Until recently, some form of abuse was considered "normal" in the workplace culture. How to detect it and defend yourself.
Abuse is one of the most frequent problems that we find in organizations. But it is necessary to distinguish between mistreatment and the simple bad humor of a superior or colleagues.
While moodiness is a personal characteristic, abuse is behaviors and attitudes specifically and voluntarily directed towards one or more people with the aim of generating discomfort, dissatisfaction and / or harm. It can occur from a superior to a subordinate or between pairs (it is rarer).
Until recently, people who were abused were defenseless, among other things because some type of abuse was considered “normal” in the workplace culture.
In recent years, both in Europe and in the United States, reports of mistreatment have increased to thousands, the highest percentage occurring in those countries that have specific legislation.
In Argentina Since 2002 to date, several provinces (including the city of Buenos Aires) have enacted laws against workplace abuse, although most of them are still limited to the public sphere.
How is it detected?
Repeated behaviors of aggression, relegation and isolation indicate that we are in the presence of abuse. Among other:
- Systematic offensive or profane expressions referring to the person and / or the tasks performed. Systematic reticeo of elements and / or useful to do the tasks. From denying the use of the phone, the photocopier, to not having a desk or a fixed place to work. Restriction of access to the information necessary to carry out the tasks. Postponement in promotions and / or promotions. Isolation of the person from her coworkers. Demanding humiliating, contradictory, ambiguous tasks, difficult to perform or useless. Constant and unfair criticism. Public disqualification or discredit in front of colleagues, superiors, clients or suppliers to the person and / or task. Avoidance of personal contacts, asking only for written contacts. Teasing or contemptuous or disqualifying gestures.Threats related to salary or job continuity. Sexual advances or suggestions as conditioning factors for other objectives. Physical assaults (they are rarer).
How to defend yourself?
In general, people find it difficult to detect abuse as such, it takes time to realize it, first they think that they are indeed doing things wrong, then they don't feel safe to define what happens as abuse.
- Most of the time, the abused person does not comment on the situation at work for fear of the abuser's reaction and to make a fool of himself. Nor does he discuss it with another superior for fear that the company will fix the abuser, which happens frequently. It can take a long time until the abused finally makes the decision to go public, most of the time supported by family members and a partner. One level of defense is to file a complaint. The question that arises is who to report to when the abuser is the immediate superior.
We recommend starting with the complaint within the organization itself with a superior of the abusive person, and thus give the company the opportunity to resolve the issue. If no positive responses are found that consist of the cessation of the mistreatment or the exclusion of the abuser's company, we recommend going to court outside the company.
- The other level is institutional. The company can also be considered a victim.
A company that contains an abuser loses value to its staff, to its customers, to its suppliers, and to the competition.
There are several reasons for this: the work climate is clouded, the escape of the best is facilitated, absences due to illness increase, the quality of products decreases, customers are lost and the company is the one that legally responds to a complaint for mistreatment since it must take charge of the financial compensation.
For all this, allowing or tolerating mistreatment is a terrible business for any company.
At an institutional level, education is the most effective tool: prevention is always much cheaper in energy, time and money than treating abuse once installed or facing a labor demand for abuse.
