Workplace Ethics Bullying and gossiping: From the playground to professional world ? by Margaryta Anokhina

Different names  Mobbing  Work harassment  Emotional abuse  Mistreatment  Victimization  Psychological violence  Workplace aggression and emotional abuse

Different Forms  Shouting or using unsuitable language towards others.  Constant unwarranted criticism.  Giving staff menial or trivial tasks as a way of humiliating them.  Deliberately blocking promotion.  Deliberately giving too much work to individuals in the hope they will fail.  Regularly excluding individuals.  Singling out individuals with constant jokes.  Repeated personal insults.  Physical or psychological intimidation.  Falsely claiming credit for other people's work.

 ridiculing or demeaning someone - picking on them or setting them up to fail  spreading malicious rumours  exclusion or victimisation  unfair treatment  overbearing supervision or other misuse of power or position  unwelcome sexual advances - touching, standing too close, display of offensive materials  making threats or comments about job security without foundation  deliberately undermining a competent worker by overloading and constant criticism  preventing individuals progressing by intentionally blocking promotion or training opportunities.

Definitions  Repeatedly and persistently acts, aimed to torment, wear down, or frustrate a person, as well as repeated behaviours that would provoke, frighten, intimidate or bring dicsomfort to the recepient.  Bullying may be characterized as offensive, intimidating, malicious or insulting behaviour, an abuse or misuse of power through means intended to undermine, humiliate, denigrate or injure the recipient.

Who are involved?  Co-workers- the group  Supervisors (81% of bullies in USA)  Victims  Organization

How big is the problem?  1 of 10 were targets of bullying (UK)  Between 10 and 20% of employees are bullied annually (USA)  8,3% experienced, 23, 4% witnessed (Iceland)  In UK it became such a big problem that the government has sponsored a major investigation into the issue, while almost 90 per cent of companies now have a bullying policy in place

Consequences  poor morale and poor employee relations  loss of respect for managers and supervisors  poor performance  lost productivity  absence  resignations  damage to company reputation

Ethics Ethical behaviour goes beyond obeying laws, rules and regulations. It is a commitment to do what is right, as well as merely what is allowable. A distinguishing mark of the professionals is the acceptance of the commitment to act ethically and in the public interest by all.

How to prevent bullying in organizations?  Recognition of the fact of bullying  Creating a ”zero-tolerance” policy  Explaining employee responsibilities and rights  Training personnel how to recognize and report bullying  Team creating

Reasons for bullying behaviours  Misuse of power/ mismanagement/ poor leadership  Highly competitive environment  Mix of personalities  Employer is rewarding such behaviours  Poor organization  High uncertainty  38% are targeted because they stand up to unfair treatment by the bully  56 % are mobbed because the bully envies the target's level of competence  49% are targeted simply because they are nice people  46% are bullied because they are ethical

When it stops?  When targets are terminated (37%)  Quit to restore their health (22%)  Transfer out of the job (17%)  Perpetrator is punished (4%)  Or terminated (9%)

Is it possible to eliminate the issue totally?  Humans  Relationships  Power

Gossiping  While gossip forms one of the oldest and (still) the most common means of spreading and sharing facts and views  it also has a reputation for the introduction of errors and other variations into the information thus transmitted

Ethics of gossiping  Emrys Westacott  basic human activity that enhances our understanding of human nature and the world around us  gossiping is a morally complex endeavour that requires a sophisticated evaluation of individual responsibility, motives, sources and notions of justice  if the official channels do not provide the information they need, then they must obtain it through unofficial channels, by far the most important of which is gossip

Gossiping on working place  Form of workplace violence  Lost productivity and wasted time  Erosion of trust and moral  normalise and re-enforce moral boundaries in a speech-community  foster and build a sense of community with shared interests and information  entertain and divert participants in gossip-sessions This Soviet war poster conveys the message: "Don't chatter! Gossiping borders on treason" (1941).

Thank you!