(1) Present Details
Like a lot teens, our parents encouraged both my brother and I to hold a job throughout our high school careers. Lucky for us, the wonderful fast food chain, McDonald’s, was hiring at the time. As if the harassment from the occasional rude customer wasn’t enough, our manager, Brandon, was the definition of a workplace bully. My brother, Evan, fell victim to his antics the majority of the time. Everyday, he would listen in on the headset when Evan was taking orders at the drive through and wait for him to make a mistake. Once Brandon picked up on Evan making a minor error, such as forgetting to ask if the customer would like ketchup with their order, he would scold my brother over the microphone so that the customer could …show more content…
He seemed to have it out for my brother and would follow him around telling him to redo tasks he had completed because they weren’t done well enough.
(2) Apply Concept
From the “Examples of Abusive Workplace Behaviors” handout, there are several examples that match Brandon’s destructive behavior. Disrespecting/Devaluing the individual is the strongest match from the list. When Brandon would make personal insults towards Evan, it would hurt him personally and hinder his work performance as well. Additionally, Brandon routinely harassed Evan through micromanaging. By constantly following Evan around and ridiculing every little thing, it made for a very uncomfortable workplace. The last tactic of individual workplace harassment from the hand out that Brandon used to manage was instilling fear/intimidation in his employees. I remember once when Evan dropped an ice cream cone, Brandon instantly turned bright red while screaming for the entire restaurant to hear. This made myself and other employees fearful of the consequences of making a mistake. Moving on from individual tactics to structural influences that facilitated this workplace harassment, I believe there is one major contributing factor. “The Impact of Scarcity” describes how it being harder for employees to walk out …show more content…
For example, with a conflict resulting in scarcity, one of the structural influences from the hand out, the conflict resolution technique of authoritative command would not be effective. However, expansion of resources would be more fitting. This is why it is important to analyze the source of the conflict. As stated in the book, conflict can actually result in a positive outcome for an organization when handled properly so that it “stimulates creativity and innovation, encourages interest and curiosity among group members “. However, there are cons with the structural vs. individual approach. If the source of conflict is incorrectly identified, then the technique used to address the bullying/incivility may be inappropriate. Additionally, this can bring stress on an organization when each disciplinary situation is handled differently to the structural vs individual approach. Employees may see this different in action as treating some employees more favorable than others. After evaluating the pros and cons of analyzing the individual vs structural approach, I believe that the pros outweigh the cons. Managers must objectively evaluate the underlying driving force behind the incivility, whether individual or structural, in order to take appropriate
Like a lot teens, our parents encouraged both my brother and I to hold a job throughout our high school careers. Lucky for us, the wonderful fast food chain, McDonald’s, was hiring at the time. As if the harassment from the occasional rude customer wasn’t enough, our manager, Brandon, was the definition of a workplace bully. My brother, Evan, fell victim to his antics the majority of the time. Everyday, he would listen in on the headset when Evan was taking orders at the drive through and wait for him to make a mistake. Once Brandon picked up on Evan making a minor error, such as forgetting to ask if the customer would like ketchup with their order, he would scold my brother over the microphone so that the customer could …show more content…
He seemed to have it out for my brother and would follow him around telling him to redo tasks he had completed because they weren’t done well enough.
(2) Apply Concept
From the “Examples of Abusive Workplace Behaviors” handout, there are several examples that match Brandon’s destructive behavior. Disrespecting/Devaluing the individual is the strongest match from the list. When Brandon would make personal insults towards Evan, it would hurt him personally and hinder his work performance as well. Additionally, Brandon routinely harassed Evan through micromanaging. By constantly following Evan around and ridiculing every little thing, it made for a very uncomfortable workplace. The last tactic of individual workplace harassment from the hand out that Brandon used to manage was instilling fear/intimidation in his employees. I remember once when Evan dropped an ice cream cone, Brandon instantly turned bright red while screaming for the entire restaurant to hear. This made myself and other employees fearful of the consequences of making a mistake. Moving on from individual tactics to structural influences that facilitated this workplace harassment, I believe there is one major contributing factor. “The Impact of Scarcity” describes how it being harder for employees to walk out …show more content…
For example, with a conflict resulting in scarcity, one of the structural influences from the hand out, the conflict resolution technique of authoritative command would not be effective. However, expansion of resources would be more fitting. This is why it is important to analyze the source of the conflict. As stated in the book, conflict can actually result in a positive outcome for an organization when handled properly so that it “stimulates creativity and innovation, encourages interest and curiosity among group members “. However, there are cons with the structural vs. individual approach. If the source of conflict is incorrectly identified, then the technique used to address the bullying/incivility may be inappropriate. Additionally, this can bring stress on an organization when each disciplinary situation is handled differently to the structural vs individual approach. Employees may see this different in action as treating some employees more favorable than others. After evaluating the pros and cons of analyzing the individual vs structural approach, I believe that the pros outweigh the cons. Managers must objectively evaluate the underlying driving force behind the incivility, whether individual or structural, in order to take appropriate