Workplace Bullying Doesn't Work

Most of us have witnessed incidents of workplace bullying. Some of us have seen strings of incidents that form patterns of bullying. And some have concluded that people who bully others at work can evade accountability. Sadly, this interpretation of observables is oversimplified. It leads to more incidents of workplace bullying — more hurt, more harm, and more humiliation. We need a more careful assessment of what happens when people engage in bullying. We need it because it illuminates the path to more effective responses to workplace bullying. And we need effective responses to workplace bullying because workplace bullying doesn't work.

What workplace bullying is

Not all abusive behavior at work is workplace bullying. And unfortunately there is no universally accepted definition of workplace bullying. Here's the definition I use:

Workplace bullying is any aggressive behavior, associated with work, and primarily intended to cause physical or psychological harm to others.

Workplace bullying need not occur in the workplace, though it can. It need not involve abuse of power, though it can. It doesn't even have to actually cause physical or psychological harm to others, though it can. All that's required is that it be aggressive, that it be associated with work, and that it be primarily intended to cause harm, physically or psychologically.

What's missing from this definition, compared to others, is the requirement that the bullying be repeated. There are several reasons why I omit that requirement, but the most important is that for the perpetrator, bullying is addictive. And that's what often leads to repetition. More about this in a moment.

What it means for bullying to 'work'

Perhaps the most discussed sense in which bullying doesn't work is as a management technique. Although bullying truly is a horrid way to motivate, in my experience, only rarely are business objectives the primary motivator of perpetrators. So let me set this interpretation aside, and turn to comparing intended results to actual results.

To decide To decide how well a strategy is working,
we must know what its intended results arehow well a strategy is working, we must know what its intended results are. Then we can compare the intended results of the strategy to its actual results. In the case of workplace bullying, the immediate objective of the perpetrator is witnessing suffering that the perpetrator created. Witnessing suffering creates in the perpetrator an acute feeling of being alive and powerful — almost euphoria — a euphoria that cannot be otherwise easily achieved at work.

But that experience is just the immediate objective. After the euphoria passes, the perpetrator experiences a growing sense of a need for more. My own view — admittedly, a minority view — is that bullying is a behavioral addiction, analogous to gambling addiction, Internet addiction, and overeating addiction. [Grant, et al. 2010] That's a primary reason why perpetrators repeat their offenses. They don't necessarily need to repeat with the same target, though often they do.

The perpetrators' need to repeat their offenses suggests that the bullying doesn't actually work. The effect of the bullying on the perpetrator is ephemeral — transitory, fleeting, brief — it creates a need to bully again. If the intended result of the bullying is the perpetrator's feeling of extended euphoria, then bullying doesn't "work."

Last words

This perspective, this view of bullying as an addiction, has important consequences for targets of perpetrators. Many targets come to realize that only bullying tactics can deter further attacks. But they're reluctant to apply that insight. In a future post I'll explore this line of thinking and point to a way around this conundrum.   Next issue in this series   Top    Next Issue

Is a workplace bully targeting you? Do you know what to do to end the bullying? Workplace bullying is so widespread that a 2014 survey indicated that 27% of American workers have experienced bullying firsthand, that 21% have witnessed it, and that 72% are aware that bullying happens. Yet, there are few laws to protect workers from bullies, and bullying is not a crime in most jurisdictions. 101 Tips for Targets of Workplace Bullies is filled with the insights targets of bullying need to find a way to survive, and then to finally end the bullying. Also available at Apple's iTunes store! Just . Order Now!

Footnotes

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More articles on Workplace Bullying:

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Looking the Other Way

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The Costs of Threats

Threatening as a way of influencing others might work in the short term. But a pattern of using threats to gain compliance has long-term effects that can undermine your own efforts, corrode your relationships, and create an atmosphere of fear.

Responding to Threats: III

Workplace threats come in a variety of flavors. One class of threats is indirect. Threateners who use the indirect threats aim to evoke fear of consequences brought about not by the threatener, but by other parties. Indirect threats are indeed warnings, but not in the way you might think.

Social Isolation and Workplace Bullying

Social isolation is a tactic widely used by workplace bullies. What is it? How do bullies use it? Why do bullies use it? What can targets do about it?

See also Workplace Bullying for more related articles.

Forthcoming issues of Point Lookout

Coming October 1: On the Risks of Obscuring Ignorance

A common dilemma in knowledge-based organizations: ask for an explanation, or "fake it" until you can somehow figure it out. The choice between admitting your own ignorance or obscuring it can be a difficult one. It has consequences for both the choice-maker and the organization. Available here and by RSS on October 1.

And on October 8: Responding to Workplace Bullying

Effective responses to bullying sometimes include "pushback tactics" that can deter perpetrators from further bullying. Because perpetrators use some of these same tactics, some people have difficulty employing them. But the need is real. Pushing back works. Available here and by RSS on October 8.

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