Workplace Harassment

Workplace Harassment

At a recent American Psychological Association conference, psychologist Paula Grubb from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health reported a very disturbing finding—nine out of ten workplaces in the United States experience some level of uncivil behavior, verbal abuse, and bullying. In the first national survey of verbal aggression in the workplace, managers in a majority of the 516 surveyed companies admitted that a variety of bullying and berating behaviors—such as in-your-face verbal cuts, the silent treatment, demeaning jokes, backstabbing, scapegoating, and sexual harassment—were common in their organizations. Given today's highly competitive business environment, constant fear of layoffs, and the aggressive corporate cultures of some industries and professions, the situation is getting worse in many organizations. According to psychologists such as Paula Grubb, aggressive verbal and emotional abuse in the workplace fosters depression, insomnia, alcohol and drug abuse, and a general sense of dissatisfaction. The impact on the organization is lower productivity, staff attrition, reduced motivation, and diminished job satisfaction.

Unfortunately, only 3 % of employees speak up about harassment when it occurs in the workplace. Psychologist and University of Michigan professor Lilia Cortina, who has conducted three surveys of her own, notes that three out of four workers report their verbal or emotional abuse experiences—but not to senior executives, which means that top management does not necessarily know what's really going on in the organization on a daily basis. Only 3 % of bullied or berated employees ever file a formal complaint because they often feel buried in layers of corporate hierarchy and figure that such treatment is part of life in modern organizations.

Great management principles and strong corporate values such as sharing ideas at every level, respecting and valuing individuality, building a solid foundation of trust, enabling people to tap their full potential, and doing what matters most, to name just a few, provide people in organizations with vital protection against abuses of power, knowledge and relationships. When managers and leaders in organizations espouse such principles and values but fail to live up to them on a regular basis, they are malpracticing management—and destroying the confidence, trust and goodwill of their people. According to Gallup polls, over 70% of U.S. workers are disengaged at work—checked out, going through the motions or acting out their unhappiness—because of management malpractice. The abuse of people at all levels in organizations must be stopped if we, individually and collectively, expect to achieve new levels of progress, prosperity and fulfillment.