5 key questions on workplace bullying

At what point would a boss’s attitude be considered “harassment”?

The attitude of the boss is considered harassment when he/she uses mobbing behavior repeatedly for at least six months. However, it should not be forgotten that harassment behaviors are not always used by the victim’s superiors. Sometimes, these behaviors are exercised by a person with the same professional category or hierarchy. Even, in some occasions, the hierarchical inferiors to the victim.

We know when a boss is “overreaching” his functions when he goes against the rights of individuals and/or the employee’s labor rights.

What are the behaviors of harassment at work?

There are a multitude of harassment behaviors, however, these could be grouped into 5 groups:

  1. Harassment activities to reduce the victim’s ability to communicate adequately with others, including the harasser.
  2. Harassment activities to prevent the victim from having the possibility of maintaining social contacts.
  3. Harassment activities aimed at discrediting or preventing the victim from maintaining his or her personal or work reputation.
  4. Harassment activities aimed at reducing the victim’s occupation and employability through professional discrediting.
  5. Harassment activities affecting the physical or psychological health of the victim.

What to do if there is harassment at work?

The first thing to do is to talk to the harasser, and if the behavior persists, inform the human resources department. At the same time, collect as much objective evidence as possible.

  • Ask colleagues in writing what they think of the harasser’s attitude when they have been witnesses, so that they can be used as witnesses in the event of a trial.
  • Tell it at home and seek support in your private sphere.
  • Go to a psychology professional who can give us strategies to understand the harassment and learn how to manage it. If some of the above actions have been taken and the harassment persists, the best thing to do is to leave the company and/or report it.
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Can harassment at work be prevented?

Yes, the company has the duty to ensure that these destructive practices do not take place in the company. In the case of large companies, the human resources department should be a source of prevention. Similarly, managers should not ignore complaints of this type from their employees and should intervene and punish them at an early stage.

Is there a profile of a person, either a bully or a victim?

There are such profiles, although this is not always the case. Sometimes, the motives for harassment are not the usual ones and there are other rules… When we talk about profiles of the bully, we talk about the MIA syndrome. In the literature we can find how bullies are people M (mediocre), I (inoperative, not very operative, not very proactive, not very hardworking), A (active with respect to bullying behaviors. In addition, they are people who have a great capacity for manipulation with speech, poor morals and little empathy. Sometimes very subtle behaviors that are almost impossible to demonstrate: gestures, invented words…

The profile of the victim is usually the opposite of this one. Very well prepared or highly intelligent people or people who stand out in some way within the company. They are very operative, hard-working and passive in their way of relating to others. They become victims because they have a great need for approval and a series of rigid and/or dichotomous thoughts regarding the values and norms of the company. Fair and unfair.

There is talk of a coupling between victim and bully. A toxic attachment that ends up weakening the victim and wearing him down to the maximum. To the point that the person doubts his capabilities, his operability or his goodness. It is a struggle between the need to prove to the bully that he/she is valuable. The bully will eventually dull that glow.