What is workplace bullying? When asked this question, most of us revert to a memory of the playground, schoolyard or neighborhood bully beating up or threatening other children. We struggle to make the transition from that memory to our adult work lives. Workplace bullying behaviors are subtle — rarely is shouting or the throwing of punches involved.
The subtlety of these negative behaviors makes recognizing the harm of workplace bullying to employees and the organization difficult for airmen and helping agencies.
Would you consider an individual who purposefully withholds information needed to complete projects from a peer, subordinate or supervisor responsible for that project a bully?
What about the supervisor who orders an airman to do work below his or her level of competence, assigns tasks with unreasonable or impossible deadlines, or overloads an airman with unmanageable workloads? Is that supervisor focused on getting the job done, or is he or she a workplace bully?
Consider the airman who is consistently excluded during meetings, or whose opinions or views are ignored. Is this airman being bullied?
Each of these situations could be workplace bullying. The commonly used definition of workplace bullying identifies these types of behaviors as bullying when directed toward an individual at least weekly for a minimum of six months by one or more members of the organization, to include supervisors, peers, subordinates or customers.
Additionally, research supports that to be considered workplace bullying, the targeted individual must perceive the situation as negative and intended to degrade or otherwise damage his or her performance or credibility within the organization.
According to the Workplace Bullying Institute, recognizing workplace bullying is important because approximately 35 percent of U.S. employees are being targeted, and 15 percent are observing these negative behaviors — resulting in an increase of psychological, emotional and physical health issues, and even suicide. Because targets and observers become focused on surviving the bullying situation, their productivity, creativity and innovation decrease, as do their jobs, lives and family satisfaction.
The amplified health issues also increase absenteeism due to medical appointments and the need for a break from the stress of the bullying. In response to workplace bullying, U.S. organizations are seeing increased health care costs and lost productivity estimated at more than $23 billion annually, according to the institute and other experts.
Further, the organization loses — through high employee turnover and absenteeism, lost production and innovation, dissatisfied customers and loss of reputation, which subsequently makes hiring quality employees problematic.
Workplace bullying needs to stop.
"It's not normal — it's unreasonable" behavior, the Air Force Sustainment Center stated in its 2014 "Cyberbullying in the workplace" document.
It results in the Air Force soaking up large but unknown costs in lost production, recruitment, overtime, loss of creativity and reputation, formal complaints and legal actions, absenteeism, hostile environments, and corruption of the core values of integrity, service and excellence.
McKenzie is executive analyst for the 75th Air Base Wing, Hill Air Force Base, Utah. She holds a doctorate in organizational leadership. Her views do not necessarily reflect those of her employer or Military Times publications.
