Say how the issue of mobbing acts within business organizations and how it can affect the development of personal in question of their business ability.
INTRODUCTION
According to studies carried out in Chile, it is said that about two-thirds of the 5,000 workers surveyed have been victims of mobbing in their workplaces. Mobbing is the psychological harassment that people receive in their work environment, which is one of the most common elements in workplace violence. This concept is more than a physical aggression towards a worker which causes that the person who is suffering this type of aggression can be intimidated to perform their work efficiently. The behaviors that come to light within mobbing can be physical or verbal behaviors that can threaten, intimidate, abuse and harass people.
Physical violence is extremely easier to detect due to the signs that the injuries caused by it can present, however, psychological violence is a point that despite the fact that the person who receives it may be affected repeatedly, they usually deny it. This is how we can say that violence at work is based on the activities of being able to bend people in their behavior through the implementation of physical and psychological force.
Given the continuous growth of globalization, interpersonal relationships within companies form a very important point to consider in order to lead companies to achieve the objectives that they have previously established, these objectives are held by all companies, whether in the public sector or private. These interpersonal relationships are sometimes not only with the staff of a single organization, but also, the users or clients of these companies may be included, and repeatedly through this type of relationships the behaviors that lead to mobbing can be caused. which can be created by a single individual or by a group of individuals.
For people who are victims of this type of abuse, the consequences do not always become physical, but go beyond, which can be devastating in a psychological sense, thus causing a feeling of stress, anxiety disorders, disorders of sleep, excessive depression and even attempted suicide.
WHAT IS WORKPLACE HARASSMENT OR MOBBING?
Mobbing is a behavior that involves different aspects of violence which is presented in the work life of many people, this type of violence can involve psychological or physical aspects, such as saying bad words to an employee to physically assaulting him. Mobbing also receives the terms of psychological harassment or work psychoterror.
The first records of the use of mobbing were in the 80's when this term was used for the first time to refer to a form of violence that occurred in the workplace of people.
"The term mobbing comes from the English verb to mob which means harassment, assault, run over, attack someone in a group" (Directorate of Labor, 2007)
“Workplace harassment was defined as that situation in which a person or a group of people exert extreme psychological violence, and systematically, for a long time, on other people in the workplace” (Heinz, 1996)
Different psychologists who have studied harassment indicators say that the main forms of workplace harassment can be presented by isolating the victims from the rest of the workers. Through this type of isolation, the person involved can come to have a feeling of waste, since the tasks that are usually assigned to them are somehow much lower than those that their own capacity allows them.
The most common ways in which mobbing can be presented within business organizations will be presented below:
- Hierarchical superiors even deny the possibility of communicating with their collaborators, with which they can silence them, ask questions about the quality of the work they do, criticize the type of life they lead outside the organization and even threaten, all this in order for the worker to feel isolated. The most common ways in which the worker can be denied communication are by interrupting the worker's speech and even trying to avoid any type of eye contact.
- Co-workers avoid having contact with a colleague at any cost, this means not engaging in any type of conversation with him, likewise superiors may demand that he speak to a collaborator, he may be taken away to an isolated place, certain activities are taken away from him, etc.
- The worker can be discriminated against, ridiculed, mocked, made fun of any disability he has, made fun of about his religion and ethnic heritage, the ways of moving and expressing himself and can even question the quality of the work. work they perform through a series of inconsistent and unfair evaluations with respect to their other colleagues.
- No tasks are assigned to the worker, or those assigned to him are inferior to his abilities or superior to the abilities that the worker has, which can become impossible to perform, in the same way they can become diverse tasks with which can diminish their intellectual and work capacities as well as their performance and work capacity.
- Attacks that are directed towards the physical and moral integrity of the worker, which can be verbal violence, threats with physical violence, they can be exposed to high-risk jobs without the necessary equipment.
People who are experts in the study of this type of situation, mention that in order for this type of attitudes to occur, at least three situations must be found, which are:
- “The action of harassment or harassment must be systematic and persistent, therefore, occasional or sporadic conflicts do not constitute workplace harassment;
- The effects suffered by harassed people must be clear and evident, at a physical and psychological level, and can occur in different degrees.
- The existence of power differences: formal (from a superior or leadership) or informal (between colleagues or subordinates). " (Directorate of Labor, 2007)
PHASES OF MOBBING OR PSYCHOLOGICAL HARASSMENT
“It does not have a series of fixed phases that span from its appearance to its end. This condition is determined by the peculiarities of each particular case, taking into account the characteristics of the aggressor (s), the victims and the organizational environment where the conflict is unleashed. However, as a result of his research, Professor Leyman has established a group of four phases. " (Luna, 2003)
PHASE 1: CONFLICT
In most organizations, the personnel who work in them have different objectives and interests, which repeatedly leads to a series of conflicts between workers, which is why it is said that labor disputes should not be confused with Harassment at work, since when this type of conflict occurs, bosses or superiors usually seek that workers can perform their functions seeking the unification of the objectives of each one of them so that they can meet the interests of the organization.
The existence of these conflicts can be resolved in a peaceful way as long as dialogue is used, if the differences that exist between workers cannot be solved, larger and worse conflicts can be generated, which can lead to generate a feeling of stigmatization.
PHASE 2: MOBBING OR STIGMATIZATION
This phase arises when the harasser or stalkers start a process in which they already have a working victim involved, presenting in this phase a set of activities and behaviors that aim to ridicule the victim at all costs as well as to remove them from the labor society, all this takes place within what can be called as psychological harassment. In most cases, the worker who is being the victim of this type of harassment may not give knowledge of what is happening and in many cases they deny any type of activity that entails a type of violence towards their person, thereby It can generate that even more colleagues are participants in the bullying process.
