Introduction
Bullying, also peer abuse, is offensive treatment involving the use of coercion to impinge on others. Bullying takes various shapes in three main modes- emotionally, physically and verbally. Grounds of bullying in the work place is diverse than the modes of bullying, namely, race, belief, gender, ability, class or status and even physical appearance (Bullying).
At work, Dr. Erfan & Bagedo General Hospital, a wide range of people works there. This means religions; behaviors and perceptions of people are poles apart. Friction and shoulders rubbing tends to happen from time to time. Several cases of peer abuse occur and get reported to the relevant authority in the office.
Problem
With bullying, unwanted and negative effects come up. These consequences affect the output of the target or victim negatively. The Garling Report is the concluding report of the unique Commission of Inquiry keen on Acute Care Services in NSW Public Hospitals. Publishing was in November 27, 2008 by Commissioner Peter Garling. The report describes how public hospitals are devoid of any form of direction or governance. Poor communication, suspicion and bullying ran rampant in hospitals, and in this case, Dr. Erfan & Bagedo General Hospital (Gary, 2009).
The most direct effect is fear. The target will not be able to come close to the bully or anywhere he or she is. Most of the bullying that happens occurs during breaks or shift changes. At this point, people interact, and this is when the bully takes the opportunity. Avoiding the cause of the problem of the bullying usually brings temporary relief (Bullyfre). However, this will not solve the issue at hand. Especially at work, targets fear coming to work and this will have an adverse result in the efficiency of the staff in the hospital. With the nature of the work, when an employee experiences demoralized, this will trickle down to all the other staff and efficiency will reduce.
Bullying in the workplace can be the cause of inferiority complex. This refers to a feeling that a person is inferior or mediocre than people around them. Without bullying in the picture, a majority in the office feel inferior because most directors and managers put a fissure between them and the rest of the staff (Bullying at Work). When bullying appears, the situation worsens. Bullies attack those who seem to be a threat. In the hospital, this might be another doctor, nurse or surgeon. When the bully feels that another staff member is a threat, he or she will put down the ‘threat’ in all methods available. Because of this, the victim feels as if others around him are higher and that they do not deserve the job. Many employees have quit their positions in the hospital, causing increased pressure to the remaining workers. In the end, this will reflect on the overall performance of the hospital (How to deal with bullying at work).
One of the biggest problems because of bullying is clinical depression. Clinical depression alters someone’s personality, his or her behavior changes entirely. From eating habits to the social life of an individual, all aspects change for the negative. In hospital, cases of clinically depressed employees are on the rise due to peer abuse happening in the office. After a person suffers through bullying and gets depression, the work output diminishes and normal interaction between coworkers deteriorates (Effects of Bullying).
As stated above, bullying causes significant problems in the work environment and affects the productivity of any establishment. The analysis of bullying also takes another angle, why does bullying happen. The core reasons for why bullying takes place brings more light to the issue.
All bullies whether at work or in school share a characteristic and the reason why they do this. Bullying is rampant in the hospital and other places of work because of denial. At a point in the bully’s life, he or she experienced denial (Understanding Why Bullying Happens). This usually comes during the formative years of a child, referred to as the most critical stage in childhood. Here the child learns values and principles that guide and form his personality. When the bully does not understand, how people socialize and live with each other that are where trouble starts. A look into the history of the workers in the hospital and something stands out. A number of workers have a dark childhood, majority of which are in positions of oversight. The power fuels the bully to harass others and create an uncomfortable situation in the workplace.
Most workplaces have a reputation of causing frustration in the employees. Either there is no proper motivation to the workers or the individual suffers from demoralization. When a worker suffers frustration, the usual option is to offload on someone else (Are you being bullied at work?). This happens when mostly; those in higher positions dump their frustrations on the other workers who are below them in rank. An example in the hospital is a senior resident gets the responsibility of training the new interns. Usually the new employees are nervous and will do several understandable mistakes. If their trainer has had a miserable day and one of the interns does a mistake, the senior resident will vent all frustration to this recruit. This bullying is the most common form of it in workplaces.
