Bullying – The Big Bad Wolf of the Communications Center

Written and Presented by Laurie Wall

Central County Emergency 9-1-1, 2012

Bullying

Bullying Defined

Persistent aggressive or unreasonable behavior Verbal abuse Conduct which interferes with another’s work

Threatening Humiliating Intimidating Sabotage

Bullying Defined

Persistent aggressive or unreasonable behavior Often done within the established rules

and policies of the organization.

Bullying Defined

Characteristics Lack of respect

for a co-worker Sometimes

obvious Many times the

subtle forms cause more damage

Bullying Defined

Affect of bullying on the workplace Responsible for

absenteeism Lack of workplace

motivation Lack of employee

satisfaction Increased turnover Lack of trust and

teambuilding among workers

Objectives

At the end of this block of instruction the student will be able to:

Define the tactics of bullying behavior Define the tactics of bullying behavior in a

supervisor Define bullying from the target’s point of view Define bullying from the supervisor’s point of

view

Objectives

At the end of this block of instruction the student will be able to:

Illustrate the role of the bully’s posse List actions to be taken by the supervisor List actions to be taken by the target

Co-worker Bullying Tactics

Jekyll & Hyde Bully manipulates feelings of those in his

company Performs job tasks well above average Glory hound

Co-worker Bullying Tactics

Examples of bullying behavior Verbal Non-verbal Psychological Physical Professional

Co-worker Bullying Tactics

Examples of bullying behavior Verbal

Tone Impatience IrritabilitySnide commentsSarcasm

Co-worker Bullying Tactics

Examples of bullying behavior Non-verbal

Rolling of the eyesWon’t acknowledge existence/silent

treatment

Co-worker Bullying Tactics

Examples of bullying behavior Psychological

Undermining credibilityReporting mistakesFabricating storiesPresent themselves as wonderful and

kind

Co-worker Bullying Tactics

Examples of bullying behavior Physical

Standing too close in threatening manner

Throwing objectsPunching

Co-worker Bullying Tactics

Examples of bullying behavior Professional

HumiliationGossipingPurposefully damaging reputation of

anotherAccusing of incompetence

Supervisor Bullying Tactics

Constantly corrects Separate the target

from colleagues Exclude Marginalize Overrule Ignore Sideline

Supervisor Bully Tactics

Belittle Demean Patronize Overload with

work/increase responsibility

Take work/authority away

Refuse leave requests Deny Training

Target Defined

Target rather than victim› Absolutely no apportion of blame

Target Defined

Questions a target may ask Why me?

What did I do to them?

What did I do to deserve this?

From the Target’s Point of View

Bully Nit-picking, fault finding, criticizing trivial

things Refuse to acknowledge accomplishments Undermine position, status, worth, value and

potential Take credit for work Twist, distort and misrepresent what is said

by the target

From the Target’s Point of View

THE TRIVIALITY, REGULARITY AND FREQUENCY BETRAY BULLYING BEHAVIOR

Supervisor

How do I know if I have a bully in my center?

Turnover rate Have a

complainer

Supervisor

How do I know if I have a bully in my center?

One’s word against another

Supervisor

How do I know if I have a bully in my center?

Bully is usually the leader of a clique

Supervisor

How do I know if I have a bully in my center?

If Bully is a supervisor, sets unrealistic goals or change goals as target approaches them

Posse Defined

Clique Membership

Drawn inSelf Preservation

Why Doesn’t the Supervisor put a Stop to the Bullying?

Doesn’t see it Bully has good performance Supervisor has pride in Bully Responders speak highly of Bully Bully tactics fall short of legal definition of

harassment Bully denies and distorts

Why Doesn’t the Supervisor put a Stop to the Bullying?

When Supervisor investigates Posse responds with

“That is just how s/he is”. “You just have to get use to him/her”.

Another problem Supervisor’s run in to Target moves to Posse

Supervisor Actions

Listen and take seriously Target may just want to talk DOCUMENT Realize bullying behavior will not occur in you

presence Be prepared Put a policy in place

Target’s Options

Live with it Name it Check physical health Check mental health Check policies Call Attorney Expose Bully

Target’s Options

Seek other employment Protect the TARGET

Go to Workplace Bullying Institute

www.workplacebullying.org

Web Resources Bullying: What Is It? – UK National Workplace Bullying Advice Line

http://www.bullyonline.org/workbully/bully.htm#Difference%20between%20bullying%20and%20harassment

Mobbing USA: Emotional Abuse in the American Workplacehttp://www.mobbing-usa.com/

Workplace Bullies – About.comhttp://careerplanning.about.com/od/bosscoworkers/a/bullies_at_work.htm

  Bullying in information technology

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullying_in_IT   How to Deal With a Bully at Work – About.com

http://humanresources.about.com/od/difficultpeople/qt/work_bully.htm   Bully Busting - Roger Frame, Ph.D.

http://www.frameworks4learning.com/bully-busting/   Dr. Gary Namie, Workplace Bullying Institute

http://www.workplacebullying.org/

Questions?