PHASE 3: OF INTERVENTION OF THE ORGANIZATION
“At this stage, what was initially a problem known to members of the group to which the victim belongs, transcends to higher levels. Therefore, the conflict can evolve in two ways:
- Positive solution: the authorities of the human resources department can carry out an investigation of the problem and take the appropriate measures, either by changing the position of the worker or the harasser, admonishing the latter verbally or in writing and stating that these behaviors are serious offenses and not no member will be tolerated regardless of their level in the organization's structure Negative solution: in this case the paths to follow may be, on the one hand, denying the existence of the problem, leaving the victim in a defenseless state, and the harasser has a free hand to continue with his task and on the other,Recognize the existence of the conflict but minimize its consequences where the victim is once again in a defenseless state since they feel that the purpose of the organization is to downplay the existence of harassment, not considering the seriousness of the problem and not adequately sanctioning these behaviors. " (Riquelme, 2006)
PHASE 4: MARGINALIZATION OR EXCLUSION FROM WORKING LIFE
When the mobbing situation arises, on some occasions the worker chooses to make a change of job and comes to submit his resignation according to the position he held with which he seeks to solve the conflict in which he is immersed, that is because they usually consider that the organization does nothing to solve the mobbing situations that occur in companies. In government-owned companies, employees who find themselves in this type of situation resort to making a request to change their job, either to move them from the work area within the same company or until they change city, regardless of the problems that this aspect could bring to your family.
DEGREES OF WORKPLACE HARASSMENT
"The degrees of workplace harassment are delimited by a series of factors that are: intensity, duration and frequency, with which the different harassment behaviors mentioned above appear." (Sáez & García Izquierdo, 2001) This is how three degrees are distinguished:
First grade: In this first grade the worker who is being exposed to different types of attacks and harassment, is able to cope with these situations and can continue to perform his job without problems; Some of the people can ignore attitudes of workplace violence such as teasing, humiliation and in the same way they can come to face their aggressors. However, despite the fact that in this degree of workplace harassment, people can defend themselves, they can have a feeling of bewilderment, anxiety and even be irritable in some way, even so the relationships that the person has are usually not affected.
Second grade. Within this stage, the person comes to detect that the attacks are more difficult to avoid and avoid humiliation in the same way, which has the consequence that the work activities assigned to him are more complicated to perform. Even the person may present some symptoms as an effect of the type of aggression they have in their daily work activities such as: depression, gastrointestinal problems, insomnia, substances, etc. Despite the number of problems that the worker has within the organization, her family usually does not give her the necessary importance to help her solve these situations.
Third degree. In this degree the violence that the worker is experiencing is already so much that the power to return to the activities to be carried out by the job he performs is completely impossible, since the psychological damage that the victim receives day by day can only be solved through a series of highly specialized psychological treatments on mobbing issues. The symptoms that the worker presents as a result of mobbing in this grade are:
- Severe depression Panic attacks Aggressive behaviors Suicide attempts
It is up to this point that the worker's family and friends become aware of the problems that the individual has.
CONCLUSIONS
As it could be noted, violence within the workplace is a more common point than it was believed, which can affect workers in a very serious way, which can have an impact on the worker taking some forms of reaction towards violent actions that take place in organizations. That is why for companies it should be a very important point to consider, since the human factor is one of the most essential elements in order to achieve the objectives of the organization, in addition to attacking the physical and psychological integrity of the employees reach a point where human rights are violated,However, for the people who are the cause of the mobbing activities, they are not interested in the least in the legal actions that could bring against them for the practice of this activity, the lack of interest in the legal repercussions is due to the fact that the Most workers in organizations silence this type of violence for fear of losing their jobs. So one of the points to be able to reduce mobbing activities could be recommended to carry out a series of audits and psychological tests to collaborators to rule out as much as possible people who are problematic since all they do is be a stone stumbling block for others and for company goals.Failure to take interest in the legal repercussions is due to the fact that the majority of the workers of the organizations silence this type of violence for fear of losing their jobs. So one of the points to be able to reduce mobbing activities could be recommended to carry out a series of audits and psychological tests to collaborators to rule out as much as possible people who are problematic since all they do is be a stone stumbling block for others and for company goals.Failure to take interest in the legal repercussions is due to the fact that the majority of the workers of the organizations silence this type of violence for fear of losing their jobs. So one of the points to be able to reduce mobbing activities could be recommended to carry out a series of audits and psychological tests to collaborators to rule out as much as possible people who are problematic since all they do is be a stone stumbling block for others and for company goals.So one of the points to be able to reduce mobbing activities could be recommended to carry out a series of audits and psychological tests to collaborators to rule out as much as possible people who are problematic since all they do is be a stone stumbling block for others and for company goals.So one of the points to be able to reduce mobbing activities could be recommended to carry out a series of audits and psychological tests to collaborators to rule out as much as possible people who are problematic since all they do is be a stone stumbling block for others and for company goals.
REFERENCES
- Work address. (2007). Workplace harassment or mobbing. Chile: Government of Chile Heinz, L. (1996). Paris: Seuil. Luna, M. (2003). Psychological Harassment at Work (Mobbing). Madrid:
Editorial GPS.
- Riquelme, A. (2006). Mobbing: A type of violence in the workplace.
Online social sciences, III (2), 39-57.
- Sáez, M., & García Izquierdo, M. (2001). Psychological violence at work:
Mobbing. Marid.
THANKS
I want to thank in a very special way the subject of Fundamentals of Administrative Engineering of the Master in Administrative Engineering that I study at the Technological Institute of Orizaba, but mainly to my professor Dr. Fernando Aguirre y Hernandez for encouraging the desire to research and read about different interesting topics.
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