The term mobbing was used for the first time in ethology by Konrad Lorenz to describe some group behaviors of animals; specifically, attacks by a group of animals on a single animal. Although aggressive behavior in the so-called animal is instinctive and can respond to the survival instinct, aggression among those known as rational animals seems like a learned behavior, difficult to explain most of the time based on the benefit of the species. Subsequently, the term mobbing was applied to similar behaviors produced by children in school contexts.
Finally, it was the psychologist Henri Leymann in the 80s who recovered that word and applied it to work situations, the term being used to refer to the aggressions of a group, or of a person, against another worker.
Mobbing refers to a situation of psychological harassment that occurs between the members of a work organization, although being this type of problems typical of social organizations, they can occur in other areas than work (family, school, neighborhood, etc.).
However, the term will be used to define this occupational risk of psychosocial origin, which in Spanish could be translated as: "Psychological harassment", "Occupational psychoterror" or "Psychological harassment at work" (CEPYME, 2016).
Mobbing
Definition
The German Heinz Leymann, Doctor in Work Psychology and Professor at the University of Stockholm, was the first to study this behavior from 1986 and define this term in 1990 during a Congress on Safety and Hygiene at Work. Placing him, therefore, in the reference in the study of this behavior at work. Determining that the mobbing is:
Situation in which a person exercises extreme psychological violence, systematically and recurrently and for a prolonged period of time, against another person or persons in the workplace in order to destroy the communication networks of the victim or victims, destroy their reputation, disrupt the performance of their work and finally make that person or people leave the workplace (Leymann, 1986).
On the other hand, the Spanish González de Rivera in his book “How to defend
Mobbing and other forms of harassment ”defines it as: Group situations in which a person is subjected to persecution, injury or psychological pressure by one or more people of the group to which they belong, with the complicity of the rest.
The World Health Organization defines mobbing as a situation of recurrent violence or harassment directed at a person with the aim of isolating him from a work group; it is characterized by cruel and hostile behaviors that become psychological torture for the victim. Some manifestations may be: 1. Rumors and Slander, 2. Isolating or excluding a person, 3. Insults or nicknames, 4. Ignoring or not allowing a person to participate, 5. Threatening.
Mobbing: How to Identify if It Exists in the Organization
Iñaki Piñuel, expert in workplace harassment and professor at the University of Alcalá de Henares, exposes in his book “» Mobbing: How to survive psychological harassment at work »the CISNEROS questionnaire (Individual Questionnaire on Psychoterror, Denial, Stigmatization and Rejection in Organizations Social).
Where it exposes the indications by which a worker can be considered a victim of 'mobbing'. It considers that if an employee feels psychological harassment during a period of six months with a frequency of twice a week, he is a victim of workplace harassment (Piñuel & Zabala, 2002) .
Professor Piñuel considers that harassment occurs, above all, in cases in which a worker cannot be fired, either because he is a public official, or because his prestige and work capacity would make the dismissal inadmissible.
The onset of bullying often begins unexpectedly, such as a sudden change in a relationship that was previously considered neutral or positive. It usually coincides with a moment of tension in the company such as organizational, technological or political changes.
The person who suffers the mobbing begins to be criticized for the way they carry out their work, which on the other hand, until now was well regarded. At first, bullied people don't want to be offended and they don't take hints or harassment seriously. However, the situation is strange for the victim because she does not understand what is happening and has difficulty in organizing her defense conceptually.
(Piñuel & Zabala, 2002) They mention the 42 keys to identify if there is mobbing in organizations, which are explained below.