Insecurity is another factor to look at when discussing bullying in the workplace. This comes about when a colleague feels that the other is a threat, perhaps to them, or to someone close to the colleague (Milne, 2000). If someone else is better at something that we do, natural a person feels insecure and is not happy. Most bullies have one solution to this; discourage the ‘better’ colleague so much that he or she quits the job. At the hospital, this usually happens between doctors and nurses. When threatened, they use all means necessary to put the other down. Instead of looking for legit ways, to get the knowledge necessary to be like the victim or better, it is better they expel him from the organization, which is unfair to the victim and should stop. Some in the office choose to stand up to these bullies and confront them. Some succeed in having justice and sadly, others still end up stressed and unemployed because of the situation drastically turning direction. Something worth noting is that all bullies have fear and thus treating them with the utmost care when confronting them is necessary.
Conclusion/solutions to the problem
With problems, solutions need to come up so that people can work hand in hand without any friction or trouble. All through the report, bullying results in negative outcomes. The report also clearly shows that ignoring the problem will not help in the least. At the workplace, in this case, the hospital, the supervisors should ignore the situation. Bullying in the workplace is not an undersized matter, and dealing with it is the best solution. The more the bullying continues, the more the victims become vulnerable. In the end, vulnerable or demoralized workers affect negatively on the hospital (How to Handle Bullies at Work, 2011).
The people holding positions of authority or oversight are the best people to quell this situation of workplace bullying. This mandate falls mostly on the human resource office. Since they deal with the welfare of the employees, they should be the first to note bullying and promptly work to crushing it. A strong human resource department will be effective only if they execute their job right. Ignoring bullying situations will affect heavily on the efficiency of the hospital. The human resource department and other employees should report cases of bullying to the relevant office and the required action taken so that all in the office can work in a comfortable environment (Stump, 2007).
Another solution depends on the relationship a person has with the other coworkers. Not all colleagues will collaborate with the bully to demoralize the victim. Others in the office will empathize and assist in seeking justice. Employees need to build a robust rapport with coworkers. Those with the same viewpoint and ethics will naturally bond. These people will help when a bully at work starts his harassment. Rallying help from these colleagues will give the morale to face up to the bully and quash the situation before it explodes out of proportion.
Recommendations
Although eradication of workplace bullying is not feasible, there are measures that help could bring down the situation and stop bullying from increasing. One method is through prevention programs. Companies with the aim of reducing the instances of bullying create these programs to help their employees have a comfortable working environment. The employees can approach supervisors confidentially and give the accounts of bullying. It is now the mandate of the supervisor to deal with the situation in a way that will not aggravate the condition of the matter (Bleeker).
The hospital will do well to improve their employee screening methods. This is a practical method because traits of aggression will appear early and the interviewer will note these behaviors. Prospective employees with aggression will emerge early, and the hiring officer will deal with the situation well before it becomes a burden in the hospital. Another practical recommendation is an introduction of training programs for employees. Outsourcing this aspect to professional trainers can be excellent since the employees will receive appropriate training on dealing with aggression (Dealing with workplace bullying). Public access forums and workshops provide information on how to deal with workplace bullying and implementation should be immediate in places of employment.
List of References
Anonymous, Are you being bullied at work? (n.d.). Web.
Bleeker, M. (n.d.). How To Deal With Bullies at Work. 2011. Web.
Bullyfre. (n.d.). Shame, Guilt & Embarrassment Caused By Bullies. Web.
Anonymous, Bullying. (n.d.). 2011, Web.
Anonymous, Bullying at Work. (n.d.). 2011, Web.
Anonymous, Bullying in the workplace. (n.d.). 2011, Web.
Anonymous, Dealing with workplace bullying. (n.d.). 2011, Web.
Anonymous, Effects of Bullying. (n.d.). 2011, Web.
Gary. (2009). The Garling report into NSW acute health care. Web.
Anonymous, How to deal with bullying at work. (n.d.). 2011, Web.
Anonymous, How to Handle Bullies at Work. (2011). Web.
Milne, S. (2000). Insecurity ‘fuels job bullying epidemic’. Web.
Stump, K. A. (2007). Finding Solutions to Bullying. Web.
Anonymous, Understanding Why Bullying Happens. (n.d.). 2011, Web.