What is mobbing or laboral harassment?

The concept of bullyingcorrectly translated into Spanish, as: “psychological harassment” or “workplace harassment”, has an essential ethical substrate that refers to the lack of respect and consideration of the worker’s right to dignity, as a relevant or substantial element of the employment relationship.

The characterization and visibility of this type of harassment is very necessary to create work environments free of violence. After all, we spend a third of our daily lives in these work environments, so we should never stop taking care of this part of our lives. Let’s get to know the bullying so that, together, we are able to identify and eradicate it.

What is the bullying

It is an individual or collective pattern of behavior in which one or more people are harassed or harassed within the workplace. This creates a hostile and violent work environment that negatively affects the life and mental and physical health of the victim, as well as their performance and productivity.

According to a publication of the Psyconex Electronic Magazinethe symptoms that the person may experience are mainly classified into two categories: physical and emotional. Among the physical manifestations are: sleep problems (insomnia, recurring nightmares), concentration difficulties, nausea, migraine, skin problems, loss of appetite, stomach pains, sweating, tremors.

For their part, emotional symptoms include: anxiety, isolation, loss of self-esteem and self-confidence, feelings of sadness and depression, panic attacks, irritability, mood swings, loss of motivation, thoughts about suicide, loss of job satisfaction.

In 2021, the first global survey on the bullying thanks to the ILO (International Labor Organization) with some chilling data: 17.9% of the working population stated that they had been victims of psychological violence and harassment during their working life.. Furthermore, the groups most affected were women, migrants and racialized people.

How workplace harassment manifests itself

There are many forms that the bullying in the work environment. Here you have some behaviors classified by factors, just as the Ministry of Labor, Migration and Social Security of Spain does.

Organizational attacks

Limit the individual’s communication opportunities.Relocate the harassed person away from his or her colleagues. Discourage colleagues from interacting with the victim.Forcing someone to take actions that go against their values.Evaluate an individual’s performance in a derogatory manner. Question the choices made. Leave someone without responsibilities.Assigning tasks that lack purpose.Designating responsibilities that do not align with someone’s abilities. Assigning humiliating tasks.

Social isolation

Limit colleagues’ interactions with the individual.Avoid eye contact and other gestures with the bullied. Ignore the bullied and avoid direct communication.Act as if the other were invisible.

Attacks on privacy

Criticize the victim’s personal life.Harass over the phone.Ridicule or make the other person feel inferior.Insinuate that the person has mental instabilities. Make fun of physical limitations. Mockingly imitate the worker’s gestures or voice.Ridicule aspects of personal life.

Physical violence

Propositions or acts of a sexual nature.Threatening physical harm. Minor acts of violence.Direct physical abuse.

Attacks on beliefs

Criticize political positions and beliefs.Disregard religious beliefs. Make fun of nationality or place of origin.

Verbal attacks

Raising your voice or using insults.Constantly criticize someone’s work performance. Verbally threaten.

Defamation

Talking negatively about someone in their absence.Spread false gossip or rumors.

Workplace harassment is not limited to performance

The victim of workplace harassment comes to believe that he is a bad worker and even that he is a bad person. Therefore, the attacks of mobbing, They are not limited to mere work performance, but extend to the personal sphere, where the victim’s self-concept is degraded.

This is how a valid (or brilliant) worker becomes a shadow of his former self. He becomes someone who thinks he does everything wrong and is a disaster, which legitimizes those who harass him.

Over time, the worker’s self-concept ends up causing paralysis and psychological damage. And the usual objective of workplace harassment is to destroy the employee’s performance to induce or facilitate their departure. or exclusion from the organization.

Phases of bullying

Workplace harassment within a company or institution develops over several phases. Next, we will make a presentation of them, based on an article published by Trujillo, Valderrabano and their collaborators.

Phase 1: the appearance of a critical incident

When facing workplace harassment, the victim feels confused and hopes that the situation will improve on its own. However, with the persistence of the bullying, he begins to question himself and experiences anxiety and changes in his habits. Although he identifies his harasser, he attempts to dialogue to resolve the conflict, but is caught between giving in or facing more intense harassment and possible retaliation.

