San Diego County Service Center Leadership Conference December 5 ---7,-7, 20147, 2014
Presented by
Rosemarie Tapp, Executive Director, Compton EA Phyllis Peters, Regional UniServ Staff, Ontario RRC What is Workplace Bullying? How can you identify a bully? How does bullying impact your life and workplace? What is the difference between harassment and bullying? What are some common bullying tactics and types of bullies? What can the employee and the employer do? What are some strategies and techniques to address bullying behavior? How do you create a bully-free workplace?
2 Bullying… “It’s plain cruelty and there is no law against nonphysical human-on-human cruelty at work in the United States.”
From “The Bully at Work” by Namie & Namie
3 Workplace bullying has been defined as:
Repeated, health harming and abusive conduct committed by bosses and co-workers Repeated mistreatment over time Work productivity sabotaged by others Verbal abuse Threatening conduct, physical or psychological Intimidation and humiliation
The Workplace Bullying Institute (WBI)
4 Stress, Post Traumatic Disorder Absenteeism and low productivity Lowered self-esteem Anxiety Digestive problems High blood pressure Insomnia Trouble with relationships Financial issues due to stress Phobias
5 High turnover costs are associated with the training and in-service of new employees.
Low productivity is prevalent because the focus is more on survival, than the actual work.
Loss of innovation; the target becomes reluctant to explore or share their creativity or ideas
Difficulty attracting top-notched employees because there is an established reputation
Investigations and legal fees associated with the complaints can be very expensive
6 Harassment is defined as offensive and unwelcome conduct serious enough to adversely affect the terms and conditions of employment
When bullying is focused (race/gender, etc.) it can be identified as harassment
There are no laws in California, at this time, against bullying in the workplace
7 Harassment is any physical, verbal or visual abuse of a person because of their race, religion, age, gender disability or any other legally protected status.
Harassment is any conduct that creates significant anguish to another person, with the intent to bother, scare or emotionally abuse.
Federal and state harassment laws have further outlined what does and does not constitute harassment for various situations.
8 Bullying Sexual Unlawful Harassment Discrimination
Targets one or many people based on their actual or perceived social Common behaviors: unacceptable Can target any individual(s) group: race, gender, sexual mistreatment, intimidation, regardless of social group orientation, religion etc. reprisals, denial of opportunities Doesn’t evoke a history of etc. Evokes a history of discriminatory similar behavior treatment Common individual impacts: Reinforces systemic oppression that Easier for dominant group shame, humiliation, fear, feelings of operates inside and outside the members to recognize, because isolation, self-doubt, lack of workplace they could also be the targets motivation, illness. Victims may be reluctant to acknowledge the systemic nature of Creates a “toxic” work Common group impacts: hostile the harassment directed towards environment work environment, fear of them becoming a target among other Creates a “poisonous” work Currently, not against the law in workers. May have impact on environment Mass. families of targeted individuals. It’s against the law 9
The bully pretends to be your friend by divulging a lot of personal information quickly in an effort to build trust quickly. The speed and the inappropriateness, in terms of intimacy, are clues that this is happening. It is an attempt on the bullies part to get personal information on the target that can be used later to set the target up. The bully then betrays the target’s trust. A variation of this is when the bully befriends someone to get them to tell them all about someone else.
Source: “Bully In Sight” by Tim Field 11 The bully works through a nice person. This person may or may not be aware that they are being used in this way. Sometimes this person may not have a choice but to let themselves be used in order to maintain job security. The bully exploits the person’s naivety to obtain information or spread wrong information.
The Multi-Bully Scenario
Possibly the target is given a new manager or new colleagues to work with due to a characterization of a “clash in personality”. The new people that the target will interact with are a part of the bullying. When the target makes a new complaint on the new people, it reflects as if the target is the issue because how could anyone possibly have two or three different folks bully them? The target must be the real issue. Source: “Bully In Sight” by Tim Field 12 This Bully brings their own confidence up by bringing others down. When the target restores confidence, the bully needs another “fix” (explaining the addictive compulsive nature of bullying) and repeats the behavior. The target regains only 99% of confidence after each occurrence, so overtime the target’s confidence is destroyed.
The Random Victim Typically the bully will pick one victim and take them through the steps of control, subjugation, and elimination. In some cases the bully picks on a group of targets moving from one to the next so everyone is left unsure who will get it next and therefore nobody will stand up for each other.
