The definition of workplace bullying according to the Workplace Bullying Institute (2017) is “repeated mistreatment of an employee by one or more employees. The conduct from these perpetrators is abusive, threatening, humiliating, intimidating, sometimes considered work sabotage, and/or verbal abuse” (p.1). When we think of bullying almost always we think of “school yard” bullies in our earlier childhood days where the weakest children were picked on and tormented. Bullying in the workplace differs from that due to the fact that we are adults and there are some of us who still behave like children and show little to no respect for our co-workers. Bullying is one of the most general forms of workplace aggression (Davidson, 2011, p. 47).
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The first is the Screaming Mimi, which is the stereotypical bully with mood swings, someone who displays anger short of violence, and publicly humiliates their targets. The second is the Constant Critic, which is the hyper-critical nitpicker. This bully resorts to name calling, complains about the incompetence of others, may invent errors for the target and prefers doing things behind closed doors, but can berate in public too. The third kind of bully is the Two-Headed Snake which is someone that has climbed the ladder of success, but defames the reputation of their targets to boost their own self-image. They are the ones that will spread rumors and generally divide the workplace by turning other coworkers against the target. Lastly, there is the Gatekeeper. They are obsessed with control. They may keep watch on the targets time, money, staffing, and will try to make their target fail all while complaining about the target’s performance …show more content…
6). I have listed ten of those tactics for reading purposes. They are as follows: 1) Falsely accusing someone of “errors” not actually made; 2) Making up own rules on the fly that even she/he does not follow; 3) Harshly and constantly criticizing having a different ‘standard’ for the target; 4) Starting, or failing to stop, destructive rumors or gossip about the person; 5) Encouraging people to turn against the person being tormented; 6) Singling out and isolating one person from co-workers, either socially or physically; 7) Using confidential information about a person to humiliate privately or publicly; 8) Making verbal put-downs/insults based on gender, race, accent or language, disability; 9) Making undoable demands – workload, deadlines, duties – for person singled out; 10) Encouraging the person to quit or transfer rather than to face more
The first is the Screaming Mimi, which is the stereotypical bully with mood swings, someone who displays anger short of violence, and publicly humiliates their targets. The second is the Constant Critic, which is the hyper-critical nitpicker. This bully resorts to name calling, complains about the incompetence of others, may invent errors for the target and prefers doing things behind closed doors, but can berate in public too. The third kind of bully is the Two-Headed Snake which is someone that has climbed the ladder of success, but defames the reputation of their targets to boost their own self-image. They are the ones that will spread rumors and generally divide the workplace by turning other coworkers against the target. Lastly, there is the Gatekeeper. They are obsessed with control. They may keep watch on the targets time, money, staffing, and will try to make their target fail all while complaining about the target’s performance …show more content…
6). I have listed ten of those tactics for reading purposes. They are as follows: 1) Falsely accusing someone of “errors” not actually made; 2) Making up own rules on the fly that even she/he does not follow; 3) Harshly and constantly criticizing having a different ‘standard’ for the target; 4) Starting, or failing to stop, destructive rumors or gossip about the person; 5) Encouraging people to turn against the person being tormented; 6) Singling out and isolating one person from co-workers, either socially or physically; 7) Using confidential information about a person to humiliate privately or publicly; 8) Making verbal put-downs/insults based on gender, race, accent or language, disability; 9) Making undoable demands – workload, deadlines, duties – for person singled out; 10) Encouraging the person to quit or transfer rather than to face more