Top Tips to Stop Workplace Bullying Resulting in Burnout

When you’re the target of a bully at work, the world can feel like a very lonely place. Workplace bullying is one of the most common work-related psychological problems and which can lead to distress and burnout leaving a person feeling lost and struggling with a sense of their identity, increased self-doubt which in turn can affect the quality of your home life.

Workplace bullying is a behaviour used by one person to control another and involves “repeated, unreasonable behaviour directed towards a worker or a group of workers, that creates a risk to health and safety” (Work Safe Australia, 2011, p. 4). Bullying can be experienced directly or indirectly. Direct bullying behaviours include verbal abuse or open accusation, malicious false rumours and offensive behaviour. Indirect bullying can consist of unreasonable work load allocation, others spreading rumours about you or a person being socially isolated. Victimised employees are at increased risk for depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, substance misuse and becoming burnout. Physiological complaints of workplace bullying include cardio-vascular disease, obesity, headaches and other somatic complaints. Bullying from managers can be extremely damaging to personal wellbeing and increases an employee’s intention to leave by 4 times. Worryingly, at the very top of the executive chain, corporate psychopathy resulting in abusive and bullying behaviours to second level managers has led to long periods of stress leave, high turnover, negative organisational outcomes, and derailment (McCleskey, 92 2013)

So, what can you do to support yourself and take back control? Here are our top tips:

1.  If you become the target of workplace bullying, reach out for support. If you feel management won’t be supportive then build your own resources through peer groups and external social support to help bolster you. Being part of a peer group can provide you with emotional support, understanding, a sounding board to help clarify how you feel and whether your difficulties are familiar to others. Peer groups offer the opportunity to connect with your colleagues on a deeper level and share your experiences.
2. If you feel you’re being treated unfairly at work, it’s important to understand what type of treatment you’re actually experiencing, because you have different rights under the law. You could be experiencing: bullying, discrimination, harassment or victimisation. The main challenge for those suffering from bullying or harassment in the workplace is finding the strength to speak out against colleagues and management. There are various routes which you can take in relation to bullying and harassment in the workplace which include informal action against aggressors.
3.  There will be genuine cases where an individual is not aware that their actions are seen as bullying or harassment by colleagues. In these instances an informal chat involving a colleague/management may be enough to resolve the issue. In cases where the person upsetting you doesn’t realise the effect of their actions, you could try talking with them, if you feel you can. It’s a good idea to: explain how their behaviour makes you feel, be firm, not aggressive and stick to the facts. If you do not feel comfortable talking to the person face to face, you could: put this in an email or ask for support from a trade union representative, if you have one or you talk with someone at work you feel comfortable with, this could be: your boss, another manager, someone in HR, or a counsellor. It’s also a good idea to keep a diary or record of the bullying, including: how the bullying made you feel, dates and times it happened, any witnesses and any evidence, for example emails or screenshots of social media posts.
4. Your workplace should have a policy on bullying that says how it should be handled. Ask to see it if it is not readily available. Even if there’s no policy, your employer has a legal duty of care to protect you while you’re at work and this includes dealing with bullying issues. If the bullying doesn’t stop you could make a Formal Complaint or Grievance. Every company should have a formal complaint or grievance policy and procedure in place. There will be a set course of actions once a grievance has been received and the results will be recorded in an individual’s personnel file. If you don’t think your internal grievance is being handled properly, mediation can also be used and organisations such as ACAS, an independent public body, funded by the government works with millions of employers and employees every year to improve workplace relationships. ACAS offers a very useful mediation service which can help to avoid further serious action. If you have to leave your job because of severe bullying that your employer did nothing about, you might be able to claim constructive dismissal at an employment tribunal