Dealing with Bullying at Work

While we associate bullying with school shenanigans, the reality is that a number of adults experience workplace bullying. Bullies are scary, cause embarrassments, and are very often tolerated in the workplace.

They are tolerated because nobody wants to deal with them, face conflicts, or deal with the discomfort associated with confronting bullies.

Bullying in the workplace could come from co-workers or supervisors and could take any of the following forms: insults, rudeness or intentional embarrassment, spreading rumours, unwarranted personal or professional criticism, making staff members perform demeaning, degrading or pointless tasks, sexual harassment or hindering promotions or other professional development

Here are a few tips on how to handle bullying at the workplace:

1. If you think you are being bullied at work, check yourself

Be sure that you are not doing anything to encourage the bully. You are most likely doing nothing to provoke the bully but to determine the best way to handle the situation, it’s best to start from yourself to be sure you are not triggering the actions. Also, take note to see if it’s a one-time occurrence or it’s a reoccurring action.