Ploymint

Bullying isn’t always limited to the jerk in class who made fun of you in high school. As you get older you probably thought people would grow up, and that being picked on was something that you only had to go through during puberty. Unfortunately, according to several studies, bullying in the workplace is a pretty serious problem.

The Workplace Bullying Institute published a report in 2014 that said that 27% or nearly one-third of people have experienced being bullied at work. The stats show that indeed, the demeaning and immature behavior isn’t left exclusively to adolescence. Workplace bullying is defined when a person or group of people in a workplace single out another person for unreasonable, embarrassing, or intimidating treatment.

A prevailing problem with the issue is that it’s often dismissed or minimized, typically by the bullies themselves. The reality is, just as with adolescent bullying, workplace bullying may have long lasting detrimental effects to the physical and mental health for the victims of the abuse. A 2007 Zogby International survey reported that 45% of individuals targeted by bullies at work suffer stress-related health problems. This can include a multitude of negative health issues like an impaired immune system, cardiovascular problems, anxiety, depression, and  post-traumatic stress disorder. Trying to downplay the seriousness of bullying at work is merely contributing to the negative environment it creates.

So what does workplace bullying look like? There’s a good chance you’ve seen or experienced it without even knowing. Verbal abuse is one of the more prevalent forms that workplace bullying takes on. Demeaning, embarrassing, or unwarranted criticism to single out an employee is considered bullying. If it’s coming from a boss, it’s also likely that your co-workers don’t want to speak out because of fear of retribution. Workplace bullying can also include an employee being left out of company events, or having their work being purposely ignored or dismissed. Because a job usually provides the essentials for existence like money for food, shelter, and clothing, the amount of stress that can be associated with workplace bullying is immense.

Another phenomenon with workplace bullying is that while 72% of the American public is aware of it, an astounding 72% of employers deny, discount, encourage, rationalize, or defend it. The study shows that while awareness for the issue is high, employers who account for 56% of workplace bullies, only do something to stop it 20% of the time. Culturally, we need a shift in thought on the importance of workplace bullying, and how it’s not only affecting the health of our employees, but the retention rate at our company and potentially overall revenues.

It’s important to note that bullying is not illegal in terms of employment law. For that reason you also need to recognize when bullying crosses the line and turns into sexual harassment or physical abuse. These things are illegal and you can take criminal and civil action against the individual and the company for it. Unfortunately, in terms of workplace bullying there are not many options. Often your best option is to quit, or go to a higher superior and talk to them about the abuse. Ultimately, you should always put your health above the job you have.

In the workplace we can all be diligent to stop workplace bullying. If you see it or hear it, do everything you can to discourage it. As humans, we often have a hard time understanding the perspectives of other people even though we have endured similar or relate-able experiences. For that reason, it helps to put yourself in your coworkers’ or employees’ shoes and try to understand how they would feel in the situation. It’s a lesson we all learned when we were young, but needs to be reinforced as we get older.