Although the prevalence of bullying in the workplace is probably higher than we would want to acknowledge, we usually see it as an anomaly, an isolated problem rather than a common occurrence.
What if I told you, instead, that a lot of work environments really promote toxic behavior? What happens if rules and regulations at work, even some of the ones meant to promote a positive work environment incite harassment and bullying? Bullying is not always a defect, but rather a feature that is in place. Let’s explore some of these qualities by peeping behind the cheery “we value our employees” posters that are hung up in the break area.
Employees Turned Into Products
This one is so common that we often perceive people who complain about it as malcontents and brush it off as “just the way things are.” Examine the outcomes of workers attempting to form a union in an effort to resist situations that are soul-crushing. They are derided and depicted as entitled whiners who nag. The ungrateful ones!
Let’s be honest now. If you are an employer and a large number of your employees decide to organize, it is 99.76 percent your fault. In reality, the reason why so many employers respond so viciously and reflexively to unionization efforts raises questions about why the workers are organizing in the first place. However, the employees are held accountable by our media and other influential figures, thereby placing the responsibility on the actual targets of systemic bullying.
Bad behavior is usually protected by NDAs in two ways. In exchange for a gag order, victims of harassment, discrimination, and other abuses are occasionally compensated to quit. In other cases, the corporation uses mutual NDAs to avoid publicity even while the abuser is forced out. In each case, the firm absolves the offending party and allows them to continue harming others.
Greed Is Exalted
For many corporate CEOs, greed is the greatest virtue. People will suffer when profit takes precedence over people. For example, it is commonly known that executive pay inequalities in certain industries are obscene. While their employees are forced to pick between paying their rent and eating, bosses enjoy unprecedented rewards, making it impossible for them to resist the temptation to spend their wealth on a third property or another boat. Taxpayers support this system in the interim while employees rely on government assistance to get by. It makes sense why employees feel confined, alienated, resentful, and angry. It makes sense why their superiors are so disconnected from reality.
There is widespread abuse and neglect even in higher-paying occupations. In one instance, a senior staff member tasked with onboarding new workers might find out that the newcomers are really making more money than they are. It’s the traditional “market forces” salary inversion. Alternatively, the recent hire can be significantly underpaid since the industry salary trends have not kept up with the prior hires’. We refer to this as salary compression. Compression and inversion are both subtle forms of abuse because, at the end of the day, no employer would condone the notion that working less because one is underpaid is acceptable. This also applies to discrimination based on gender and compensation.
Some organizations prevent employees from discussing remuneration at all, which serves to exacerbate the situation and conceal wrongdoing. “You talk about your patience? How dare you! Peon, get back to your oar!
Observe how a crucial element of institutional bullying is imposed silence.
Personnel Dehumanized
HR is meant to be the employees’ ally, am I right? They claim that it will safeguard workers and develop potential. All too often, HR serves as upper management’s disciplinary arm. That also makes sense. While it’s possible to get employed through human resources, it’s also possible to get dismissed there.
Consider discrimination and harassment. Reporting these abuses to HR is your responsibility, but it will probably backfire completely. All too frequently, the victim gets called a “troublemaker,” silenced (yep, that happens again), and possibly even led out the door. In the meantime, the offender is led to a chic corner office and given a recently sealed personnel file. Anything to put it all behind us. If we hide it, did it really ever happen, after all?
Organizing and managing complex employee assessment programs, which primarily serve as a bureaucratic scrape and fail to evaluate actual performance, is another common HR responsibility.
It is necessary to complete these evaluations. They’ll be finished. even if they are mishandled, abused, or just stupid. You can and should be made to endure wholly subjective and erroneous assessments created by a committee that combines Wile E. Coyote’s brilliance, Torquemada’s elegant gentility, and the knowledge of a canary trained to peck at a keyboard. These assessments serve no other purpose than tormenting employees and appeasing cruel managers.
Falsified Measurements
Oh, and those productivity-gauging measures that businesses use. What a random, incompetent mess! The most popular, yet most meaningless, are “time-on-task” metrics. Yes, time-on-task made some sense when workers at machines could create precisely ten widgets in an hour back in the early industrial era. Productivity was exactly equal to time. Of course, it was a little inhumane, but what the heck!
It is completely nonsensical in today’s world, even when it comes to manufacturing. However, some companies even go so far as to set up surveillance software such as Controlio to monitor workers’ clicks and scrolls in order to make sure they spend every waking minute shackled to their galley oar. The manager can then keep an eye on everything from afar using a smartphone, even whether lounging on a resort beach or having a heated discussion over a G&T at the country club. Real science and common sense tell us that physical activity and breaks increase productivity, and that working longer hours reduces productivity, but brilliant managers are different.
One of the numerous arbitrary criteria that are included in employee reviews but completely fall short is time-on-task. They are unable to convey potential, advancement, or strengths, but they are successful in making one point very clear: “You are a drone not deserving of serious attention.” Concurrently, the overbearing supervisor who is fixated on these meaningless measurements jeopardizes employment due to perceived inadequacies stemming from insufficient staffing, restricted resources, and other entirely manageable circumstances.
These are just a few examples of how bullying is ingrained in the processes and structures that make up a company. Bullying at work is therefore not limited to an individual’s behavior. Bully-bosses might take advantage of the toxicity that is frequently ingrained in the business.
Great leaders, on the other hand, understand that employees need to be motivated, not forced. Employees must understand that they are indispensable. By treating every employee with respect and decency, great leaders create environments that foster creativity, loyalty, and genuine excellence. In order for their teams to reach their full potential, great leaders create environments that encourage productivity and a committed workforce.