Study on "Workplace bullying behaviours"

Bullying in the workplace is not one phenomenon; it covers a host of
situations and contexts.

Workplace bullying is generally placed on a continuum of inappropriate
behaviours that straddles psychopathic behaviour, mobbing, harassment,
rudeness, social undermining, generalised workplace abuse, mistreatment a
nd intimidation, emotional abuse, psychological harassment, petty tyranny
and peer rejection.

The wide range of terms is partly due to the high level of subjectivity
associated with this field of study. There are many definitions and
descriptions of workplace bullying. The European Agency for Safety
and Health at Work described workplace bullying as repeated,
unreasonable behaviour directed towards an employee, or group of
employees, that creates a risk to health and safety.

Comcare described it as harassment that covers a broad range of
behaviours across a wide spectrum, and can occur wherever people
work together. It too, said the behavior was repeated and posed a risk
to health and safety. The term ‘workplace bullying’ is sometimes
used interchangeably with ‘mobbing’ and ‘harassment’.

The World Health Organisation described mobbing as aggressive and
threatening workplace behaviours of one or more members of a group
(the mobber) towards an individual (the target or the victim) though
occasionally mobbing can be practiced on groups.

“The main difference between workplace harassment and bullying is in
the specificity of behaviors” The main difference between workplace
harassment and bullying is in the specificity of behaviors. Bullying is
seen as a ‘generic harassment’ directed at individual factors such as
personal traits, work position or level of competence in the job.

Harassment appears to be directed at some personal characteristic of the
victim, such as sex, race, disability, age or religion. Workplace bullying
covers a broad range of behaviours (some authors described around 50
workplace bullying behaviours) and most people observed or were
subjected to one or more of the following: Verbal abuse, unjustified
criticism, belittling, humiliation; insults; gossip; malicious rumours;
isolation; victimisation; personality targeting; teasing; practical jokes;
exclusion from conversations and social gatherings; impossible
deadlines, work overloading; inconsistent compliance with rules;
unnecessary pressure; under-work or creating a feeling of uselessness;
interference with personal effects; meaningless or demeaning tasks;
unexplained job changes; withholding work-related information or
resources; denial of award conditions; exclusion from meetings; and
physical threats.

Various researchers have attempted to group workplace bullying
behaviours.

Some authors identified five types of bullying behaviours:

1. Threat to professional status
2. Threat to personal standing
3. Isolation
4. Overwork
5. Destabilisation.

Others defined the following seven groups of workplace bullying behaviours:

1. Verbal/active/direct behaviours (eg name calling)
2. Verbal/active/indirect (eg unfair treatment, false accusations and rumours)
3. Verbal/passive/direct (eg being ignored, silent treatment)
4. verbal/passive/indirect (eg memos/phone calls ignored, little or no feedback)
5. Physical/active/direct (eg glaring at, physical assault)
6. Physical/active/indirect (eg theft or destruction of property, deliberately overloading with work)
7. Physical/passive/indirect (eg unreasonable deadlines, lack of resources).

If you have experience with workplace bullying, you are invited to
participate in a survey being conducted as part of research into workplace
bullying in Australia.

S. Zeman, a Doctor of Business Administration candidate at the Southern
Cross University, is conducting the research as part of her doctoral studies,
under the supervision of Dr L. Gribble. The research aims to examine
bullying in the Australian workforce and the importance of the three
known antecedents of workplace bullying in creating a workplace where
bullying occurs. It also looks at their interaction and aims to identify
organisational strategies adressing the three antecedents of bullying,
taking into account their relative importance.

It is expected that these strategies will range from policies on recruitment,
training, proper work design and work environment, leadership behaviour,
to explicitly promoting anti-bullying and support for targets of bullying.

The survey should take a maximum of 20 minutes to complete.
Important demographic information will be collected but at no time will
your identity be asked. Participation is purely voluntary and no financial
remuneration or incentive will be offered for taking part in the research.

Completing the survey is considered informed consent to participate and
you are free to discontinue your participation at any time.

To access and fill in the questionnaire, please click on this link:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=BFo3NkA59qatwL5yyGOtNQ_3d_3d

The questionnaire will be open until 23 June 2009. If you experience
any technical problems with the questionnaire, please contact Slava on zeman@grapevine.com.au.

Research results will be made available at the Southern Cross
University Library at a later stage. Should you wish to obtain a
summary version of the results, and information about the papers
used in drafting this article, please complete the details at the end
of the questionnaire and these will be forwarded to you.

Written By: By Slava Zeman and Dr Lynn Gribble

Slava Zeman works for the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service.
Dr Lynn Gribble, is a Director of Talking Trends and a doctorate supervisor at
the International Centre for Professional Doctorates, Graduate College of
Management, the Southern Cross University.


WCV's: We have completed the survey mentioned above and we found
it to be an excellent survey in regards to its questions and the time it took
to complete it.

If you have been bullied at work on any level then, do the survey it will
help us all eventually and it's results may just surprise you.

It closes in June so dont forget!

There are 1000's of us out here that have suffered at the hands of a
workplace bully and by completeing this sort of survey it allows us
to be accounted for, guidelines to be implemented as legislation and
to also retain our privacy, so go for it readers and ask all your friends
to do it as well!

The more information they can document the more chances we have of
our voices finally being heard and real protections being provided by real
appropriate legislation.

You can also leave an email address or a snail mail address and they will
send you a summary of the results ! Just Brilliant, I thought!