- My superior refuses to communicate, speak or meet with me. They ignore me, exclude me, or empty me, pretend not to see me, do not return my greeting, or make me "invisible." They yell or yell at me, or raise their voices With a view to intimidating me They constantly interrupt me preventing myself from expressing They forbid my colleagues or colleagues from talking to me They make up and spread rumors and slander about me in a malicious way They systematically undervalue and destroy my work no matter what I do They accuse me unjustifiably or falsely of breaches, errors, or failures, vague and vague that have no consistency or real entity. I maliciously attribute illegal or unethical conduct against the company or clients to damage my image and reputation.I receive criticism and reproach for anything I do or decision I make in my work with a view to paralyzing and destabilizing me Small mistakes or trifles are maliciously amplified and dramatized to upset me I am threatened with disciplinary instruments (termination of contract, non-renewal, disciplinary proceedings, dismissal, forced transfers, etc…) They devalue my professional effort, diminishing its value, or attributing it to other factors They persistently try to demoralize me through all kinds of tricks They maliciously use various stratagems to make me incur professional errors and then accuse me of They control, supervise or monitor my work in a malicious way to try to "catch me in some resignation."They systematically evaluate my work and performance in a negative way in an unfair or biased way. They leave me without any work to do, not even on my own initiative, and then accuse me of doing nothing or being lazy. They constantly assign me new tasks or jobs., without letting me finish the previous ones, and they accuse me of not finishing anything They assign me absurd or meaningless tasks or jobs They assign me tasks or jobs below my professional capacity or my skills to humiliate or burden me They force me to do jobs that go against my principles, or my ethics, to force my ethical criteria by participating in "rinses." I am assigned routine tasks or of no value or interest. I am assigned tasks that endanger my physical integrity or my health on purpose.They prevent me from adopting the necessary security measures to carry out my work with due security Expenses are incurred with the intention of harming me financially They humiliate, despise or undervalue me in public in front of other colleagues or third parties They try to isolate me from my colleagues by giving me jobs or tasks that physically distance me from them. They maliciously distort what I say or do in my work, taking "the radish by the leaves." They try to tickle me to "make me explode." They poison people around me by telling them all kinds Of slander or falsehoods, maliciously turning them against me They make fun of me or joke trying to ridicule my way of speaking, walking, or give me nicknames I receive fierce and unfair criticism or ridicule about aspects of my personal life.I receive threats verbally or through intimidating gestures I receive threats in writing or by phone at my home I am shaken, pushed to intimidate me Inappropriate and cruel jokes about me I am deprived of essential information necessary to do my job Maliciously limiting My access to promotions, promotions, education or training courses to harm me They assign me unreasonable and unusual deadlines or workloads They change my responsibilities or my duties without communicating me They make direct or indirect sexual advances or advances.They deprive me of essential and necessary information to do my job They maliciously limit my access to promotions, promotions, education or training courses to harm me They assign me unreasonable and unusual deadlines or workloads They modify my responsibilities or my duties without They throw direct or indirect sexual advances or advances at me.They deprive me of essential and necessary information to do my job They maliciously limit my access to promotions, promotions, education or training courses to harm me They assign me unreasonable and unusual deadlines or workloads They modify my responsibilities or my duties without They throw direct or indirect sexual advances or advances at me.
Mobbing: Consequences on the Worker
The consequences of mobbing can be of different nature and affect several areas. They are very close to pathology caused by stress, but with a special incidence of pathology of a social nature.
According to (Piñuel & Zabala, 2002) the following consequences can be distinguished in the worker affected by mobbing:
a) At a Psychic Level
Symptoms can be very diverse. The main axis of the consequences suffered by the affected subject is anxiety: the presence of an accentuated and continuous fear, of a feeling of threat. The anxiety manifested by these subjects in their work time can be generalized to other situations. Other emotional disorders such as feelings of failure, helplessness and frustration, low self-esteem or apathy can also occur. They can also be affected by different types of cognitive distortions or show problems when concentrating and directing attention (Martínez, 2012).
(Piñuel & Zabala, 2002) Proposes the “Coercion Stress Syndrome
Continued ”(SECC) to refer to the pathology that people who suffer psychological harassment present. This syndrome has characteristics common to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, some of which are met by victims of bullying, in this case the traumatic event being the situation of bullying.
Some of the criteria for this Continued Coercion Stress Syndrome are:
- The situation of prolonged (chronic) stress is the effect of a continuous threat. Insomnia and nightmares often occur in victims. Despite continuous fatigue, falling asleep is revealed in the victim as almost impossible. If you can sleep, the sleep is not restful Numbness or numbness in the extremities (fingers, feet) and other organs. It is about the somatization of the emotional insensitivity that especially prevents the victim from feeling joy. Recovery from the experience of bullying and its consequences due to the stress maintained over time usually takes between two and five years. However, some victims never recover, because they cannot find sufficient support or simply because they do not resist the consequences psychologically or physically. For many victims,social life ends and with it any possibility of re-establishing ties and relationships that will help them return to work.
b) At a Physical Level
It can be found with various manifestations of psychosomatic pathology:
from pain and functional disorders to organic disorders.
c) At the Social Level
It is possible that they become very susceptible and hypersensitive to criticism, with attitudes of distrust and with behaviors of isolation, avoidance, withdrawal or, on the other hand, of aggressiveness or hostility and with other manifestations of social maladjustment. Feelings of anger and resentment, and desires for revenge against the aggressor / s are common.
In general, it can be said that the individual's social health is deeply affected, as this problem can distort the interactions he has with other people and interfere with the normal and productive life of the individual. Health will be more affected the less effective supports found (people who provide affection, understanding, advice, help, etc.) both in the workplace and outside of work.