Source: “Bully In Sight” by Tim Field 13 One small mistake becomes the basis for the target being placed on a performance plan with disciplinary proceedings, often under the guise of “helping” the individual
Sickness Monitoring Procedure The target is suffering psychologically from all of the attacks and the bully threatens disciplinary action if the target uses any more of their sick leave. The target has to choose between coming to work and taking more abuse or risking disciplinary procedures. These decisions will spiral downward and out of control.
Source: “Bully In Sight” by Tim Field 14 The Dual Control Diversionary Enemy One job is split between two people so that neither When the target is party has the full picture close to of what is happening. understanding the Only the bully has all of cause of their the information and thus problems, an “enemy” can play one person is identified and the against another. target is encouraged to enter into battle with this person, group of persons or organization.
Source: “Bully In Sight” by Tim Field 15 The Choice of The Snitchers’ Execution Charter The bully realizes that the target is starting to understand what is Peer Review, peer appraisal or going on so they change focus to neutralize and eliminate the peer assessments are used in target, after gaining the support of essence to get employees to management, personnel or other snitch on each other. authority figures. The bully may offer to “help solve Promotions are based on the problem” in a meeting setting assessments that the bully by offering options that might manager likes. include resignation, redundancy, early retirement, disability retirement, or dismissal. There is an illusion of “choice” for the target. The bully gets away with not taking responsibility for his or her behavior. The Annual Weed The bully constructs an annual reorganization plan, pretending to be more efficient, but really for the purpose of getting rid of targets.
Source: “Bully In Sight” by Tim Field 16 An individual is offered a promotion in exchange for a few extra duties, not always defined before acceptance of the promotion. If the individual shares their discomfort with what they are being asked to do, there will be an implied threat of what will happen if they don’t go along with the plan. Or they may be reminded that opportunities like this don’t come around often.
Source: “Bully In Sight” by Tim Field 17 The target is brought into a meeting about one topic that turns out to really be disciplinary in nature. The target is not allowed to have representation and is completely caught off guard. The target should document the deception in writing and insist on their right to representation.
Denial of Representation The bully uses intimidation to try to convince the target that they should not ask for representation or it is not necessary.
They may even suggest that things will be worse for the target if they bring their representation in.
Source: “Bully In Sight” by Tim Field 18 19
This is the most easily recognizable type of workplace bully. Screaming Mimis are loud and obnoxious, and their abusive behavior is meant to berate and humiliate people. They thrive on the notion that others fear them.
21 From Anton Hout, founder of OvercomeBullying.org To a co-worker’s face, this employee acts like a trusted friend or colleague. However, when the co-worker is out of earshot, this person will destroy his colleague’s reputation, stab him in the back and even take credit for his work.
22 From Anton Hout, founder of OvercomeBullying.org This bully’s goal is to dismantle other people’s confidence through constant – and often unwarranted – criticism. A critic will look for any possible flaw in someone’s work and labors tirelessly to kill that person’s credibility. Impeccable work? No problem: This type of bully isn’t above falsifying documents or creating evidence to make others look bad. 23 From Anton Hout, founder of OvercomeBullying.org Every office has at least one employee who gets off on wielding his or her power over others – regardless of whether that power is real or perceived. Gatekeepers deny people the tools they need – whether it’s resources, time or information – to do their jobs efficiently.
24 From Anton Hout, founder of OvercomeBullying.org This type of bully wants to be the center of the action at all times. They’ll try to get on their superior’s good side through consistent flattery and even come on as kind and helpful to their peers – especially the newer employees. However, if co-workers don’t provide the right amount of attention, these bullies can quickly turn on them. Attention seekers are often overly dramatic and relate everything to something that’s going wrong in their own lives to garner sympathy and control. These bullies also have a tendency to coax personal info out of new employees – only to use it against them later.
25 From Anton Hout, founder of OvercomeBullying.org This is an employee who sees himself or herself as absolutely indispensable and expects recognition for everything. But Wannabes aren’t usually very good at their jobs. To compensate, these bullies spend a majority of their time watching more competent workers and looking for areas of skilled workers’ performance to complain about. Wannabes will demand that everything is done their way – even when there are better ways of doing things. Because they’re automatically opposed to others’ ideas, they’ll do everything in their power to prevent changes to their work processes.
26 From Anton Hout, founder of OvercomeBullying.org Generally, there’s nothing wrong with this bully’s work performance. In fact, it’s not unusual for a Guru to be considered an expert in his or her own niche area. What these bullies offer in technical skill, however, they severely lack in emotional maturity. Gurus see themselves as being superior to their co-workers. As a result, they don’t consider how their actions will affect others, aren’t able to fathom the possibility that they can be wrong and don’t accept responsibility for their own actions. In addition, because these bullies feel as though they’re “above it all,” they don’t always feel compelled to follow the same rules as everybody else.
