I don’t know of one company that has a written policy about bullying."
It’s in the employer’s best interest to have such a policy, he asserts. "The employer pays a high price in terms of having more employees out of work a greater length of time, more insurance benefits being paid, more people out on disability, and potentially, more lawsuits," he explains.
What should happen, Klein says, is that human resources should address and investigate all complaints of workplace bullying.
"They need to offer counseling, and threaten the bully with disciplinary action," he recommends. "The bottom line is that this type of behavior should not be tolerated; unfortunately, the opposite is true."
Reference
1. Chappell D, Di Martino V. Violence at Work. Geneva: International Labour Office; 1998.
• Barry L. Klein, PhD, 634 Peachtree Pkwy., Cumming, GA 30041. Telephone: (404) 216-0336. E-mail: bklein@ ix.netcom.com.
• Don Powell, American Institute For Preventive Medicine, 30445 Northwestern Hwy., Suite 350, Farmington Hills, MI 48334. Telephone: (248) 539-1800. Web site: www.aipm.healthy.net.
• Stephen Heidel, Integrated Insights, 9370 Sky Park Court, Suite 140, San Diego, CA 92123. Telephone: (619) 278-3626/ Fax: (619) 278-3648. E-mail: [email protected].
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