Mobbing: Ways to Cope
Mobbing has consequences in professional and personal life. If the organization has been the target of recurrent aggressive behaviors, it is time to act to put an end to it and prevent it from affecting professional and personal life.
Below are 3 tips to deal with it established by (OCC, 2013)
Identify the abuse.
A colleague who frequently criticizes you, excludes you from important meetings, hides information from you, spreads gossip or rumors about you, or takes credit for your work may be mobbing you.
In general, the main purpose of these attitudes will be to move you or leave you 'out of the game' and obtain benefits for your person.
The first step to stop this type of behavior is to coldly analyze how this person's behavior is, does he behave like this with other colleagues or only with you? Are you persistent in your behaviors or are they occasional? Does it really affect your work or is it just uncomfortable?
It is vitally important to evaluate the situation to identify if the person who bothers us has clear intentions to harm our work or is only a conflictive person who makes other colleagues uncomfortable, in this case ignoring and avoiding the person may be the best strategy. However, if your behavior is really affecting our performance, you need to act on it.
Confront him
The more professional our attitude in the office, the better we can manage our working relationships. It is important to avoid getting emotional and putting a limit on the abuser while remaining in control.
Do not become an easy target, when a malicious person seeks to harm your work it is important that you openly express that you do not like their attitudes. For example, if a person makes aggressive comments in front of other people, it is appropriate to stop them with a "I think the tone of your comment is not appropriate."
Do not ignore the abuse or let it pass, act smart, control emotion and express firmness. Be strong and show that person that you don't like their attitude and that you are not going to allow it.
Report it
The most appropriate thing when a mobbing situation is getting out of control or is reducing your performance is to communicate it with your immediate boss or human resources department.
It is important that you bring solid arguments and evidence that dealing with this person is affecting your work. Again avoid being dominated by emotion when expressing your discontent, remember that you are an adult person, capable of behaving in a professional manner. The more rational and controlled your complaint is, the easier it will be to be heard by the company and demand a solution.
Conclusions
The consequences of mobbing not only affect the individual, but the tendency to isolation they experience, lack of communication and conflict also affects their family and social environment. Work performance suffers and interrelation with colleagues worsens. It can also happen that the accident rate increases because the worker does not concentrate on work tasks, which can cause her to lose her job.
The consequences for the victims of this type of abuse translate into psychological problems such as anguish and depression; physical such as weight loss, headaches, or insomnia; work as a drop in performance, absenteeism, and social as family problems and loss of interpersonal relationships.
But companies also lose: mobbing is one of the main causes of low productivity, absenteeism and staff turnover. For this reason, more and more companies are implementing internal programs to report and prevent inappropriate work behaviors, and for their part, institutions for the protection of workers' rights open spaces to report abuses (OCC, 2013).
From the work point of view, unmotivated and dissatisfied individuals will possibly result who will find work as a hostile environment associated with suffering and who will not perform optimally.
The logical conduct of a worker subjected to a mobbing situation would be to leave the organization; however, in many cases this does not occur due, on the one hand, to the difficult employment situation and, on the other hand, to the fact that, as the worker gets older, his ability to find new jobs diminishes.
The consequences of workplace bullying, apart from hindering job performance can be very serious. The stalker's goal is to psychologically bring down his victim. Many victims of harassment doubt if they are suffering harassment or, simply, it is about work clashes, so among things it is a hidden reality.
The problem with workplace harassment is that it is a reality that arises normally. Organizations are not interested in these cases being made public, and workers are often ashamed or afraid of losing their job, so they do not report this situation or have to endure it (Martínez, 2012).
Gratitude
I thank the Technological Institute of Orizaba for providing the tools and human capital to develop me professionally and the MAE Fernando Aguirre y Hernández, professor of the subject of Fundamentals of Administrative Engineering for promoting learning through practice among his students, thus encouraging proactivity and genuine learning.
References
- CEPYME. (December 03, 2016). Connect SMEs. Obtained from Conecta PYME.Gonzáles. (sf). How to defend yourself from Mobbing and other forms of harassment. Madrid. Leymann, H. (1986). Mobbing, the persecution au travail. Seuil.Martínez, M. (April 2012). University of Valladolid. Obtained from UV Web site: http://www.uv.es/gicf/3Ar1_Mtz_Leon_GICF_03.pdfOCC. (May 03, 2013). OCC Education. Piñuel, I., & Zabala, I. (2002). The incidence of mobbing or psychological harassment at work in Spain. CISNEROS II report on violence in the workplace. Madrid: University of Alcalá.
