Bullying, toxic, predatory, and coercively controlling behaviours in workplaces.

In general, workplace bullying refers to being intentionally singled out for the sole purpose of intimidating, threatening and/or embarrassing the target.

Employers in most countries have a legal responsibility to identify and control hazards and risks associated with workplace bullying. Unfortunately, the breadth of behaviours which represent bullying are rarely fully understood by leaders and often lack transparency, so workplace bullies persist with their behaviours over long periods of time. This poses a serious RISK to organisations.

A selection of behaviours which constitute bullying taken from Occupational Health and Safety legislation from different countries, include:

• verbal abuse;

• belittling;

• unfair allocation of tasks and or working hours;

• manipulation;

• yelling;

• excluding employees from conversations or activities;

• abusive or offensive e-mails, social media activity or other correspondence; 

• unreasonable demands, unnecessary pressure and impossible deadlines targeted at an employee or group of employees;

• undermining a person’s work performance; and

• deliberately withholding necessary work-related information or resources or supplying incorrect information.
  
  

Most people are unaware that all these behaviours are collectively displayed by high functioning psychopaths and narcissists in workplaces. In most cases, where bullying takes place, a person of Dark Personality (high functioning psychopath or narcissist) is responsible.

Increasingly employees are willing to act to protect their rights.

This further increases the risk for organisations.

It also increases the importance of differentiating between behaviours that are bullying or toxic and those that are assertive, legal, appropriate, and part of normal business functioning but may produce discomfort.

All these issues elevate the need for training and education on bullying and toxic behaviours, how to recognise them, how to respond to targets/victims; how to differentiate between reports of legitimate bullying behaviours versus disenfranchisement with appropriate behaviours; how to address bullying behaviours without increasing risk.

We cover these issues in our advisory work and training and education programs.