Search Results for: bully

Extract from the Positive Influence for Women research. According to recent research by the Workplace Bullying Institute, women are 50% more likely to be the victim of bullying at work than men. Despite the growing awareness of this problem, they estimate that around 5.76 million US women are, or have recently been, subjected to serious bullying at work. They have also found that 27% of people are or have experienced bullying in the past. Is this likely to be any different elsewhere in the world? I doubt it. Read More

In September's Gautrey Live session we discussed Hostile Stakeholders, and how to handle them. As part of my commitment to my clients, I take snippets of our discussions in case they are not able to attend the live session. During this session, we got onto the subject of the profile of a bully, and how a typical victim might score in their profile. The video below will be helpful to all who have to deal with a hostile stakeholder, bully or not, and also, talks to the dimensions of behaviour contained in the Influence Profile - a working knowledge of which is useful when reviewing this video. Read More

This guest article by Keryl Egan first appeared in Training Australia Magazine,.

Bullying behaviours include not only observable and explicit humiliating abuse but also hidden, insidious attacks upon a person and their capacity to do their job, their enjoyment of productive working relationships and the advancement of their career. These bullying behaviours include...

• Blocking access to training and promotion
• Withholding information essential to do the job properly
• Spreading malicious rumours, lies, professional slurs
• Unfair use of disciplinary and assessment procedures
• Persistent undue criticism and scrutiny, inaccurate accusations about quality of work
• Setting workers up to fail by setting impossible deadlines and targets
• Undermining responsibility
• Isolation and coercion
• Creating a climate of fear via emotional abuse or public humiliation

To date, advice to those suffering psychological injury from this kind of bullying has centred around following a recommended grievance process or counselling for stress management. As a clinical psychologist, I have seen many people in my practice who take one to two years, sometimes more, to recover from a sustained bullying campaign in the workplace. Some never recover and withdraw from their profession or are permanently unable to perform at previous levels of competence and confidence. Others cannot adjust to the humiliating loss of status and career, nor can they accept that they are shells of their former selves. They become anxious and depressed, but they are also angry, not only at the bully but at the system which failed to protect them. Such post-traumatic stress results from the shattering of their assumptions about the basic goodness of human beings and about their own basic self-worth. Those who encountered a psychopathic type of bully have glimpsed an evil they had not thought possible in their ordinary working life in a "safe" Australian society. Read More

A good friend of mine is stuck in a relationship which makes her feel undermined, devalued and stupid. It's not a work relationship, however helping her through this difficult time it reminded me that exactly the same thing is happening to so many people in the workplace. Replace boyfriend, husband, partner with boss, colleague or even friends at work, and exactly the same psychological principles are in place. This hit me hard, so I wanted to record and share with all of you the same points I made to my friend, in case it helps you. Rather than extend the text on this post and your reading time, if you are in this a relationship where you feel powerless, find a quiet corner, or put your headphones on, and watch the video below. Read More