Causes and consequences of bullying at work - advice to the victim of mobbing on how to fight and resist

All vacancies promise a friendly work team, but is this true in practice? A team cannot exist without contradictions and conflicts, but this is useful provided that the conflicts are constructive. And if conflicts are a normal phenomenon, then mobbing (emotional abuse) always has a destructive impact on the individual, group and productivity.

Mobbing: what is it?

Mobbing is psychological terror in the workplace that occurs from colleagues or management. He can turn even his favorite professional activity into a nightmare. In simple words, the concept of “mobbing” implies one of the types of bullying. Therefore, it is incorrect to highlight the differences between bullying and mobbing. The second is a subtype of the first. Terror appears in many guises. This can be gossip and ridicule, misinformation, slander, nagging, intimidation, and ignoring. Mobbing and bullying are especially common in the educational environment. All manifestations of mobbing in conflictology are conventionally combined into two types:

1. Latent. Any hidden methods of bullying a team member when it is externally difficult to determine the presence of pressure. A striking example is the silent ignoring of one of the employees by the majority of the team.
2. Open. These are any manifestations visible to the naked eye. For example, attacks and insults, ridicule.

What is bullying used for at work? To find out this, let’s turn to the definition of mobbing in psychology given in the popular publication “Territory of Science”: “Mobbing is understood as group terror, bullying against one of the employees by his colleagues, subordinates or superiors, carried out with the aim of forcing him to leave. place of work or weaken the degree of one’s social (professional) influence.” For example, a common situation today is mobbing at school in relation to a teacher who does not want to give a grade “through cronyism.”

5 Most Common Behaviors

The main stages of the development of terrorism

When studying mobbing at work and how to combat it, it is important to consider the key stages of its development. This will help to identify manifestations of persecution in time and begin to fight them. For what? To prevent the victim’s condition from worsening and the aggressors from achieving their goal – dismissal. There are five stages in the development of terrorism:

1. Formation of prerequisites. There is a reason to start applying pressure. This can be caused by any conflicts and contradictions, as well as a difficult emotional situation in the team. The reasons, as well as the consequences of mobbing in an organizational environment, will be discussed in more detail below.
2. Initial stage. The team unites, discussing the object of persecution. Some (not yet coordinated) actions against him are emerging. He himself is experiencing his first emotional breakdowns.
3. Active attacks. Expressed in concerted acts of bullying. This can be collective disinformation, ridicule and caustic barbs, and the spread of slander. Any actions and even the very presence of a “scapegoat” are perceived with dissatisfaction.
4. Ignoring. Bullying moves into a new stage - the general isolation of the victim from the team. They deliberately stop noticing her and exclude her from the life of the company outside the work area. Therefore, they deliberately forget to invite you to holidays and any events.
5. Loss of a job. Not understanding how to deal with mobbing at work, a person prefers to leave it. If he does not do this on his own, he is forced to openly or his professional activities are specifically problematized.

A little theory

This phenomenon is called “mobbing”. The term appeared not so long ago, but the phenomenon itself has been known since ancient times. And psychologists began to study it in the 80s of the last century.

The term comes from the English word mob, which means “crowd”. Swedish psychologist Hanz Leyman was the first to describe it. In 1980, the doctor conducted a study among working Swedes. Mobbing is based on instincts, because in the animal world it means the pursuit of a single predator by a herd of herbivores. It was Leiman who marked psychological persecution with this term, giving it the characteristic of “psychological terror.” Involves the constant angry, ugly attitude of a group of people towards an individual.

He identified 45 behavioral models characteristic of mobbing. Some of them are: constant criticism, ridicule, spreading false rumors, social boycott, slander and others.

What types of mobbing are there?

When talking about what mobbing at work is, one cannot fail to mention its varieties. As in any other case of violence, there are several parties here - the aggressor, witnesses and the victim. Depending on which member of the team takes on a particular role, mobbing at work comes in two main types:

1. Horizontal. All participants in what is happening are equal in terms of powers and positions.
2. Vertical. The initiator of persecution is a person in a leadership position. Therefore, this type is also called bossing.

