How to Spot an Office Bully

In today's high-paced and very competitive society one of the forefront problems in business in office bullying. The most prevelent form of bullying are psychological and verbal. Both form of bullying can cause severe destress in the victim often leading to mental stress or leaving the job entirely.

Bulying in the work-place is a swiftly growing pheenomenon which must be taken very seriously. So, how do you spot an office bully? In my experience the office bully can start at management level and work it's way down with the best example being verbal abuse. The Manager shouts at his workers in public which is a very humiliting experience. Isolation of an office worker is another major factor in bullying whereby one particular worker is passed by on promotion etc., and others take the credit for their work.

So, if you are being bullied here are a few ways to help you cope under distress:

- Check around and see if any of your colleagues are having the same problem

- Keep a written record of each incident clearly outlining the form of bullying, the date, time etc.,

- Keep a written record of any witnesses at the time of the attack

- Keep calm whilst under attack

- Respond coherently

- If it is possible, confront the bully and tell them to stop

- Speak to someone with authority that you can trust

- Enquire about the company's code of conduct and their bullying policy

- Ask for a third party mediator

If all of the above methods fail then you could consider taking legal action. There are various state agencies that deal with office bullying and never let it go unchecked or unchallenged.