August 17th, 2010
Guest blog: Bully tactics
The stories posted here at the WBI site, along with the toxic environment I have to work in, lead me to believe that workplace bullying is an epidemic in this country. It begins at school age and never stops. Government intervention may be the only hope for a solution. (Libel, slander, descrimination, harassment, false imprisonment … )
In my job, I have experienced bullying tactics to pull others down in an effort for the bully to elevate themselves in the eyes of upper management. This is widespread within this global corporation. It seems to be the bully’s insecurity that drives them and the targets are often older, more educated, more experienced or better-looking, so that they are perceived as threats.
Here is a summary of some of the tactics used:
• HR & Ombuds. = useless
• Mgr. Bully – Divide and conquer: A new manager who was not well-received by the team [due to regular Monday hangovers, regular tardiness, DUI conviction, and skipping out on meetings] works to separate people that work well as a team by telling people individually that their coworkers said nasty things about them. [lies] Then, try to convince each person that the bully is the only friend they have.
• Mgr. Bully: Organize team events that involve activities or locations that an experienced, degreed, older, physically handicapped team member cannot participate in or gain access to and chastise target in front of the whole (much younger) team for not being a team player. Be sure to mention in target’s performance review so it follows them for the rest of their career at this company and prevents them from being able to post for other positions.
• Drop doors in face; leave handicapped target trapped in meeting rooms with heavy doors & no H/C buttons. Chastise for being late getting back.
• Bully and Assistants: Spray the air and/or cubicle with heavy perfume, on or near a highly-qualified worker who suffers from asthma, knowing it will result in a serious attack. Then, complain to personnel that the person hurt their feelings and made nasty gestures (choking, coughing) because they like to wear perfume. Be sure to recruit friends to spray the area as well so the target is regularly ill. Then try to befriend the target by saying how sorry you are that they are ill all the time, and suggest that they go out on disability. Offer to do anything you can to help with this.
• Asst. Bullies = brown-nosers who are afraid for themselves: Offer to help the target when the workload in their area is unusually heavy, then sabotage the work knowing the issues that result will be pinned on the target who is responsible for certain business locations.
• Mgr. Bully: Tell the team to compile and deliver a presentation to the whole division about the team’s function within the business. When the target gets up to speak, interrupt right away and say in a nasty tone “we are running out of time, hurry up.” Then, allow the team members that follow to each spend 20+ minutes with their parts of the presentation. In addition to public humiliation, be sure to mention in target’s performance review that they did not do their fair share of the presentation.
• Mgr. Bully: When asking for ideas from the team, always shoot down suggestions from the target (before they can even finish a sentence)in a mocking tone of voice. Be sure to roll eyes and sigh for added effect. Then turn attention to asst. bullies and praise all of their suggestions even if the ideas are irrelevant. (Ex: teambuilding exercise suggestions. Target suggest: Fish Philosophy event from Charthouse Learning. Assistant Bully suggests: Get together in a room to put seeds and dirt into pots. Go back to work.)
• Send meeting invites with no room specified. Day of meeting, tell target that a room hasn’t been found. When target heads to restroom, alert Asst. Bullies and all disappear. Scold target for missing meeting. Mention in performance review.
• Area Atty’s bought by Corp. – won’t fight it.
Trish
Tags: bully tactics
This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 17th, 2010 at 7:13 am and is filed under Bullying Tutorials. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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Whoa! Too familiar! Different specifics, but the same evil mindset…
1) Assigned targeted workers to permanent rotation of 12 hour nights
2) Hold informal discussions soliciting negative feedback from daytime workers while target is sleeping (monday to friday daytime)
3) Criticize said target for showing signs and symptoms of fatigue. Formalize complaints in performance appraisal.
4) Hold disciplinary meetings at end of target’s 12 hour night shift.
5) Announce at staff meeting that health and safety concerns about the night rotation have been identified by Health and Safety. Hold meetings to discuss problem, poll staff to determine willingness to change shift rotations. Establish that majority do not wish to work nights. Do nothing for one year.
6) Demand that night shift workers figure out some way to redistribute their shifts to get health and safety off management’s case. Institute new rotation under guise of supporting employee suggestion and pat self on back for problem solving skills.
7) Sigh with relief when target resigns citing work/life balance and preventative health concerns.
Remenber at all times that target’s primary job function is to respond to crises in community and give respect and hope to clients. Systematically decimate targets supply of both, cultivating awareness that you can’t give what you haven’t got. It’s only a matter of time.
It is doubly cruel to do so. First, it reveals that he/she is scouting for some vulnerability in you. Second, that person is so sadistic as to let you know they know and then to act on it. More than bullying, it’s a threat of violence. Tell the employer that you want to be made safe based on its violence prevention policy. If they say that no weapon is involved, make them interpret the policy section concerning THREAT. This is a threat to your safety. (Unfortunately, once you complain, expect retaliation.)