Key reasons for mobbing

To figure out how to deal with mobbing at work, it’s worth finding its cause. Often, direct discussion of it with the initiator will disarm the latter and come to a peaceful agreement with him. For example, such a solution is quite feasible when the reasons are:

• aggression towards newcomers;
• fears of competition;
• long-standing grievances and inconsistencies;
• the desire to reduce activity in a person’s work so that others can also complete tasks more slowly.

But there are situations in which even a direct conversation will not yield anything. The reasons for their development lie in the personality itself. In this case, character traits become “fuel” for persecution, against which there is no point. Such situations include:

• envy;
• complexes and the desire to assert oneself at the expense of others;
• the desire to exert power and punish.

Methods applicable in the fight against psychological terror

Never let a situation take its course, it requires an immediate solution:

1. Try to have a frank conversation with the pursuer, perhaps this will allow you to place emphasis, maybe the reason is in yourself, defiant behavior.
2. When they want to take your place, think about whether this struggle for it is worth your health; if so, you need to tirelessly prove your professionalism and superiority.
3. Always control yourself, do not show aggression.
4. If you decide that your emotional health comes first, leave the company.

It is difficult to cope with your emotions in a conflict situation, but you must remain calm and have a cool mind.

What are the consequences of bullying at work?

Conflict specialist Professor Davenport described the power of its impact very succinctly: “Although mobbing and bossing may seem quite harmless compared to rape or other manifestations of physical violence, the effect they have on the victim, especially if it lasts long enough, has such destructive force that some people are thinking about committing suicide."

A few final words

Emotional abuse at work is a phenomenon that takes a toll not only on the victim, but on the entire team. After all, they can no longer fully devote themselves to their duties - people’s interests and attention are now directed to something else.

Therefore, managers should pay special attention to creating a normal working atmosphere among subordinates, ensuring that conflicts that arise are resolved quickly and fairly. Only this approach will not allow employees to learn from their own bitter experience how cruel mobbing is and what it is.

How to resist bullying?

How to combat bullying at work? How not to miss its beginning? Is it worth trying to overcome the negative attitude against you or should you quit right away? Mobbing and bullying - the essence and methods of confrontation?

1. Maintain the ability to soberly assess the situation. Otherwise, the first attempts at pressure may be mistaken for a bad joke or just a bad period. Any repeated negative actions are terror that cannot be ignored!
2. Don't be led by your emotions during an attack. The initiators are really looking forward to your screams and tears. They will direct them in a favorable direction - to expose the person in an unfavorable light. They use it as a reason to doubt the victim’s professional suitability. But this does not mean that it is necessary to suppress emotions. Give them an outlet with loved ones or a psychologist, work through them and release them.
3. Use humor. The ability to turn what is happening into a joke is a powerful weapon in the fight against violation of personal boundaries. Observing unshakable optimism, often the initiators of persecution give up at the second stage of mobbing in a team. They are not interested in wasting energy on someone who does not give in to provocation. This confrontation tool is effective in the initial stages. If the attacks continue and intensify, it’s no longer time to laugh it off.
4. Leave the team. If the mobbing persists and continues after it has failed to make you angry, quit. There is hardly any point in asking management for help when there is open pressure. If they wanted to help you, it would have already been done. Probably, the director doesn’t care or he is at the same time as everyone else, which means he himself takes part in mobbing the staff.

Effective prevention of mobbing

There are three factors, attention to which will serve as the best prevention of bullying in a team:

1. Corporate culture. It is important to hold regular team-building events. These are trips, trainings, holidays in honor of significant dates in the work of the enterprise or significant achievements. Comic competitions also work well to help employees relieve emotional stress.
2. Psychological climate. If it is not possible to hire a specialist, it is worth periodically involving him in monitoring the situation. Especially when new employees arrive.
3. Strict suppression of gossip and intrigue. It is difficult not to notice their appearance. They immediately affect employee productivity. It is important to conduct explanatory conversations in private with the parties to the conflict when the first signs appear. Here it is also advisable to involve an experienced psychologist or at least a specialist in human resources management. Details of the proceedings cannot be taken outside the office.

The key role in the prevention of mobbing is played by the personality and actions of the leader. Having taken care of these points in the company’s activities, he will not have to rack his brains over the question of how to resist mobbing at work.