Topic 6 - Power and Politics Flashcards
What is bullying?
Bullying is an issue in many workplaces. Research suggests between 25-50% of people have experienced bullying. Bullying is subjecting a victim to being harassed, offended, socially excluded, having to carry out humiliating tasks. The victim is in an inferior position. It must occur repeatedly over an extended period of time.
What are the characteristics of victims of bullying?
Victims of bullying typically show indicators of weakness, such as being shy, having low social skills, symptoms of anxiety or depression. They tend to be submissive and non-controversial, preferring to avoid conflict; conscientious, dependable and traditional; quiet, reserved and opt for familiar surroundings; and anxious, sensitive and have difficulties coping with stressful situations.
What are the characteristics of perpetrators?
Perpetrators tend to be dominant, have difficulty viewing others perspectives, have difficulty accepting authority and don’t participate in organisation events. They tend to deal with frustrations in an active-ineffective coping manner, converting frustrations towards another employee.
What are the characteristics of orgs?
There are job characteristics (role conflict, low autonomy, high workload, job ambiguity, insecurity, lack of skill utilisation, monotonous tasks, forced cooperation), team characteristics (lack of social support, competition between colleagues, ask-oriented, autocratic and laissez-faire leadership style), and org characteristics (goal oriented and task-centred leadership styles, formal power relations, directive communications), lack of anti-bullying policy, poor communication and organisational change.
What steps can orgs take to minimise incidents of bullying?
Introduce anti-bullying policy. Research has been linked to bullying where there is a lack of policy.
Orgs should adopt a balance between task- and people-oriented perspectives. This ensures employees have adequate support and focus on productivity still.
Introduce a flexible hierarchy and autonomous teams may reduce bullying
Ensure separation of victim and bully. It is not enough to simply talk with the bully as this reinforces bullying behaviour.
How do frustrations link to bullies and victims.
The frustrations at work can contribute to people becoming bullies or victims. When someone projects their frustrations onto someone else they become a perpetrator. When employee distances themselves from org this can create a negative attitude towards them causing them to possibly become a victim of bullying.