Phase 2: systematic persecution

In this stage, the harasser intensifies the harassment, in order to intimidate the victim, and shows him that fighting back will only make the situation worse. Often, this pressure includes direct threats to the position or safety of the bullied.

Phase 3: intervention from superiors

In the face of increasing bullying pressure, the victim seeks support from influential people within the organization, such as superiors or union representatives, hoping to keep the matter private. Although at first he feels that he receives support, he soon realizes that it is not enough to solve the problem. The victim begins to experience isolation and exhibits severe anxiety symptoms.

Phase 4: abandoning work

The harassed worker’s health deteriorates to the point that he or she may need to be absent from work. The thought of returning to the work environment and facing harassment again becomes terrifying.. The victim looks for solutions outside the company. Older workers may consider early retirement, while younger workers may decide to endure the harassment and stay for a while until they find another job.

Types of workplace harassment

Depending on the direction that the abusive behavior takes within the organization, several types of harassment will be differentiated. Therefore, we can talk about the following.

1. Ascendant

Towards higher ranking people. The most common example is when a worker is promoted and the rest of the team does not agree. The higher ranking person is harassed by his subordinates.

2. Descending

It is the most common. A person with a higher rank abuses his power to harass another who has a lower rank. Sometimes, it can function as a strategy for the victim to quit work.

3. Horizontal

It occurs between colleagues who have the same hierarchical rank. Its causes can vary and range from hatred and enmity to boredom. It can also be used as a way to “adjust” the new employee to the work environment.

4. Strategic

It is a form of harassment that is part of the company’s strategy. The purpose is for the employee to resign voluntarily, and thus avoid severance pay.

5. Direction or management

It is promoted by the management of the company. It may be to get rid of an unwanted employee, maximize productivity through fear or to discredit someone who does not meet the boss’s expectations.

6. Perverse

He does not have a specific job objective. It originates due to the manipulative personality of the stalker. It is harmful, because the causes of harassment cannot be resolved in a simple way.

7. Disciplinary

It is used to “mold” the employee. It is also used to show other workers what could happen to them if they do not follow the rules. It can be directed against people with many absences, pregnant women or those who report irregularities in the company.

Causes of bullying in organizations

Workplace harassment is a complex phenomenon that can arise due to various causes. These can originate both from the harasser and from the work environment.

The stalker

A harassing person may begin to harass a coworker for different reasons. Let’s look at some of them.

1. Jealousy or envy

The most common explanation is that the victim is threatening to the group that harasses him. In this sense, stalkers envy or jealous of the victim for some aspect. For example, the victim is usually envied for the acceptance or appreciation that she arouses among her colleagues, subordinates, bosses, patients or clients; or due to her extraordinary capacity to carry out some work activity.

2. Need for power and control

Some individuals have an innate need to dominate and control others. Bullying allows them to exercise that power and feel superior.

3. Insecurity

The subject may feel threatened by competition or by someone who considers more qualified or prepared. Instead of improving your own skills, you choose to minimize or sabotage the other person.

4. Fear of losing your job

The harasser may attempt to discredit or undermine the reputation of another employee, in order to secure your own position or promotion in the company. Fear, anxiety and worries play a key role here.

5. Lack of social skills

Some individuals may not have the skills necessary to communicate or resolve conflicts appropriately. This causes the person to resort to harassment as a defense or communication mechanism.

6. Psychological or personality problems

In some cases, The stalker may have personality disorders or psychological problems. Some mental problems can cause a person to behave aggressively or manipulatively.

The victim

There is no specific profile that determines who will be victims of bullying. However, certain common characteristics have been identified in many of them. It is essential to emphasize that These characteristics do not imply that people are responsible for becoming victimsso they cannot be considered a direct cause of harassment.

7. Don’t let yourself be manipulated

Workplace bullying can also be triggered by opposing different forms of manipulation or certain people pulling the strings within the organization. Environments with vertical hierarchy and the presence of interest groups are usually the contexts where harassment occurs.