On Bystanding
It’s bad enough being at school, watching someone get bullied and thinking, well, I wish I could say something, but I don’t want to get targeted, too. Then you grow up and seeing it happen at work and thinking, well, I wish I could say something, but I don’t want to get targeted, too,andshe signs my paychecks,andHR protects her awful behavior at all costs,andI could get fired. The most recent statistics from the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees are from 2017. Here are the key findings:• 19% of Americans are bullied, another 19% witness it• 61% of Americans are aware of abusive conduct in the workplace• 60.4 million Americans are affected by it• 70% of perpetrators are men; 60% of targets are women• Hispanics are the most frequently bullied race• 61% of bullies are bosses, the majority (63%) operate alone• 40% of bullied targets are believed to suffer adverse health effects• 29% of targets remain silent about their experiences• 71% of employer reactions are harmful to targets• 60% of coworker reactions are harmful to targets• To stop it, 65% of targets lose their original jobs• 77% of Americans support enacting a new law• 46% report worsening of work relationships, post-Trump election Nothing in this report is good news. Often the only bullying that is considered concerning is sexual harassment. That is problematic because while it is a crisis of its own, to limit the workplace hostility problem to sexual interactions overlooks, for example, abusive females and racists, and ignores male targets, leading to a divide-and-conquor mentality that lets aggressors off the hook. The New York Times finds that hardly anyone in the corporate world is doing bystander training, but universities, the military and nonprofits have had effective results, where those that take the training are more likely to take action to stop it, and to change the permissive culture around it. Make loud noises, stand between the bully and the target, engage the target to diffuse the situation. Call out jokes that are derogatory. They also advocate talking in the open about the situation, including telling the perpetrator, “I saw that, why did you do that?” There are other steps as well. Training cannot be a joke, and it cannot be a one-off. The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission suggests having multiple reporters so that targets can talk to someone they’re comfortable with. Civility training can go a long way toward alleviating the situation as well. In the end, though, the only way to eradicate this kind of behavior is top-down, and organization-wide. Leaders have to model professional behavior, the entire community has to understand how to be an effective bystander, and the reporting channels can’t be compromised by a mistaken urge to protect power instead of the integrity of the company. Or, of course, we can just keep on how we’ve done it so far: coverup, expensive litigation, and misery. Learn more about counteracting workplace hostility here: workplacebullying.org
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