Workplace Bullies.

Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.

Workplace Bullies.

Most people think of bullying as occurring between children in school. While this type of bullying is the most common, it is possible, however, for bullying to occur between adults in the workplace. Just like in the schoolyard, there are many different reasons why adults bully each other and many different types of workplace bullies.

Sometimes an adult bully will act out because they are under stress. They may not even intend to target others at first, but because of stress in the workplace they begin targeting others to relieve their stress. These types of bullies will usually realize what they are doing and stop after the stress subsides although they may continue targeting others.

Many times, an adult bully will target a person who is in a position of authority. Sometimes employees will target their boss, or in some cases employees will be bullied by the people they are serving, this most commonly occurs in nursing and in schools. Patients and students will relentlessly target the people trying to help them for a variety of reasons, and the professionals will have no idea how to handle it as there are strict rules of conduct they must follow.

A true adult bully will continually bully others, even to the point of having them fired. The bully will appear calm and confident and deny any charges made by the victim to a boss or human resources officer. Many times the victim will not have any proof that they are being bullied and will either resign or get fired if their work performance is affected. Then the adult bully will move on to another target and continue the cycle of bullying. This is the most common way adult bullying occurs and is why it is hard to stop.

Just as with kids, sometimes bullies will only act in conjunction with others. If someone realizes that another employee is bulling others, they may join the bully instead of standing up for the victim because it is easier. People who bully others will often act together as they act as support for each other. Bullies working together can include pairs or even groups.

Often employees who have formed a friendship or are involved together will work together to intimidate other employees for their gain. Often one workplace bully will be very subtle and the other will be more obvious making the bullying more effective. Sometimes a larger group of employees will gang up on and single out another employee to undermine his work or force him to quit. These groups of bullies will usually pick a person that is different from them or that they all dislike. They will act together to intimidate and target the employee for ridicule.

Even though many people don’t realize that there is such a thing as an adult bully, there are many work places that have them. Dealing with  workplace bullies can be challenging and co workers that are being bullied may have no choice other than to quit.

Dealing with Worplace Bullies.

It can be hard to deal with an adult bully because workplace bullying is not widely known or understood. Quite often the bully is a person of authority, making it even harder to deal with.Stopping an workplace bullies can be especially challenging. If you or someone you know needs help dealing with an adult bully, these tips can help.

1. Keep a detailed written account of each instance of bullying.

Being able to prove that you are constantly singled out for no reason and are the target of frequent attacks will go a long way to deal with an adult bully. Keep your records in a safe place, not at work where the bully can find them. You should also keep copies of all written interactions from the bully including memos, notes, and emails that prove you are being treated unfairly. Make a list of every instance of unfair treatment by the bully.

2. Ask for substantiated evidence of any claims and record in writing what the bully says.

If you are criticized or accused of wrongdoing by a bully and the claims are not true, ask for evidence.Many times the bully will not have a response. Their lack of answer or untrue answer will further prove your case and help to deal with them.

You can even point out to the bully that making false accusations is a form of harassment and that you will seek out the proper recourse.

3. Find other employees that have the same experiences and see if they want to pursue the bully together.

Sometimes other employees that are having similar problems will be unwilling to cooperate, but sometimes they will be grateful for the help. There is a better chance of dealing with a bully together. It will help that you are not the only one experiencing the problem and give validation to your claims.

4. Get a copy of your company’s harassment and bullying policies so you know what your rights are within the company. Workplace bullies can be stopped in their tracks when you outline what these policies say.

5.Take your bullying problems to your manager or supervisor, unless they are the one doing the bullying.

It is not usually a good idea to skip the proper chain of command, but if a supervisor or manager is the one bullying you, it may be a good idea to speak with their superiors.

6. Contact the Union.

If your occupation has a union or other professional organization, contact them about your bullying problem. Not all unions or organizations will help employees deal with workplace bullies but many will or will have information you can use.

Throughout this article, I have linked you to some sites which add further helpful information.

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