Middle East University

Educational Leadership
Dr. John Issa
Critique #1
Nyashadzashe Madakiwe
Nada Sacre

Bullying at the Workplace

Bullying is more commonly known to be taking place at schools. It is in this respect that

it has been the main fight of not only psychologists and educators but also of celebrities and

political figures around the world. They have made it their mission to raise awareness about it

and try to stop it. However, little is known about another type taking place this time not among

kids, not in schools but in the workplace among adults. As workplace bullying happens among

mature employees, one might be skeptical about whether or not it could be labeled as bullying,

for we have a tendency to attribute it to young, immature students who are unaware of the

gravity of their actions. But that is hardly the case: if bullying at work has been overshadowed by

school bullying, this does not mean that it is not there, and that it does not have as negative and

hurtful effects on adults as it does on kids. In this presentation, we will discuss bullying at the

workplace, be it against employees or teachers, and how to deal with it.

The definition of workplace bullying does not fall far from that of school bullying except

in the relevance to the job. In fact, “workplace bullying is behavior that threatens, intimidates,

humiliates, or isolates people at work, or undermines their reputation or job performance.” (as

cited in Bartlett, 2017, 1). Kelly (2007) sees that bullying involves “repeated and persistent acts

including social isolation, silent treatment, rumors attacking victim’s private life or attitudes,

excessive criticism or monitoring, withholding information, depriving responsibility, verbal

aggression.” (p.113). Thus, bullying is not just random and isolated acts of violence; it is actually
a set of repeated acts “persistently directed at one or more individuals” (Glaso, L., Notelaers, G.,

2012, 360). This has negative effects on the victim and on the company too. In fact, according to

the WBI (Workplace Bullying Institute), the behaviors of bullies causes harm to the target as

well as to the company profits (Wiedmer, T., 2011, 35). The variety of the ill-treatment of the

target is normally categorized as physical and emotional, Kelly(2007) adds another view to

categories; accidental and psychopathic. (p. 113. Para. 2).

Naturally, one might ask about the identity of the bully at the workplace? Is it the boss,

who is supposed to be the guardian of equity and balance? Or is it the colleagues, who are

considered to be the support system to each other? In the US, the WBI - Zogbi survey found that

72% of the bullies are bosses, 60% are men while the targets are up to 57% women. The survey

also found that while 40% of bullied people never tell their employers, 3% go for lawsuits

(Weidmer, T., 2011, 36). The numbers reveal scary findings. If the bullies are the people in

power at the company, then how can the target defend him/herself? If 40% keep quiet about it,

then what productivity are we expecting? What about the state of mind of these victims?

The results on the target, aka victim are numerous. We have a tendency to think that

adults are better equipped to face life challenges, and thus, we might undermine the issue.

Surprisingly, bullying does to an adult what it does to a child or a teenager: a huge negative

impact. Who would have thought that an adult target would show the same symptoms as a

teenager? The WBI survey reports that the targets suffer from “stress-related health problems,

such as debilitating anxiety, panic attacks, clinical depression, and even post-traumatic stress”

(Weidmer, T., 2011, 36). Moreover, Bartlett (2017) corroborates the findings of the WBI and
stresses the fact that the effects on the target employee range between “health problems, loss of

efficiency and increased time off work.” All this results in millions of dollars paid for litigation,

health fees and decrease in productivity.(p.3).

Geller, S. (2014) explains how the company can avoid falling in the trap of bullying

through different steps. First, Geller mentions that you should treat your employees the way they

want to be treated not the way you like to be treated because treating them the way you like to be

treated can be seen as a form of bullying (p.42). Geller refers to this as the Platinum Rule. The

second step to follow is to show empathy, which, contrarily to sympathy, requires active

listening, deep involvement through body language, and a capability to express yourself in the

appropriate words that would show your sincerity. Geller then states that adopting a “growth

mindset” prevents bullying because people will attend seminars and read books in order to boost

organizational performance (p. 42-43). Weidmer (2011) also suggests a plan to stop bullying at

the workplace. According to her, the managers should first understand what bullying is and

identify it, then they should act fast and put forward a policy. She also mentions that identifying

bullies in the recruitment process is of paramount importance (p.38).

In conclusion, eliminating bullying might seem a hard task to do, but reducing it and

consequently its effects is within reach. The main asset here is that it is the responsibility of all:

managers and colleagues, but also schools. Only when we reduce bullying among students, will

we be able to reduce it at the workplace because the young of today will be the work force of

tomorrow!
 References

Bartlett. J. A (2016) Workplace Bullying: A Silent Epidemic, Library Leadership &