“Mobbing”: Emotional abuse and bullying in the workplace
What is “bullying” in the workplace? In general terms, it encompasses harassing, offending, and/or socially excluding someone, or negatively affecting someone’s work tasks.
More specifically, the phenomenon of “mobbing” is becoming a common problem in the workplace. This consists of emotional abuse of someone (regardless of rank), committed directly or indirectly by a group of co-workers. It has been described by Dr Heinz Leymann (a psychologist and medical scientist in Sweden) as “psychological terror”, involving “hostile and unethical communication directed in a systematic way by… a few individuals, mainly towards one individual.” Leymann, who pioneered the research on this issue, identified a number of typical mobbing behaviours, including withholding information, isolation, bad mouthing, constant criticism, circulation of unfounded rumours, ridicule, shouting, etc. Through various manipulative means, a conflict is often created amongst employees, with the victim caught squarely and helplessly in the middle. The abuser will charm the other employees into perceiving the victim negatively so that he/she becomes isolated from everyone. Mobbing may also involve blatant lies and accusations against the victim, who may be defenseless in that particular situation.
This is a serious workplace issue. The people affected suffer immensely. The attack on a person’s dignity, integrity and/or competence, repeatedly over time, erodes self-esteem and often results in psychiatric problems. The impact of mobbing is felt by both the victim and the organisation and has been deemed comparable to the experience of soldiers in war and victims of violence. It causes increased levels of stress and anxiety amongst employees, higher rates of absenteeism, higher than normal staff turnover, and a variety of physical illnesses. In addition to the above factors, employees are often unable to think clearly, to make good decisions and to concentrate fully on their work.
The results found by a number of studies on this problem are shocking: John Medina found that workers stressed by bullying performed 50% worse on cognitive tests. Anna Nyberg at the Stress Institute in Stockholm found in her study that employees are 60% more likely to suffer a heart attack or other life-threatening cardiac condition. Other studies have stated that many victims suffer from frustration, anxiety and/or panic attacks, hopelessness, anger, fear, depression, inability to sleep, loss of appetite, headaches. Some even consider the option of suicide as an escape. The longer-term outcome for the employer is higher medical costs, high rates of turnover, and lower morale and productivity. Company productivity is negatively impacted as energies revolve around the mobbing and divert attention from important and significant tasks at hand.
Why does this happen? Sometimes the aggressors have a “scapegoat mentality”, whereby they are unable to take responsibility for their own actions, and it is convenient to target another employee to take the blame. It is also often motivated by the need for power over others, promotion opportunities or jealousy of another employee.
What can management do about it?
The style of leadership in an organisation plays the most important part in the prevention of mobbing. Management needs to be vigilant and spot any early signals of mobbing, such as distressed employees. A company policy that enforces and rewards respectful and civil employee interactions is crucial. A code of conduct needs to be established to set the tone for a professional work environment, with clear guidelines on the consequences of behaviour that breaches the rules. Managers should be trained in soft skills, to recognise bullying behaviour and how to lead effectively to attain the results that they want. All employees need to be educated, and trained on how to conduct respectful interactions. Behaviour in the workplace should be continually monitored, and manipulative or abusive behaviour needs to be documented and addressed immediately. It is also important to have a system whereby employees are able to report bullying behaviour confidentially. When management receives such information it is crucial that it is investigated and dealt with in a fair way, so that employees are able to trust that they are protected.
Mobbing affects the productivity and profitability of an organisation at the very least. At worst, it may result in the total decline of an organisation. This issue needs to be addressed on an ongoing basis by management. It is toxic and poses a serious threat to all concerned.
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