| Journal: TWUK | Section: |
| Title: | Issue Date: 03/07/00 |
| Author: | Page Number: 54 |
| Copyright: Other |
Bullies are still pulling the punches
Playground tactics can extend beyond the school years and into the workplace. Helen Conway reports
WHAT do school bullies do when they grow up? Unfortunately for their victims in later life, some graduate to become workplace bullies and the results can be devastating.The travel industry is already a high-pressure industry but add to that a work environment where you are constantly being undermined and picked on by a bullying manager and life can be pretty much unbearable.
According to the trade union Transport Salaried Staffs Association, workplace bullies will frequently adopt subtle tactics against their victims so they are not seen by others to be overtly harsh on a staff member.
Where the bully is a manager, tactics may involve setting up their victim to fail by laying down impossible targets and then using failure as ammunition for public humiliation.
Sometimes the victim may find that he or she has been physically isolated from other employees so they find it difficult to make friends who could help fight back.
If you find yourself being bullied, what can you do? Some companies have set procedures for dealing with the problem.
Lunn Poly, for example, has issued a Harassment at Work policy to all of its shops, which outlines the steps staff can take to report a grievance and to reassure them that any complaint will be handled confidentially.
Certainly it is best to report what is happening to the bully’s superior.
However, in practice, that is often not an easy option for someone who is already feeling very weak andvulnerable.
Unfair as it sounds, it may be that the only realistic alternative is to move jobs but make sure you give a full report about what has happened before you leave.
Workplace spoke to one travel industry victim who found a way of getting his own back on a bully.
“It turned out she had warned them that I was bad news and not to go near me.
“Her superiors knew what she was up to but they didn’t do anything because they thought she was good at her job and it was easier to recruit 10 reservations people than find one supervisor.
“I decided the only way to deal with it was to be so good that she could never find fault with anything I did. The result was I ended up making more money for myself.
“When I decided to leave I spent half an hour telling her a few home truths – that the people she thought were her friends were only with her because they were afraid of being bullied themselves and that they talked about her behind her back. She went home in tears. The best bit was that I left for a far better job in travel recruitment and later on she actually applied to my company for a job. You can just imagine the reference I gave her.”
It could be you: if you are being harassed at work, you should tell the bully’s senior what is happening
Finding a weak point: bullies often use psychological tactics to upset their victims
Is someone undermining you?
n If you are the victim of workplace bullying, you are not alone. A survey of 5,300 employees in the private, public and voluntary sectors, which was conducted earlier this year by the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, found that one in 10 were bullied in the previous six months and 47% had witnessed bullying at work.
n Victims of bullying take an average seven extra days off each year compared to other staff.
n As well as high absenteeism, those who reported being bullied in the last six months also reported the lowest work motivation and satisfaction and the lowest productivity.
n If you are being bullied, call the TSSA’s helpline number 0800 3282673 for advice.