Workplace Bullying - A new issue in workplace communication Essay

Submitted By tstull22
Words: 2982
Pages: 12
Open Document
Ineffective Communication: Bullying in the Workplace

Brianna M. Stull

University of Kentucky

Stupid . . .ugly. . . lazy . . . worthless - these taunts sound juvenile, like those of a schoolyard bully tormenting someone smaller and weaker. We’ve all heard the tragic stories of bullying from schools all across the world and even Hollywood has joined the campaign to stop this disturbing adolescent behavior. But what happens when the bullying migrates from the classroom to the boardroom? Do adults really behave in such an unprofessional manner? Can this lack of positive communication between employees really affect the productivity of the organization? Actually, this type of behavior is prevalent enough to have justified the creation of several non-profit organizations and websites. Workplace bullying is a communication issue that presents itself many places of business and has an impact on the health and well-being, as well as the productivity of those who are being bullied.
Psychology Today’s blog describes workplace bullying as repeated “deliberate, often repeated, health-harming mistreatment of an employee.” (2013) The national advocacy group Bully Free Workplace (2012) defines bullying as “repeated, health-harming mistreatment of one or more persons (the targets) by one or more perpetrators in a place of work.” (2012) This type of bullying can be in the form of verbal abuse or any other conduct that offends due to racial, sexist, religious or intimidating overtones. Perhaps the most comprehensive definition of workplace bullying can be found on the website for the Workplace Bullying Institute, which enumerates a dozen specific behaviors found in work environments that lead to a loss in productivity and boldly states that workplace bullying “is akin to domestic violence at work, where the abuser is on the payroll.” (Namie, G. & Namie, R. 2012)
Splashed across newspapers and magazines everywhere a year ago this month, the story of Miami Dolphins starting left tackle Jonathan Martin brought the issue of workplace bullying to the forefront of the mainstream media. Sports Illustrated, the most popular sports magazine in the world, has published more than 15 articles online and in print about who was involved, what happened and the results of the scandal. One of the most complete pieces came from writer Doug Parrer (2014) in February of this year. He wrote an Audible (Reoccurring Section of the magazine that purports to contain “Gut Instincts and Knee Jerk Reactions about the NFL”) that traced the story from Martin’s joining the team, throughout his rookie year when he suffered from multiple bullying incidents and wrapping up with the report written after the investigation was complete. (2014)
After suddenly walking out on a team practice, Jonathan Martin checked himself into a psychiatric hospital claiming that he had been “bullied into such distress that he had contemplated suicide.” (2014, p. 10) Although the offensive lineman reported that he endured punishing treatment for over a year, he had finally reached a point where he felt he could no long contribute meaningfully to the team. His described the culture of the team as toxic, and determined that there was no one left within the organization with whom he could communicate his sense of isolation. He was 24-years old at the time. Soon thereafter, the NFL commissioned an investigation which resulted in a 144 page report that named a handful of players and Assistant Coach Jim Turner to be the bullies. The alleged ringleader, offensive lineman Richie Incognito was first suspended and later released from the team. As a six year veteran of the Dolphins, Incognito was a 30-year old pro bowler with a history of anger management. His defense? He claimed his superiors instructed him to “toughen up” Jonathan Martin. However, Martin believes that the lack of oversight allowed Incognito to overstep the bounds of professionalism. In a June of this
Show More

Related Documents: Workplace Bullying - A new issue in workplace communication Essay

Nurse-To-Nurse Bullying

Horizontal violence, or workplace bullying, is defined by the Ontario Nursing Association as repeated incidences or aggressive behaviour intended to intimidate, degrade, humiliate, and offend a person or group of people (2012). Nurse-to-nurse bullying behaviour can range from yelling, withholding information, and refusing to help, to undermining a fellow…

