Bullying – The Big Bad Wolf of the Communications Center

1. Bullying – The Big Bad Wolf of the Communications Center Written and Presented by Laurie Wall Central County Emergency 9-1-1, 2012

2. Bullying

3. Bullying Defined • Persistent aggressive or unreasonable behavior • Verbal abuse • Conduct which interferes with another’s work • Threatening • Humiliating • Intimidating • Sabotage

4. Bullying Defined • Persistent aggressive or unreasonable behavior • Often done within the established rules and policies of the organization.

5. Bullying Defined • Characteristics • Lack of respect for a co-worker • Sometimes obvious • Many times the subtle forms cause more damage

6. Bullying Defined • Affect of bullying on the workplace • Responsible for absenteeism • Lack of workplace motivation • Lack of employee satisfaction • Increased turnover • Lack of trust and teambuilding among workers

7. Objectives At the end of this block of instruction the student will be able to: • Define the tactics of bullying behavior • Define the tactics of bullying behavior in a supervisor • Define bullying from the target’s point of view • Define bullying from the supervisor’s point of view

8. Objectives At the end of this block of instruction the student will be able to: • Illustrate the role of the bully’s posse • List actions to be taken by the supervisor • List actions to be taken by the target

9. Co-worker Bullying Tactics • Jekyll & Hyde • Bully manipulates feelings of those in his company • Performs job tasks well above average • Glory hound

10. Co-worker Bullying Tactics • Examples of bullying behavior • Verbal • Non-verbal • Psychological • Physical • Professional

11. Co-worker Bullying Tactics • Examples of bullying behavior • Verbal • Tone • Impatience • Irritability • Snide comments • Sarcasm

12. Co-worker Bullying Tactics • Examples of bullying behavior • Non-verbal • Rolling of the eyes • Won’t acknowledge existence/silent treatment

13. Co-worker Bullying Tactics • Examples of bullying behavior • Psychological • Undermining credibility • Reporting mistakes • Fabricating stories • Present themselves as wonderful and kind

14. Co-worker Bullying Tactics • Examples of bullying behavior • Physical • Standing too close in threatening manner • Throwing objects • Punching

15. Co-worker Bullying Tactics • Examples of bullying behavior • Professional • Humiliation • Gossiping • Purposefully damaging reputation of another • Accusing of incompetence

16. Supervisor Bullying Tactics • Constantly corrects • Separate the target from colleagues • Exclude • Marginalize • Overrule • Ignore • Sideline

17. Supervisor Bully Tactics • Belittle • Demean • Patronize • Overload with work/increase responsibility • Take work/authority away • Refuse leave requests • Deny Training

18. Target Defined • Target rather than victim • Absolutely no apportion of blame

19. Target Defined • Questions a target may ask • Why me? • What did I do to them? • What did I do to deserve this?

20. From the Target’s Point of View • Bully • Nit-picking, fault finding, criticizing trivial things • Refuse to acknowledge accomplishments • Undermine position, status, worth, value and potential • Take credit for work • Twist, distort and misrepresent what is said by the target

21. From the Target’s Point of View THE TRIVIALITY, REGULARITY AND FREQUENCY BETRAY BULLYING BEHAVIOR

22. Supervisor How do I know if I have a bully in my center? • Turnover rate • Have a complainer

23. Supervisor How do I know if I have a bully in my center? • One’s word against another

24. Supervisor How do I know if I have a bully in my center? • Bully is usually the leader of a clique

25. Supervisor How do I know if I have a bully in my center? • If Bully is a supervisor, sets unrealistic goals or change goals as target approaches them

26. Posse Defined • Clique • Membership • Drawn in • Self Preservation

27. Why Doesn’t the Supervisor put a Stop to the Bullying? • Doesn’t see it • Bully has good performance • Supervisor has pride in Bully • Responders speak highly of Bully • Bully tactics fall short of legal definition of harassment • Bully denies and distorts

28. Why Doesn’t the Supervisor put a Stop to the Bullying? • When Supervisor investigates • Posse responds with • “That is just how s/he is”. • “You just have to get use to him/her”. • Another problem Supervisor’s run in to • Target moves to Posse

29. Supervisor Actions • Listen and take seriously • Target may just want to talk • DOCUMENT • Realize bullying behavior will not occur in you presence • Be prepared • Put a policy in place

30. Target’s Options • Live with it • Name it • Check physical health • Check mental health • Check policies • Call Attorney • Expose Bully

31. Target’s Options • Seek other employment • Protect the TARGET • Go to Workplace Bullying Institute www.workplacebullying.org

32. Web Resources • Bullying: What Is It? – UK National Workplace Bullying Advice Linehttp://www.bullyonline.org/workbully/bully.htm#Difference%20between%20bullying%20and%20harassment • Mobbing USA: Emotional Abuse in the American Workplacehttp://www.mobbing-usa.com/ • Workplace Bullies – About.comhttp://careerplanning.about.com/od/bosscoworkers/a/bullies_at_work.htm • Bullying in information technologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullying_in_IT • How to Deal With a Bully at Work – About.comhttp://humanresources.about.com/od/difficultpeople/qt/work_bully.htm • Bully Busting - Roger Frame, Ph.D.http://www.frameworks4learning.com/bully-busting/ • Dr. Gary Namie, Workplace Bullying Institute http://www.workplacebullying.org/

33. Questions?