Workplace Bullies

An Ri Glas

Hi, I'm looking for advice on workplace bullies and how you can deal with them.

I was recently in a situation where a couple of people targeted me in a campaign of harassment. These people were a female and male colleague. She turned out to be quite nasty, while he was screenshotting private messages and sending them on to her, which she then used to attack me verbally in the workplace on a number or occasions in front of other colleagues.

It turned out that he thought they had a chance of hooking up and this may have motivated his actions. He talks a big game, never did his work, constantly had others covering for his mistakes and lack of work, while she did the same. Neither one met their targets and constantly were a cause of annoyance to their colleagues.

They made the work place quite hostile for all around them. Thankfully they have both moved on, where I presume their lack of ability will be highlighted and they will again spread their horrid attitudes.

They let me believe I was in the wrong whilst others (including my line manager) told me to contact HR and report them both for harassment and bullying in the workplace.

I'm wondering has anyone else been in a similar position and what they did to deal with them. If I encounter useless ne'er-do-wells like these in the future I would prefer to be more prepared.

Thanks in advance.

skallywag

It sounds like your manager gave you as good advice as you could hope to receive in such circumstances. Making a formal complaint is never the first road one wants to go down, but it can come to the stage that this is the only option you have remaining, at least if you do not want to be the one to move on yourself.

What was the nature of these private messages which he was screenshotting and then sharing?

As a general rule regarding bullying in the workplace, or indeed any issue or conversation which you feel may subsequently become an issue, I would open a WORD document, put the date on it and write down as soon as possible what happened, including the names of any witnesses. Save it. It might also be a good idea to verbalise what you witnessed to other witnesses so you're singing from the same hymn sheet in the future if something happens.

A few weeks ago I witnessed somebody in my workplace being shouted at and publicly humiliated by a fellow employee. I didn't say anything to the victim because I wasn't sure if they'd feel more embarrassed that I verbalised their mistreatment, but I went back to my desk and wrote up a note on it. If necessary in the future I will offer myself as a witness for that person. I really cannot abide bullies in the workplace as they bring everybody down and it's very important to me that I continue to enjoy my work and continue to have supporting colleagues, as I hope I am to them.

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valoren

Employers have a duty of care for all employees. This includes obvious and simple things like providing a safe working space with fire exits and procedures in place. It also includes that employees are free to conduct their work without harrassment or experiencing bullying. Your line manager was correct to point you towards HR. It is their responsibility to address any concerns you have up to and including giving those responsible verbal/written warnings. Alternatively, employees have a code of conduct i.e. which includes not to bully and harrass others. Now in professionally and properly run companies bullies are more subtle. It is in rag-tag, amateurish operations that bullies can be more overt in their behaviour. Something like a code of conduct being as useful as a chocolate tea pot.

In some work places, the environment is so toxic that the bullies are cute enough to buddy up with those in HR who subsequently do nothing. It happens. As for dealing with it in future, as mentioned, take notes, screenshots of everything. Keep an audit trail. If you do complain and nothing is done about it then the employer has not done their duty and can face penalties. While they may not have a care in the world about your personal well being, when faced with potential financial penalties and reputational damage it seems to have the desired effect of getting employers to act. If the bullying is face to face, then with the advent of smart phones with cameras, a brilliant way of calling out bullies is when they do their bullying, you take your phone out and ask them to repeat what they've said or done as you record them. Seeing that you can prove their bullying works wonders at retaliating against it. When you keep doing this they eventually stop and hopefully the employer has sacked them before they move on to someone else.