Definition of Employee on Employee Abuse
Employee one Employee abuse has been given many names in different academic literature such as mobbing harassment, but workplace bullying seems to be most used term.
According to Matthiesen and Einarsen, Workplace bullying of employee abuse can be defined as: “a situation in which one or more persons systematically and over a long period of time perceive themselves to be on the receiving end of negative treatment on the part of one or more persons, in a situation in which the person(s) exposed to the treatment has difficulty in defending themselves against this treatment” (Branch, Ramsay & Barker 280).
Forms of Employee Abuse
Physical bullying is reported rarely in the workplace, but there are many opportunities that exist for intimidating others at the workplace. Rayner and Hoel have provided five different categories of employee abuse at workplace. Threat to employee’s professional status through public professional humiliation, belittling opinion or accusation of restricted effort. Threatening employee’s personal standing through actions such as insults, name calling and teasing. Isolating an employee by preventing access to information or blocking employee’s promotion and training. Overworking an employee by adding undue pressure, making unnecessary disruptions or giving impossible deadlines. Destabilizing an employee by stealing credit when it’s due, removal of responsibility, meaningless tasks or shifting the goal posts (Quine 318). Within the United States of America, 54 million of the working population have reported being bullied workplace; this means 37 percent of the American working population have reported bullying (Schenk par.2).
Online Bullying and Impact
Cyberbullying is a modern form abuse faced at the workplace. It takes different forms such as sending harassing, inappropriate and/or threatening emails/text messages, to disclosing personal information of another individual on the web and by setting up a website with hate messages. Cyberbullying has similar impact to mainstream bullying such as higher job turnover, lower productivity and increased absenteeism. But its impact can be much greater as messages on the web are visible to all and they can bring significant shame to people (Heatherington & Coyne 163-192).
Preference of Less Productive Employees
Reaction of Less Favoured Employees
The less favoured employees react mostly in the same way as their absenteeism is increased, productivity is decreased, and eventually they leave the company for better pastures. The less favoured employees also tend to complain to the supervisor about the bullying, but mostly their complaints are avoided by supervisors to protect their loyalists. The reaction itself is a loss for the company and the supervisor, as some employees do not have suitable working environment to perform, displaying poor leadership on the part of the supervisor.
Conclusion
Employee on employee abuse is highly common in the United States of America. Abuse in the form of isolation, destabilization, overworking and threatening personal standing and professional status are common measures of workplace abuse. Several employees end up facing accusations of restricted effort, teasing, insults, name calling, stealing credit when it’s due, making unnecessary disruptions, and shifting the goal posts from loyalists of superior.
The end result is mostly increased absenteeism, decreased productivity and increased employee turnover.
Works Cited
Branch, S., S. Ramsay, and M. Barker. "Workplace Bullying, Mobbing and General Harassment: A Review." International Journal of Management Reviews 15.3 (2013): 280-299. Print.
Heatherington, W., and I. Coyne. "Understanding Individual Experiences of Cyberbullying Encountered through Work." International Journal of Organization Theory and Behavior 17.2 (2014): 163-192. Print.
Quine, L. "Workplace bullying in NHS community trust: staff questionnaire survey." BMJ 318.7178 (1999): 228-232. Print.
Schenk., L. Employers Beware: Cyber-Bullying Could Wreak Havoc in Your Workplace. Tennessee Labor and Employment Newsletter. frostbrowntodd.com. 5 October 2012. Web. 18 March 2016.
