Posted by Celia Couture on Tue, Feb 16, 2010 @ 09:00 PM
The recent news coverage of children bullying other children has unfortunately reached epidemic proportions in our schools. Recently, a young student was cyber bullied to such a degree that she committed suicide. We here stories like this and are dismayed, concerned and angered. Why are parents not doing their jobs? Why are innocent children taking their lives? Why do other children feel compelled to treat each other this way? All of these questions have been pondered and studied by school officials, the police and psychologist. I'm not sure anyone has a good answer. We can only hope as adults that if we discover this behavior we intercede in the hope of helping one child. I often wonder then if there is strong link between the behavior by children and similar behavior I see as a management consultant.
As a management consultant, I am in the business of helping companies with employee relations. I am often asked by employees how a manager can get away with treating employees terribly?
According to Teresa A. Daniel, an employment lawyer, author and principal consultant at InsideOut HR solutions, "While it may be disconcerting and unprofessional, it is universally not illegal in the US for managers t threaten, insult, humiliate, ignore, or mock employees. Nor is it illegal to gossip and spread rumors, withhold information, or take credit for someone else's work. Unfortunately, these bullying tactics are not rare; they take place with frequency."
What is workplace bullying? The legal definition refers to "repeat and persistent attempts by one person to torment, tear down, frustrate or get a reaction from another. It is treatment which persisently provokes, pressures, frightens, intimidates or otherwise discomforts another person." (The Harrassed Worker, by Dr. Carroll M. Brodsky)
An even more frightening statistic: In a survey of 1,000 U.S. employee by Employment Law Alliance in San Francisco, nearly 45 percent of the respondents scored that they have worked for abusive bosses. It is further estimated that 37 percent of American workers, roughly 54 million people, would report being bullied at work.
Under federal law, it is unlawful for an employer to harass any member of a protected class based on race , religion, physical or mental disability, sex, or age, but the government still has not extended the law to prohibit workplace bullying.
While we continue to work to improve employee satisfaction in their work worlds it is critical for us to pay attention to the warning signs that employees may be enduring difficult workplace environments at the hands of their bosses. There is a huge difference between a tough boss and a bully. Part of our many responsibilities is to help coach and protect employees while discerning what type of problem you are really dealing with. If a person acts without malice we may just have a tough boss. If a person acts with malice, we have a bully.
While conflict exists in the workplace, groups led by tough bosses work to resolve problems through respectful communication. A bully simply doesn't care!