Bullying in the Workplace

As the corporate work culture is trying it's best to "cure all ills" of the masses; bullying behaviors have hit the radar screen and are probably one of the top 5 major behavior disturbances in the workplace. But, in life some things that seem so black and white to eradicate sometimes tend to be more complicated when viewed with a bit more detail and reality.

One of the problems you have when you look at eliminating bullying from any situation is that the act of bullying can be very well insidious and extremely hard to pin down to an every event conclusion. That is because manipulative maneuvers are underhanded by nature so that the orchestrator does not get caught. There is a reason why people who are manipulated in any way seem confused by it; it's because the confusion is meant to make you miss what is really happening to you. That is also why you don't get any bullying reports at the onset, but it takes awhile for the victim to realize that something is just not quite right and it is getting more out of hand then they thought.

The degree of the bullying has to be addressed before you even start to deal with whether there is bullying going on or not. What one person considers bullying may be looked at as just healthy competition or even camaraderie from another's point of view. So you must have all of your facts and figures straight before you make your case to anyone about their behavior. That way when they try to twist it around to say "oh, it was nothing to get upset about" or "it didn't seem that bad", you can be prepared to point out that the reality of the situation is quite different when looked at from the victims point of view.

Manager's and corporation's have to investigate any and all bullying complaints or even insinuations because just like any other negative behavior pattern; it can be like a cancer to your office and/or business. This does not just have to do with employees or employers; there can be bullying between them and vendors, customers, heck even your neighboring businesses in the area. It is also true that if bullying in the workplace is a common theme and almost predictable, that the company itself may have a bullying atmosphere and it is just showing up because that is the nature of this business place. Nipping the bullying in the bud means that you will not stand by and ignore what is going on without assertively protecting company and employees from underhanded manipulation that is truly intent on harming someone.