Don't Be A Victim
Of Workplace Bullying.

Workplace Bullying can be physical, verbal, emotional or psychological... overt or covert.

Overt Workplace Bullying:

• Actual aggressive, physical contact or assault.
• Threatening gestures.
• Verbal abuse, offensive language, defamatory emails, name calling, threats and shouting.
• Use of degrading, humiliating, intimidating or insulting remarks.
• Sabotaging work equipment or interfering with the victim's personal property.
• Constant undeserved criticism or complaints.
• Criticizing the victim's dress, appearance, religion, race, accent, physical attributes, etc.

Covert Workplace Bullying:

• Deliberate exclusion from workplace meetings or social activities aimed at isolating the victim.
• Denial of resources or access to information so as to retard the victim's ability to perform.
• Deliberately setting rosters and work-leave to make the victim's life as difficult as possible.
• Setting deadlines that are impossible to meet or onerous work loads.
• Excessive scrutiny while at work and "nit-picking".
• Setting tasks way above or way below the victim's ability.
• Ignoring the victim, giving the "silent treatment", or not providing help if sought.
• Encouraging or coercing other workers to join in the discrimination.

Toxic Bosses
... 72% of bullies are bosses. (U.S. study 2007).

Workplace Bullying Facts:

... Bullying is 4 times more common than Discrimination. (U.S. survey 2007)
... 1 worker in 6 has experienced work related bullying.
... 77% of bullied workers end up leaving their jobs.
... 71 million Americans are affected by bullying (Workplace Bullying Institute 2009).
... 1 million U.S. workers take sick leave daily due to stress.
... 77% of "targets" are female.
... The productivity of "targets" drops by 50-70%.
... 90% of the "target's" co-workers feel stressed as well.
... 80% of victims suffer Depression and Anxiety.
... 1 in 20 victims have "suicidal thoughts" (Know Bull! Australia survey 2010).
... Surveys reveal 40-50% of bullies are female.
... Female bullies target other women 70% of the time.
... Workers who have reported bullying said no action was taken by the company in 50% of cases; in 12.5% the bully was promoted (U.S. survey 2007).
... "The average cost for a stress claim is $41,186 compared to $23,441 for a physical injury claim". (Know Bull! 2010).

Helplessness, fear, depression...

Profiles of Bullies, Victims and Bystanders.

A typical profile of a bully is someone who is often authoritarian, arrogant and aggressive, quick to anger, who seeks to dominate and control in order to feel empowered and boost his or her own self esteem.

Some researchers suggest the bullying tendency may have begun in childhood and not been challenged, while others believe the bullies have often been victims themselves when young.

Victims may be chosen at random, but sometimes are targeted because they are seen as a threat by the bully, especially if the victim is smart, industrious, and motivated.

At other times the victim may be chosen because of the bully's prejudiced view of the victim's race, religion, accent or physical attributes.

The critical factor of how strongly and how quickly the victim reacts to defend him or her self (by say reporting the bullying to superiors or HR if that is possible) often determines how rapidly the problem escalates.

Submission of the "target" to the bully, and bowing down in fear, will only encourage and prolong the aggression.

Bystanders who don't feel secure in the workplace themselves, or don't have a support group of co-workers around them are less likely to intervene and come to the aid of a victim.

Some may even side with the bully to "protect their own skin", but most will probably do nothing.

Unfortunately, trying to ignore the problem or "looking the other way" merely encourages the bully and perpetuates the bullying cycle.