Bullies

[Alex P Keaton]

We have this new team leader and she is a total control freak! She likes to make out like we are being naughty school kids and stuffing about/not doing our work. Always hovers around checking up on us.

If you happen to talk to a co-worker for more than 30 seconds she comes over & tells you off, tells you to get back to work. She doesn't tolerate you writing emails. Makes it look like you are mucking around & not doing your work.

Anyway over the past few weeks I bought these issues up at team meetings, but she still continued her behaviour and then a few days ago she wasn't happy with the fact a task took me half an hour to do. It didn't take me 30 minutes I had some other tasks I had to get done in that period of time as well.

The thing is. I'm a very good worker. Hard worker and the crap that comes out of her mouth is not true!

Anyway this latest incident time I just had enough of her ****. I totally snapped & pretty much without saying it in these words told her to **** off. Don't **** with me. Haha it felt so good to stand up to her. Guess what she has been lovely to me ever since!

Oh and I have some great news. I got another job for 3 months. It's with the same department in a different business unit. I'm so happy. I start soon. If I do well there there is a chance of extension of the contract.

Ps I told management about her behaviour but they are on her side & they say what she is doing is fine @&$)

lol I wonder how long she will last. I'm sure eventually she will clash with too many people & the manager & will end up leaving.

There is a young girl just out of school that is being badly bullied. She only showed up 1 time last week because of it. I reckon she will leave too

I'm trying to stay under the radar now as I'm trouble with management for making a stand. The top manager is the biggest bully of them all! Total psyhco!

Any advice for dealing with bullies? Anyone got any stories? I think I did the right thing by losing my temper. She is behaving differently to me now & treating me well!

 

[thatbum]

In my experience, it does depend on the type of bully. Some of them don't realise exactly what they are doing and the effect of their behaviour on people - while others either are intending to be bullies, or their personality unfortunately means they won't change even if it is pointed out to them.

It sounds like this woman is in the first category and so it was worth bringing it up. I reckon most would more likely be in the second, so you are lucky to an extent.

The problem is that the bullying behaviour is often indicative of some sort of personality disorder and so very hard to change directly anyway.

 

[pinkboy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isfn4OxCPQs&feature=related

 

[china]

From the point of view of a small business employer, I find it hard to tolerate employees using facebook, talking on the phone to boyfriends and having regular coffee breaks.

 

[pinkboy]

I cant really comment too much about workplace bullying as Ive never worked for large organisations where there are many departments and people.

At school, me not being a footballer in a prolific football school had some trying times (lycra clad cyclist/triathlete was an easy target), but I was in my own little bubble back then! I look back at all my school class, and none of them ever 'made it', even though many from grades above and below have! Was I affected? No, not really - I could see right through nonsense from an early age. Boarding school is the deep end, and you learn pretty quick to defend yourself.

A bully will generally try to do their thing when they feel they can get away with it (behind closed doors etc). You need to keep everything in check by making sure you are in open areas, where other people can hear whats going on, and keep the communication channels open with management. I wouldnt be afraid to speak out, because you cant let these things affect your work!

pinkboy

 

[weg]

It sounds more like an inexperienced manager trying to manage to me.

She probably lacks some of the skills you need to be able to manage, so is using more the authoritarian approach to gain some control, which a manager is expected to have.

I say this because of her not specifically targeting anyone in particular, and because you spoke up to her and her behaviour changed (probaby didn't realise her way of managing was that upsetting to you - true and skilled psychos would not torelate being spoken to like that).

When that sort of 'managing' becomes too intolerable, the collective workplace has a way of putting them back in their place, or driving them out eventually if they don't tone it down.

That's my experience anyway.

 

[Peter_Tersteeg]

My employees bully me all the time...
Sob.

 

[The Y-man]

There is a young girl just out of school that is being badly bullied. She only showed up 1 time last week because of it. I reckon she will leave too

....


Any advice for dealing with bullies? Anyone got any stories? I think I did the right thing by losing my temper. She is behaving differently to me now & treating me well!

Alex,

Bullying is a serious OHS issue.

It has resulted in people end up with serious clinical depression, and very dibilitating mental illnesses.

I acknowledge you have tried to alert your managers of this, and while you have been able to stand up and take action, the plight of the young recruit is disturbing.

This becomes an OHS / Worksafe issue (as part of providing a safe workplace).