27 From Anton Hout, founder of OvercomeBullying.org Intelligent, well-spoken, charming and charismatic, sociopaths are the most destructive bullies of all. Reason: They have absolutely no empathy for others, yet they are experts at manipulating the emotions of others in order to get what they want. These bullies often rise to positions of power at the site, which makes them extremely dangerous. Sociopaths tend to surround themselves with a circle of lackeys who are willing to do their dirty work in exchange for moving up the ranks with them.
28 From Anton Hout, founder of OvercomeBullying.org 29 30 Get leadership buy-in Train leadership, Building Reps, Grievance Reps, Exec Boards Leadership model anti-bullying behavior Newsletter, membership meetings and conferences Provide anti-bullying workshops for members Pass anti-bullying resolution Provide support & strategies to targets
31 Labor/management partnerships/committees where appropriate Provide information on district board policies for harassment complaint procedure. Propose institutional policies Negotiate Workplace Bullying language to CBA Partner with affinity groups Join in coalition with community groups
32 What Can the Employer Do? Adopt an anti-bullying policy
Make certain the commitment is reiterated from the top administrators
Address bullying behaviors that are witnessed or reported immediately
Investigate complaints promptly and take necessary measures to provide a safe working environment
Inform and increase awareness of all policies and expectations
Evaluate climate and conduct periodic surveys of working conditions
Provide specific and ongoing training for administrators/supervisors
Establish a contact or hotline for employees 33 Validate that you are dealing with a bully and that you are not the problem
Recognize that this is about the bully’s need for power and control and not about your performance
Keep a detailed journal of dates, comments, and witnesses of all accounts in a secure place at home
Secure copies of all pertinent documents to challenge the bully’s allegations
Anticipate the bully’s actions to discredit and deny any wrongdoing
Never meet with the bully alone. If cornered, document the location,
contents of the conversation, and report to the appropriate person 34 Do not criticize or gossip about your colleague behind his/her back. Questions and concerns should be directed to the individual
If a colleague is being criticized or gossiped about in your presence, confront the criticism or gossip and ask that it stop
Do not participate in any conversation with administration that criticizes, or negatively speculates about any union colleague
If you have an issue or disagreement with a colleague, try to work it out with the individual before complaining to administration
35 Take the time to listen
Take complaints seriously, don’t judge or try to diminish
Offer assistance to your colleague
Don’t take part in the bullying
Document what you witness 36 Kudos to Our Colleagues
We would like to give credit and appreciation to the colleagues who shared their knowledge and information on Bullying in the Workplace.
Bullies, Bosses and Bad Behaviors, Rose Tapp, Executive Director, Compton Education Association and Phyllis Peters, UniServ Director, Ontario RRC
Bullying! It Doesn’t Just Happen to Students!, Jamye Merritt, UniServ Director, Stockton and Carol Reichert, UniServ Director, Bakersfield
Bullying and Harassment in the Workplace, Elisa Gusdal, UniServ Director, San Bernardino RRC and Lisa Adams, Region 4 Human Rights Department
Understanding Workplace Bullying ESP Professional Development Workshops, George Luse, Massachusetts Teacher Association, Coordinator of Training and Organizing 37 Get Educated - Information is Power! Other Resources for Workplace Bullying
http://newworkplace.wordpress.com
www.workplacebullying.org
Breaking the Silence, Overcoming the Problem of Principal Mistreatment of Teachers Blasé & Blase
Bullyproof Yourself at Work Naime and Naime
38 Internet
www.bullyonline.com
Know-bull.com
www.bullyfreeatwork.com
www.nea.org
www.workplacebullying.org
Books
Breaking the Silence, Overcoming the Problem of Principal Mistreatment of Teachers, Joseph and Jo Blasé
The Bully Free Workplace, Stop Jerks, Weasels, and Snakes From Killing Your Organization, Gary and Ruth F. Namie
Bully In Sight, How to Predict, Resist, Challenge and Combat Workplace Bullying, Tim Field
The Complete Guide To Understanding, Controlling, and Stopping Bullies & Bullying At Work, A Complete Guide For Managers, Supervisors, and Co-Workers, Margaret R. Johor
How Organizations Empower Bully Bosses, A Criminal In The Work Place, Marilyn Veincentotzs
Perfect Phrases for Dealing With Difficult Situations At Work, Susan F. Benjamin 39