Having respect in the workplace

By Margaret Patricia Eaton, CanadaEast.com

Jodie worked in a busy office, where clients commented on her pleasant manner at the reception desk and her “smiling voice” on the phone.

In addition, she was asked by the office manager to do some work beyond her receptionist job description. She was loading the photocopier paper tray as requested, but in haste to answer an incoming call, created a paper jam. As she struggled to free it, she heard a voice dripping sarcasm, “I thought you claimed to be an Administrative Assistant.”

The office manager walked away, rolling her eyes, as some employees tittered nervously. Jodie’s face flushed red with embarrassment.

Once the manager left, one employee came to Jodie’s aid, said the copier was temperamental, freed the paper jam and admitted this happened to him too. While grateful for his help, Jodie remained upset. No matter how hard she tried, the manager found flaws and embarrassed her in front of co-workers. When the staff was asked for suggestions to improve the office area, Jodie’s ideas were dismissed as “naive and uninformed.” But that dismissive tone of Jodie’s abilities didn’t stop the manager from increasing her work load, requiring her to leave her desk and phone, resulting in problems for the business.

What’s wrong with me? Jodie worried. What have I done? The manager’s most recent comment was, “I hope you realize how lucky you are, to keep this job, considering…”

Considering what? Jodie wondered, but was too intimidated and fearful to ask.

Jodie now believed she was totally incompetent. Once confident and outgoing, she became nervous and withdrawn. As her anxiety increased, she confused employees with similar sounding names and misdirected calls. In the evenings she had difficulty focusing on her business management course.

As she was leaving work, more discouraged than ever, the employee who had helped with the copier said, “I hate it when you get bullied, but I don’t know what to do about our boss. We’re all intimidated by her psychological harassment.”

Having the manager’s behavior identified was empowering for Jodie. While it didn’t make the workplace any more pleasant, Jodie at last realized the problem wasn’t with her or her skills and she wasn’t alone.

Various Canadian and U. S. studies indicate between 10 and 20 per cent of workers are bullied, with a British study putting the number much higher, at 43 per cent.

We all recognize bullying in the schoolyard. It includes rude name calling, the stereotypical “tough guy” who beats up other kids after school and the teen-age girls who send hateful text messages and spread malicious gossip. Sadly, it does not stop there, although there are differences.

Workplace bullying, unlike school bullying, doesn’t target the smaller or weaker employee, but often focuses on the competent ones who may pose a perceived threat to the status of the bully. It does encompass similar behaviours as school bullying, including words, gestures, images, actions, which over time humiliate or terrorize an employee, undermine his or her credibility and effectiveness and contribute to a disrespectful and even toxic work environment. It can include sexual harassment, making impossible demands, destruction of work or taking credit for another’s work.

At its core is the same motivation as school bullying “” jealousy or insecurity; power and control; contempt for differences, and fear. It attempts to demean the target, while maintaining the superior status of the bully. This essentially summarizes the findings of the report “Toward a Respectful Work Place,” formed under the auspices of the Muriel McQueen Fergusson Foundation for Family Violence Research, housed at the University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, co-chaired by Dr. Judith MacIntosh (Faculty of Nursing, UNB) and Marilyn Noble (community based adult educator.)

“The topic really struck a nerve with the 2004 focus groups in Saint John, Fredericton and some smaller communities,” says Noble. Two reports, the Employee’s Guide and the Organization’s Guide have since been published.

So what can you do as an individual employee? The report suggests being proactive by scoping out the organization before you accept a job offer. Use trusted friends or family outside the organization as a sounding board when you see an emergent pattern that is making you uneasy. Often targets of bullying are too embarrassed to tell anyone, believing they are at fault. Work on building your self-esteem. If you’re a new-hire, remind yourself that you’ve gone though a rigorous selection process to get the job. Human resource departments want who’s best for the company. Since they hired you, they must believe you’re capable. If you’re an older worker, remind yourself of the valuable contributions you’ve made. This way you’ll be able to take affirmative action.

Try to engage the bully early on in a respectful two-way dialogue aimed at improving the working relationship to your mutual benefit. If the situation doesn’t improve, carefully document incidents which you feel have crossed the line. Save threatening e-mails. Enlist the support of active witnesses. As a last resort you may need to seek the advice of legal counsel and file a formal complaint.

The majority of employees, however, are neither bullies nor targets and these bystanders are the ones with power. The report previously quoted gives an interesting example of a collective response to inappropriate behavior, entitled “Code Pink.”

“An anesthesiologist in a regional hospital was well-known for his volatile behavior including verbal abuse to patients and staff and threats to nurses. A group of nurses came up with an informal response of their own: Code Pink. When Code Pink was called, any nurses who were available came to stand as silent witnesses to the bullying incident that was underway. Picture the result. The bully was in full technicolour rant: red-faced and turning the air blue. He would suddenly become aware of a circle of witnesses closing ranks around him, silently observing. Knowing he was being watched and might be reported was enough to shut him down.

“This real-life situation captured widespread media attention because it represents an informal, collective response on the part of employees. They demonstrated that they could reclaim immediate power over the situation, even when the official structures of the organization were slow to take action.”

Even if employees don’t stage something dramatic, they can offer quiet support to the target and refuse to act as enablers of the bully by accepting and thus normalizing the behavior.

Increasingly, employers are putting policies in place to protect their employees. While they may not be always altruistic, they realize that happy employees are productive ones, so what’s good for an individual is good for the company. Unions, too, have protective policies.

Still, there is no overall legislation in Canada against workplace bullying, even though The Canada Safety Council states “bullying (general harassment) is far more prevalent than other destructive behaviors covered by legislation, such as sexual harassment and racial discrimination.”

In 2004, a private member’s bill proposing changes to the federal labour code died in the House of Commons. That same year, Quebec adopted a law protecting workers from bullying, and Saskatchewan and Manitoba followed in 2007.

In New Brunswick, psychological harassment is not covered by human rights legislation unless it can be shown to be motivated by the victim’s race, sex, physical disability, sexual orientation or one of the other prohibited grounds for discrimination recognized by the N.B. Human Rights Code for provincially regulated workplaces. This leaves little protection for workers not in the public service.

For too long psychological harassment, such as workplace bullying, has been shrouded in secrecy and shame and a feeling that nothing can be done. It’s time to change that attitude.