Please see the following resources, and pass this on to the young girl if possible:


http://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/worksafe/content/safety_topics/Bullying/index.htm

http://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/worksafe/PDF/Guidance_notes/Dealing_with bullying_english.pdf


The OHS officer is usually the best person to approach - as unecessary stress related to bullying is a legitimate safety issue. The officer will be able to escalate this internally, and if required, workcover (from experience, this is last resort).

The Y-man

 

[BayView]

Bullying is now a pretty serious offense in Aus.

If you are really wanting to do something, contact Fairwork Australia, or your Union if there is one.

Also, write a formal compliant letter to the Management, keep a copy, and tell them you are reporting the behavior to the above people.

The other thing to do is get her on the way to her car after work and smash her to oblivion with some sort of steel implement.

 

[weg]

On what APK has stated here, a verdict of bullying may prove difficult based on the details she has given.

What the manager is doing is actually allowed as part of her job.

As per the first link the Y-man posted...

5. What isn’t workplace bullying?

An isolated incident of inappropriate or unreasonable behaviour may be an affront to dignity at work but as a one-off incident it is not considered to be bullying. However, since an employer has a general duty to provide workers with a safe workplace and systems of work, single incidents of this type should not be ignored.

It is important to differentiate between a person’s legitimate authority at work and bullying. All employers have a legal right to direct and control how work is done, and managers have a responsibility to monitor workflow and give feedback on performance.

If a worker has obvious performance problems, these should be identified and dealt with in a constructive way that does not involve personal insults or derogatory remarks. In situations where a worker is dissatisfied with management practices, the problem should also be raised in a manner that does not involve personal abuse.

 

[Fifth]

Bullying is now a pretty serious offense in Aus.

If you are really wanting to do something, contact Fairwork Australia, or your Union if there is one.

Also, write a formal compliant letter to the Management, keep a copy, and tell them you are reporting the behavior to the above people.

Aren't you always complaining about our coddled and over-unionised workforce? Honestly, now we should take action if a manager is a bit too authoritarian? Should school children sue their strict teachers, too?

 

[BayView]

Aren't you always complaining about our coddled and over-unionised workforce? Honestly, now we should take action if a manager is a bit too authoritarian?

Only if it is deemed to be bullying.

Cracking the whip on staff to make them work harder is not bullying; even though some might think that it is; they would be the clock-punching mentality who hide behind a Union I reckon.

Personally; I believe the employers who lead from behind with a stick don't get that much benefit (if any) from their employees with that style, and they cop their right whack eventually..

I have worked for such people, and they never keep staff - they never keep good staff - which is worse.

My belief is that the best approach for managers is to lead from in front, have strong guidelines in place for what is expected and be consistent and prompt when dealing with dead wood.

Should school children sue their strict teachers, too?

No; that's become the job of the parents these days. "My little johnny is an angel" and so forth.

And; teachers have almost no avenue for discipline anymore.

Parents are quick to zoom up to the school and berate the teachers first these days, instead of sussing out whether it is actually their kid who is at fault first.

 

[Ed Barton]

Any advice for dealing with bullies? Anyone got any stories? I think I did the right thing by losing my temper. She is behaving differently to me now & treating me well!

IME bullies are essentially cowards, which your post demonstrates. Hit them back and they run a mile. They move to next weakest link in the team, so expect one of your colleagues whining that they've been bullied.

Why aren't you the team leader?

 

[Ed Barton]

From the point of view of a small business employer, I find it hard to tolerate employees using facebook, talking on the phone to boyfriends and having regular coffee breaks.

How do you deal with that?

I don't mind my employees taking/making phone calls for arrangements. eg - to make appointments, to arrange domestic duties with their partners etc. These should be only minutes calls, I don't like 'chat' calls.

IMO regular breaks increase productivity.

At the end of the day I don't really care about time spent 'not working', but the output.

 

[Dazz]

Anyone got any stories?

Having spent most of my working life either in a highrise CBD office environment for a multinational.....or on a rig where nothing ever stops, my opinion is that the office workers I've seen over the decades would all be some of the slackest, most whingy soft marshmallows I've ever come across.

I left in '09 before all of this Facebook and Twitter nonsense really took hold, but did notice in my last job, the young engineer assigned to me absolutely could not concentrate on the task at hand.

The whole office used to call him "Thumb boy", cos no matter what was happening, no matter how important the task at hand was, no matter if it was a formal meeting or whatever, he'd be whipping out his little gadget and firing off texts left, right and centre. Pure private conversations of no import or consequence, all interrupting important company business....all the time.