Words 842 - Pages 4

Final Bullying Essay

Argument Essay: Why the Bullying should be stopped? [Name of Student] [Name of the Institution] Argument Essay: Why the Bullying should be stopped? Introduction Bullying has becomes one of the major issues for the present age, particularly for the teens. It is the intended action of verbally or physically hurting someone at any community place including home, school or the workplace (Wiedmer, 2011). Bullying activities often result in involving the affected into drugs, drinking and even suicidal…

Words 1577 - Pages 7

Benefits And Risks � What Benefits And Risks Can Be Anticipated?

perpetrators and victims of bullying. This being the case, it will be essential to know beforehand what a trainer may expect when coming into a group of employees who may already have preconceived notions as they enter into what may be a rather uncomfortable situation. Workplace bullying has in the past tended to focus on suggested information, surveys, and discussion groups used to gauge information on bullying activities (Cowan, 2013). This has allowed persons engaged in bullying to escape any confrontations…

Words 974 - Pages 4

Essay on Employment Relations

introduce |Loudoun, Mcphail and | | |the background of what is Occupation Health and Safety (OHS); Why OHS become a |Wilkinson, 2009, chapter | | |very serious issue for the workplace; How it influence the workplace; By using |11 | | |Australian hospitality industry as the example | | | |…

Words 730 - Pages 3

Essay on Translational Research for Practice and Populations

Practice and Populations Name Institution In 2009 unspecified electronic survey was conducted with factors such as type, frequency, perpetrators, and professional/personal concerns on bullying identified (Quine, 2001). The results revealed that out of 330 RN respondents, 72% reported positive to bullying at various occasions in line of their career. Of this segment, clear hostility seemed most frequent in surgical/medical, operational rooms, emergency, obstetrical areas of care and adolescent…

Words 4258 - Pages 18

Incivility In Nursing Essay

Bullying takes on many forms, and sometimes is more difficult to spot or discern the differences between this, violence, and incivility which Dr. Renee Thompson (2017), “who is one of the top professional development and anti-bullying thought leaders in nursing,” “defined as rude or unsociable speech or behavior.” She reports finding “some bullying, but not a lot. However, I usually find an awful lot of incivility!” Although one would never anticipate such an atrocity to occur, it still happens.…

Words 1005 - Pages 5

Occupational Safety and Health and Ohs Essay

Danielle Crocker Apply Knowledge of OHS Legislation in the Workplace Assessments 1, 2 & 3 Assessment Activity 1 Determining the legal framework of OHS in the workplace. Part A Q1. What actions would you take to identify and access current OHS legislation, codes, standards and procedures applicable to your state/territory? I would check these websites: Safe work Australia, the statutory agency that is responsible…

Words 2315 - Pages 10

Pdf Level 3 Unit 4

give their account of the issue. Give the supervisor or manager time to think through a resolution that will be long term and work for both parties (McQuerrey, 2018). Improvement measures should be given to supervisors about employees that need to improve and if these measures are not met then they should be reported to the manager to make further recommendations. Promoting respect between co-workers, supervisor and managers can prevent many conflicts within the workplace. Supervisors should make…

Words 1488 - Pages 6

Suicide: Suicide and National Suicide Prevention Essay

high school. High school is filled with all sorts of factors that could lead to suicide or thoughts of suicide. Bullying plays a big role in a -student’s life. More than seventy-seven percent of students admit to being bullied during school (Bullying Statistics). This goes to show just how influential school can impact one’s life. Whether its physical or verbal abuse, students face bullying every day. High school is filled with your cliques and it is hard for the newbie to find their place, especially…

Words 2110 - Pages 9

Essay about Diversity: Discrimination and Diversity

uses these qualities to support itself and the objectives. It has been proven through studies that the companies with great diversity end to do better. This is because they have a broader sense of perspectives and approaches when it comes to business issues, ideas, etc. (SHRM, 2011) Though diversity has a broad spectrum of definitions, companies will usually adapt diversity to their specific environment. This is because it can be similarities and/or differences of people regarding personality and identity…

Words 1606 - Pages 7