Galway Advertiser 2006/2006_01_26/GA_2601_E1_018.pdf 

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Galway Advertiser

JAnuary 26 2006

NEWS

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FASHION

BEAUTY

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H E A LT H

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LIFE

MARY
Depression, anxiety, high blood pressure, insomnia and even suicide. These are some of the devastating effects of workplace bullying. This often hidden form of abuse is becoming increasingly common, say experts, and causes huge emotional and psychological damage to victims. Some seven per cent of employees generally and nearly 10 per cent of women are bullied at work. "Bullying is alive and well and happening in Galway in places as diverse as big factories and corporations to small companies," explains Josephine O'Halloran, a local counsellor and psychotherapist. Bullying destroys people's confidence and self-belief and in some cases causes them to take their own lives, she says. "Research shows that 15 per cent of people who commit suicide have been bullied in the year before their death." She describes bullying as persistent, unwanted behaviour, mostly using unwarranted or invalid criticism, nit picking or fault - finding. It usually focuses on distorted or fabricated allegations of underperformance. "Bullying is also exclusion, isolation, being singled out and treated differently, being shouted at, humiliated, excessive monitoring, having verbal and written warnings imposed, and much more." Some bullies set the target up for failure by setting unrealistic goals or deadlines or denying necessary information and resources, by overloading the employee with work or by taking all work away (sometimes replacing proper work with demeaning jobs) or by increasing responsibility while removing authority. Regardless of specific tactics, the intimidation is driven by the bully's need to control others. Who are the bullies? No one is born a bully, according to Dr Brendan O'Byrne, a Dublin counsellor and author of Bullying in the Workplace, Home and School who has lectured in Galway. He says bullying is learned behaviour that develops when early negative attempts to assert control are rewarded. People should never keep bullying a secret, he advises. Aggression feeds on fear and when bullies know people are afraid or anxious, it is like a magnet which attracts them and they do it even more. Josephine O'Halloran, who counsels victims, says workplace bullies tend to be weak, inadequate and incompetent.

O'CONNOR
Seek a transfer
Remember, you have a right to attend your place of work without fear of intimidation, harassment or bullying, she stresses. Research indicates that many victims of bullying at work leave their job or seek a transfer rather than contact their union, according to the trade union IMPACT. Even fewer use formal grievance procedures to deal with the problem. Workplace bullying can have a ripple effect on both victims' families and their employers. Families and friends suffer the results of daily stress, fear and anger. Employers pay a high price for condoning or failing to adequately deal with a bullying culture. Workplace bullies create a tremendous liability for a company by causing stress-related health and safety problems and driving good employees out of the organisation. The employer pays for this in lost efficiency, absenteeism, high staff turnover, severance packages and law suits. Experts say companies who manage people well outperform those who do not by 30 to 40 per cent. Josephine O'Halloran offers the following advice if you are being bullied at work:-

Tackling bullying at work

Ability to diminish
They turn this insecurity outwards, finding satisfaction in their ability to attack, diminish and control the capable people around them. "Bullies are people who avoid accepting responsibility for their own bad behaviour and divert attention away from their own inadequacy." She says people who work in badly managed workplaces often keep their jobs by bullying others and are unable and unwilling to recognise the effect their behaviour is having on them. Rejection can be a motivating factor in bullying. The bully is angry with the world and takes it out on those around him/her. "Bullies are insecure, have low confidence and low self-esteem. In all studies undertaken on bullying, low self-esteem is a factor highlighted in them all. The perpetrators are often seething with jealousy, resentment, bitterness, hatred and anger, too. A

Bullies tend to target capable, dedicated people who are well liked by co-workers, says Josephine O'Halloran, a counsellor who helps victims of bullying.

bully does not want to know that there is another better way of behaving." Usually, the bully is in management or in some position of power which gives him/her the opportunity to exert control over their victim. Research indicates that adult bullies tend to target capable, dedicated people who are well liked by co-workers. They are most likely to pick on people with an ability to

co-operate and a non-confrontative interpersonal style. The bully considers their capability a threat and is determined to cut them down. "The people who usually tend to be bullied are competent, popular, intelligent, honest and trustworthy," according to Ms O'Halloran. The ones who are singled out tend to have the following characteristics:* A well-developed sense of integrity which they are unwilling to compromise. * A good sense of humour, are imaginative, creative, innovative, idealistic, and optimistic. * Are able to master new skills quickly and have the ability to think long-term and see the bigger picture. * Are incorruptible and have high moral standards which they are unwilling to compromise. * Have high expectations of those in authority and a dislike of incompetent people in positions of power who abuse it. If you are the victim of a workplace bully, the most important thing to do is speak out, she says. "Do not stay silent (that is what the bully wants). You have done nothing wrong. Tell someone what is happening to you like your colleague at work, your line manager, your supervisor, your manager, your friend, partner, neighbour. Do not keep this to yourself. Bullies thrive on secrecy. The best revenge you can have on a bully is to stay safe and healthy and not let them win. "Don't let them away with making your life miserable. You deserve better than that."

How to beat the bully
* Tell someone you trust. * Keep a written record of incidents. Include details of date, time, place and people involved * Do not retaliate if physical bullying is taking place. It can be dangerous because it can give the bully an opportunity to say he/she was acting in self defence. Also, if it is unsuccessful, it can make the victim more vulnerable in the future having shown the bully physical inferiority. * Do not become isolated. One of the major problems with bullying is that people who are being bullied tend to build a barrier to keep the bully out. But they may end up keeping everybody else out as well. * Use your organisation's grievance policy. * Speak to your trade union representative. * Go to your local Citizen Information Centre for advice and information. * Speak to the Health and Safety Authority. * Go to your local Garda Station and make a statement saying you are being harassed at work. The Gardai take harassment very seriously. * Go to a solicitor and take a civil case against the bully.

Bullying destroys people's confidence and self-belief.