The big boss pulled him over one day and said he'd have to stop. He turned around and accused the boss and everyone else of bullying him. It took him all of about 2 seconds to consider his future. Texting was waaaay more important than his job, and the little 22 y.o. gave the big boss a verbal spray about being a dinosaur and how everyone was allowed to text and how dare he not be allowed to text whenever he wanted and they were infringing upon his rights.

Fortunately he left, but the "bullying" accusation, because it was a big company, had all of these left wing soppy hand wringers filling in paperwork for a week, all of 'em scared witless of some industrial relations lawyer suing them for a gazillion over "emotional distress". What a crock.


The boys on the rig however, worked 12 hours straight every shift, with a quick 15 minute break in the grease covered doghouse to scoff down something quickly before letting the next guy get in there. The boys out there who work old school, hold all of these cream puffs in the offices with absolute contempt.

The world has gone nuts. Not surprising really. Psycho psychologists and psycho psychiatrists, holding hands with wet lettuce leaf lawyers now run the show.....their definition of "bullying" today was simply asking the worker to do their job years ago. The inmates are running the asylum. When workers threaten bosses with this **** the whole workplace goes to custard.

 

[wylie]

From the point of view of a small business employer, I find it hard to tolerate employees using facebook, talking on the phone to boyfriends and having regular coffee breaks.

I cannot see where this even was mentioned in the initial post .

But I agree that if I was an employer, I would find it hard to tolerate my staff using my time and computer resources to be on facebook or chatting. Little bits of time would be fine, but it seems many people think a solid hour here and there spent on facebook and/or personal stuff is okay.

I've always thought it stupid that (back when I was working in a bank) smokers seemed to be able to pop out for a cigarette every hour or two, and nothing used to be said. Those same smokers, who racked up hours per week would be the first to complain about someone having a sickie, and also the first to whinge about the unfairness of "women" having time off to have a baby.

Many of them could have had a few babies with all the cigarette breaks they took added together .

 

[kero]

i am not an employer but i can see if you give a person an inch, they will take a mile.

i agree with dazz. i tried to get a slack staff straight when i was working in a big government dept and guess what? instead of HR being on my side, i had to come out with a 3 month plan to performance manage this person. this plan would require me nearly 50% of time daily to make it effective. luckily this person left not too long after when he found a job elsewhere but also want me to match the other offer.

he did pull a big one on me tho. he didn't turn up for work during his two weeks notice.

 

[BayView]

How do you deal with that?

I don't mind my employees taking/making phone calls for arrangements. eg - to make appointments, to arrange domestic duties with their partners etc. These should be only minutes calls, I don't like 'chat' calls.

IMO regular breaks increase productivity.

At the end of the day I don't really care about time spent 'not working', but the output.

All that sort of thing comes under the heading of workplace procedures and policies.

All the employer needs to do is simply include a policy in the Employment agreement that staff are not permitted to make or receive personal calls to their own devices or use personal phones during work hours.

It might be worded that all mobiles phones etc to be switched off during paid work hours; all personal call s to come through the office lines - or words to that effect.

The (new) employees who sign on already know it in advance; the harder task is re-training the existing staff to accept the change.

But; you are the Boss; it is your rule; it is fair (they might not think so) and if they don't like it they will move on.

Most folk will be understanding, and if not; there's the door.

 

[HiEquity]

And yet we still have bullies like this getting away with close to murder with just a slap on the wrist.

A bikie was recently given a life sentence for throwing a man through a window, which seemed appropriate, but I just couldn't reconcile this with the three years or so (with parole) doled out to a drunken idiot who killed a cyclist without stopping.

The world is going mad on both sides of this equation - some cases make a lot of sense (e.g. bikie) while others just beggar belief (e.g. bicyclist).

Anyway, APK, no-one here can tell whether your boss is being a bully or just being a boss so you'll have to deal with that. I would start here and keep in mind that bullying only happens if there is an audience who go along with it. Take away the audience and the bullying stops. Get the audience to intervene and the bullying stops - just like on SS! Food for thought anyway.

 

[alexanderweiz]

In my experience, it does depend on the type of bully. Some of them don't realise exactly what they are doing and the effect of their behaviour on people - while others either are intending to be bullies, or their personality unfortunately means they won't change even if it is pointed out to them.

It sounds like this woman is in the first category and so it was worth bringing it up. I reckon most would more likely be in the second, so you are lucky to an extent.

The problem is that the bullying behaviour is often indicative of some sort of personality disorder and so very hard to change directly anyway.

That's a very interesting story, Alex. There are some point in my life that I've been bullied by people around me, that's during gradeschool.