Mobbing is a term used to describe a variety of behaviors in the workplace that amount to emotional abuse by a co-worker's workers or employees. The term is used when a group of workers rather than a single worker engages in this hostile behavior, collectively making life difficult for someone at work in a concerted way. The perpetrators of mobbing can be colleagues, superiors or subordinates, and this behavior can affect workers in companies of all sizes, even smaller companies.
Bullying at work: Mobbing in the workplace is on the rise
Mobbing is "bullying on steroids," a horrible new trend whereby a "bully" invites colleagues to collude in a relentless campaign of psychological terror against an unfortunate target.
Targets are generally anyone who is "different" from the organizational norm. Victims are generally competent, educated, resilient, outspoken, defy the status quo, are more empathetic or attractive, and tend to be female, ages 32 to 55. The targets can also be racially different or part of a minority group.
The target receives ridicule, humiliation, and eventually removal from the workplace. It leaves the victim reeling with no idea what happened or why. It takes away a person's security in the world, dignity, identity and belonging and damages their mental and physical health. The effects also radiate outward to the target's partner, family, friends, and even community.
Because an employee is being attacked and criticized, he or she may be seen as a "disruptor" by others and thus be ignored and isolated by people in another way. Former allies can thus turn against him and become socially isolated. They think, "Well, he's being criticized by management, there must be something wrong with him and I don't want to be smothered by the same brush."
Gossip and innuendo are spread behind closed doors before the target is aware of what is happening, as loyal co-workers previously enlisted to provide personal information that supports the damaging rumors. Often the person instigating the mobbing is emotionally immature and threatened in some way by the target. People with personality disorders often employ tactics such as 'split', which pits team members against each other in order to retaliate against a mild perception or insult on the part of the target.
At least 30 percent of bullying is mobbing and the trend is increasing.
In Australia, a government investigation revealed that calls about workplace harassment increased by 70 percent in three years. Statistics show that harassment affects one in three employees; what is really concerning is that one in two have witnessed bullying but have done nothing about it. Furthermore, the actual incidence of bullying is likely to be much higher: for each reported case, between eight and 20 cases are not reported (Faure-Brac, 2012).
Mobbing is more likely to occur when there are a number of factors in the workplace. Understanding what they are can help protect you from staying in, or taking a job in, a toxic organization. For example, certain industries facing increased financial pressure due to declining market demand are more prone to harassment. These organizations are dollar-driven and accountable only to shareholders and directors. This creates toxic environments in which managers turn a blind eye to bullying and harassment and may even encourage it (Duffy & Sperry, 2013).
Organizations that are driven by bureaucracy, for example government departments, are arguably the most toxic. They seem to have policies and procedures to ensure a safe workplace, but they redefine bullying as a "personality conflict" and end up offering no real protection. In essence, bad behavior is tolerated and allowed to escalate. The 2012 film "Proxy Killing: How America Was Postcard" is a riveting portrait of the latest in toxic workplaces.
Instead, healthy organizations are accountable to a broader range of stakeholders, including customers, staff, and the community. They also have values focused on caring for others (Duffy & Sperry, 2013).
Types of mobbing
The methods workers use to mob a co-worker range from the brutally direct to the surreptitiously indirect. These include covert actions such as spreading a rumor about a worker or orchestrating the isolation of a worker in the office, working out of the worker's sight to make life difficult for him. Or it can encompass more open and confrontational behaviors, such as belittling, intimidating, and humiliating. The common thread is the malice of the acts, and the sense of harassment that it imparts to the victim. The result is a kind of emotional and psychological terrorism, according to a study on the subject published in the International Journal of Business and Social Sciences.
Common Goals
As noted above, mobbing targets are often the most creative, ethical and competent members of the workplace, according to a study by the International Journal of Business and Social Sciences. The reason these workers especially attract aggressive behavior is because other workers may find them threatening their own positions in the workplace. Supervisors also represent a significant portion of mobbing victims, according to the website of "Mobbing: Emotional Abuse in the American Workplace," a book on the subject. In these cases, subordinates tend to band together to undermine their supervisor. Women, younger workers and older workers are at relatively high risk of being bullied.Rates of mobbing incidents are also particularly high in the fields of social services, health and education.
Emotional impact
Mobbing can have a drastic effect on the morale and job performance of victims, leading them to demonstrate less enthusiasm for their work and diverting their focus from daily tasks. It can also decrease your likelihood of seeking help from colleagues for difficult tasks due to an intense sense of isolation from them and mistrust of their intentions. Ultimately, mobbing can cause such anxiety and discomfort that a worker will decide to stay on a pole elsewhere. This can be particularly true when leadership does not emerge to address mobbing incidents and allows them to continue and grow, giving torturers the impression that the behavior in question is acceptable and can continue.
Physical impact
Mobbing does not include the collective physical abuse of a worker. Instead, it focuses primarily on the inner life of the victim. However, mobbing can have an emotional impact on its victims which can ultimately have a physical impact on them, creating stress and its related results. Possible results include headaches, gastrointestinal ailments, and high blood pressure. Furthermore, the pervasive pressure mobbing places on its victims makes it difficult for them to relax at work or outside of work and can lead to burnout.
Deal with mobbing
The best way to deal with mobbing in the workplace is to build resilience, practice self-care, and get out as soon as possible. It is often impossible to win against organizations that tacitly support mobbing. Five steps you must take to ensure recovery are:
- Document everything in detail. From the first signs of something "not very good", even if it is just an instinct, keep a journal of all the incidents you experience. The more evidence you have, the better your recourse to legal action later. Give yourself space and time to figure things out. Find someone in authority at work you can trust to reveal what is going on. Finding a repair from the organization might not be a safe first step for you. See a doctor for stress leave and workers' compensation Get a good recovery team to stop isolation. A good clinical psychologist will help you develop recovery strategies, contact your doctor and attorney, write a psychological injury report, and advocate for you.A good attorney will help you initiate legal action. A good doctor will treat the medical repercussions of bullying. Family and friends will understand, believe, and support. Make self-care a priority. Focus on what you love. Participate in a daily spiritual practice and follow good diet and exercise plans. Participate in meaningful life activities. Set new goals. Undertake creative activities. Focus on fun and laughter.Set new goals. Undertake creative activities. Focus on fun and laughter.Set new goals. Undertake creative activities. Focus on fun and laughter.
Bibliography
Duffy, M., & Sperry, L. (2013). Overcoming Mobbing: A Recovery Guide For Workplace Aggression And Bullying. Oxford University Press.
Faure-Brac, J. (2012). A slow poison: Behind the alarming statistics on bullying in the workplace are personal stories of grief and deprivation, revealed during a parliamentary investigation.
