Bullying At Workplace

A worker is said to be bullied at work if any other worker or a group of workers behave unreasonably with him/her thereby affecting his/her health and safety. There are many reasons why people are hesitant to make complaint against being bullied. They fear that they won’t be taken seriously or considered incompetent to handle difficult situations. They are afraid of being blamed and getting a bad reputation in the workplace and also afraid of being marked as a ‘troublemaker’. But people should not make themselves reluctant to complaint against being bullied just because of these reasons.

It is also possible that people who complain against being bullied at workplace may be victimized beyond the original incident. It may be because of the reason that person against whom the complaint is filed holds a reputable position in the organization and nobody can come forward to stand against him/her. This is also possible that manager handling the complaint is biased towards the other person and will find ways to prove the person wrong who has filed a complaint. But a manager is not supposed to do this. Managers should constantly try to communicate with people who are bullied to ensure that they are not bullied again. On the other hand, organizations should establish policies and procedures to identify the kinds of behaviors which can be taken as bullying and what can be done protect employees from being bullied. They can also establish a consultation service where people can complain of being bullied anonymously.

It is the responsibility of managers to inform the employees that it is their right to stand against bullying if they are experiencing it. Managers should treat everyone as equal and should not have any favoritisms. They should also ensure that employees are able to talk to them without any hesitation. They should paste anti-bullying posters in the workplace to remind employees that it is not a shame to report bullying as it is not an acceptable activity in the workplace.