Tattle tailing is another form of bullying and the victim is set up against the reporter and the boss. The target can be continually in the bosses office for petty, insignificant things which are not necessarily work related but never the less, cause great emotional hardship for them. In this situation the victim finds him or herself constantly defending themselves to the boss, a story of 'he said/she said'. Name calling is, I and sorry to say, common place as well. The bully uses derogatory words to insult or humiliate the victim and they are very sneaky about it too.
They will taunt the victim with the name calling in a voice only the victim can hear, therefore, no witnesses. Any comment that demeans or humiliates a person is bullying. For example, a co-worker is overweight and the bully makes snide remarks about it. They might even try to make their statement look like they are being helpful to the co-worker like, 'you could be headed for a heart attack with that weight on' or 'you would be able to walk up the stairs with us if you didn't have all that weight to carry'. That is bullying!
Exclusion is another form of bullying. The tight knit group of co-workers who always eat lunch together while another co-worker eats alone. The group never invites the lone person to have lunch with them. Further to that the group of bullies whisper, point or laugh at the victim. How does bullying affect the victim? Each day the victim gathers strength to face her foes once more. Stress levels are at a maximum, fear is always present which increases the stress levels. Anxiety is another consequence of bullying. All of these symptoms are health hazards for the victim causing him or her to seek medical help and or psychological help and less important but true is the decrease in productivity in the workplace.
Most corporations have an Employee Assistance Program to aid in the well being of their workers. It is under utilized because, as I mentioned earlier, the fear factor prevents the victims from reaching out for help.What is a better way to combat this epidemic? I believe the supervisors and bosses need to begin taking the initiative. When the tattlers come into the office with yet another juicy tidbit, the boss needs to see this person for who they are and recognize their agenda, especially if they have the same target for each tale to tell. The boss needs to ask the right questions of the bully, and see that the bully gets an appointment with Employee Assistance Program. That is just one suggestion. Another is to have the government put bullying on the law books. Perhaps if these power hungry, insecure, jealous bullies had legal charges as a deterrent, the bullying would stop.