Workplace Bullying: Myth or Reality?

Bullying is only something that happens to kids on the playground, right?

Wrong. It can just as easily take place in the workplace. Just think: the average employee spends more time interacting with co-workers than their own friends or family. That means that your relationships with your co-workers have a huge impact on your day-to-day life.

If you still aren’t convinced about how important it is to prevent workplace bullying, these are some statistics that you simply can’t dismiss:

• 19% of American adults are bullied at work
• 3 million employees in the U.S. are affected by bullying
• 70% of bullies are men
• 65% of bullying victims are women (Workplace Bullying Institute)

These numbers are way too high. Just think, 60.3 million people is equivalent to the populations of Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona.

October is national bullying prevention month. In honor of this, we want to talk about what bullying is and how you can make a positive change in your workplace.

What is does workplace bullying look like?

Workplace bullying is a persistent pattern of mistreatment from others in the workplace that causes physical or emotional harm. It doesn’t look like one particular behavior, which is why it often goes unnoticed. It can involve verbal abuse, psychological abuse, humiliation, and more.

There are four types of antagonizers you may encounter in the workplace:

1. The Screamer: They work through fear. By pointing their finger, cursing, and yelling in public settings, they tend to humiliate one employee by making an example of them.
2. The Two-Headed Snake: They are back-stabbers. They will smile to your face and then share private information about you to your co-workers and boss.
3. The Gatekeeper: They control resources and information you need to do your job correctly so that you have to come to them for information.
4. The Critic: They are nitpickers who make you think that you can’t do anything right.

Chances are you have encountered one of these types of bullies on the job. Stay tuned for our post on Friday to learn how to prevent workplace bullying.

In the meantime, if you want workplace civility training for your workplace, check out our catalog!

Good luck and stay safe!