It’s so disheartening reading this and that people are capable of doing such things. For what I just don’t get. I couldn’t under any circumstance or for any amount of money treat people like this. It’s absolutely disgusting. I think the bullies have been allowed to do this far too long and it must stop. I’m glad people are speaking up. I’ve always been aware of it to a certain extent and have seen it happen to many people but it’s definitely reached epidemic levels from what I am seeing and recently experienced myself. I thought working for an employer specializing in labor and employment law would be a fairly safe environment. I couldn’t have been more wrong and came to find this out shortly after accepting a position for a large law firm specializing in Labor & Employment – defense of course. Aside from the abusive attorneys, the HR in this office break labor laws on a regular basis. They have no training or education that was once required for this position and it shows. It’s clear to everyone including the Partners who allow them to do it and are undoubtedly the ones giving them the orders. When I complained after being harassed (again) and not being paid for overtime I was given a written warning with unsubstantiated out right lies. I was not allowed to defend myself and was given the “option” of signing the warning or resigning upon the execution of a release that included 4 weeks salary and no health insurance (which happened to end the following day.) I couldn’t get out of there fast enough and opted for the “voluntary resignation” only to learn after I received my final paycheck they had deemed it a “discharge”. So now I’m fired. I had a great reputation until I took this job at a law firm that needless to say, does not practice what it preaches. I have never been written up much less had such horrible things said about me in over 20 years in this profession and now I’ve been “fired” because I asked that my bosses stop publicly humilating and harassing me and pay me for the overtime I had worked as instructed they instructed me to do. It has been such an awful experience that I still am unsure as to how I will be able to fully recover from it. I do know though that I am done and have decided I will not be returning to this profession as I am hearing more and more of similar situations at other law firms. With that said, to all the wonderful attorneys I have had the pleasure of working with I thank you for a great career and as for my last employer, shame on you and I hope you ultimately are held accountable for all of the people whose lives you have made miserable or ruined. You are not only a disgrace to the profession but to humanity. You must be so proud.
I have witnessed bullying and have been bullied regularly. I, and others, have tried to work within the system, talked to HR (human resources) repeatedly and upper management, which does NOTHING, nor does it improve ETHICS within the company. It just slows the inevitable. Even former work “friends” can bully. (Be aware that HR will NOT do to anything other than make you feel temporarily nice and report you to upper management. Their job is to protect the company wallet, not you.)
The minute you are bullied, start job hunting and cut your expenses. Beans & Rice!
If you are bullied and haved talked to HR & management repeatedly, leave the company before it takes a further toll. Don’t help an unethical company, go to “stealth” war.
Don’t slink off like a little dog, make sure you take all your contacts, training, knowledge, experience that the unethical company gave you and subtlely give it to their competitors.
Be stealthy, Don’t be petty, Don’t Badmouth, keep your dignity, just maintain your professional contacts and take your clients, & your business knowledge. Subtley steer your clients to more ETHICAL sources, and give your knowledge, training & expertise that the unethical company has provided. Actively recruit & assist all good co-workers at that company in finding better jobs somewhere else.
Don’t help an upper-manager that tolerated a bully, pretended to help you, and really only faked it.
Corp “non-competes” and “intellectual property” deals are very hard & expensive to enforce if you are subtle.
On a side note, if it happens regularly, save all emails, and if you can, video the creep in the act to put on Youtube, just have somebody edit out your face, and edit your name out of all emails. Post on Youtube. Be aware this could snap back on you, so the videos better be especially funny, horrible, or worth it.
I thought your comments about what to do were very good.
I liked the aspect about recruiting good co-workers away from the unethical company.
I would like to hear more about non competes and intellectual property.
BULLIES & ASSASSINS ARE THE RULERS OF THIS COUNTRY.
—————————————
“As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression.
In both instances, there is a twilight when everything remains
seemingly unchanged. And it is in such twilight that we all must
be most aware of change in the air — however slight –
lest we become unwitting victims
of the darkness.” ~ Justice William O. Douglas
This is a wonderful site, but I have read all the books on bullying in the workplace and used all the tactics to attempt to stop the bullying bosses, all for naught. In the end, after years of bullying by different employers — at almost every job I had, my supervisor bullied me, so getting a new job didn’t work — I wound up very ill with chronic pain and other chronic conditions and was forced to go on disability. I hate it, but I suppose there is no way I could work since I can’t even bathe most days. I think being bullied in childhood and in adulthood was what wrecked my immune system. In the end, unless every employee has a camera recording their bullying boss or a lawyer by their side daily, bullying will continue. Even if the U.S. enacts a law against workplace bullying, it will continue. I don’t see any corporation or governmental entity complying with such a law since they don’t comply with them now. And the EEOC does nothing. That’s one government agency that should be eliminated. What a waste of money.
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