Mobbing and Bullying

Did you know that particular forms of harassment are studied under the title 'moral harassment'?

Nah, I didn't think so. I didn't know this either. It's what the dinner lady, Mrs Hill, is being subjected to in the case of the Essex school that tried to prevent the parents of a bullied child learning of what their girl had been subjected to. Until now, I could easily have expressed my outrage a la Daily Mail reader and declaimed the perpetrators and their protectors. Instead, I can now refer you to a Portuguese study that categorises Mrs Hill's unfortunate experience as 'moral harassment'. Or, in other words, 'mobbing and bullying'. It's quite prevalent in the health and social care sector apparently.

Other forms of workplace bullying

jargon explained:

1. Blamestorming: Sitting around in a group, discussing why a deadline was missed or a project failed, and who was responsible.

2. Seagull Manager: A manager who flies in, makes a lot of noise, poops all over everything and then leaves.

3. Chainsaw Consultant: An outside expert brought in to reduce the employee head count, leaving the top brass with clean hands.

4. Cube Farm: An office filled with cubicles.

5. Idea Hamsters: People who always seem to have their idea generators running.

6. Prairie Dogging: When someone yells or drops something loudly in a cube farm, and people's heads pop over the walls to see what's going on.

7. Assmosis: The process by which some people seem to absorb success and advancement by kissing up to the boss rather than working hard.

8. Uninstalled: Euphemism for being fired. Heard on the voice mail of a vice president at a downsizing computer firm: "You have reached the number of an uninstalled vice president. Please dial our main number and ask the operator for assistance".

9. Downsizing - Decruitment.

10. Depression: anger without enthusiasm.

Educators subjected to bullying

A report carried in the Belfast Telegraph points to a chronic level of bullying of staff at the UK's universities - typically 1 in 10 report incidences. The University of East London however shows a far worse level (17% of staff reporting that they are often or always being bullied). Heavens above, how can tutors help students when they themselves are suffering?

Provocation

This isn't funny but terribly real I'm afraid. I wonder how long the 'victim' had been subjected to bullying before his anger broke out? Had he sought help from his manager? What of the witnesses? Innocent bystanders or co-bullies?

Bullying

Earlier in the month, the TUC produced a report claiming that 3.5 million of the UK's work force was subjected to bullying. I'm never sure what these sorts of surveys are supposed to be for. They're a bit like accountants standing at the side of a lake counting the number of people drowning after their boat sinks. Look how many bodies we've counted..tra la ....that sort of thing. What would be more interesting is a study of who perpetrates the bullying and what forms the bullying takes. After all, in an earlier report, the TUC noted that the same 'employers' are often behind employment abuses reported to lawyers and the Citizen's Advice Bureau. Perhaps HR people should be more forceful in ensuring that potential bully's are never employed in the first place. If 1% of the population has psychopathic tendencies, then that's a quarter of a million employees in the UK. That's more than enough to cause problems to the 3.5 million who admit to being bullied.