Bullying at work: if there is a predator in the team. How to deal with mobbing - expert advice on what to do and how to resist bullying at work

Bullying - this socio-psychological phenomenon has been formed since ancient times and in modern world its scale is growing. It is believed that bullying from girls, unlike boys, is psychologically more difficult for the victim; girls are more sophisticated in their methods of bullying, which leaves an indelible mark on the victim’s psyche.

Bullying - what is it?

Bullying comes from English word bulling is bullying, and is an act of violence, an aggressive attack in the form of insult, humiliation, bodily harm to one or more people, children with the aim of subordination. Carried out on initial stage 1-2 instigators or bullies, with the gradual involvement of the entire class, group or team. Mobbing and bullying are related phenomena. represents “herd” bullying, for example, when a newcomer appears in a school or group, and in contrast to bullying, only psychological bullying is used.

Reasons for bullying

Why can’t the socio-psychological phenomenon of bullying be eradicated? There are many reasons for this, one of which is domestic violence, and bullies themselves are often victims in their own family. The desire to humiliate or cripple others grows out of a sense of personal inferiority; a bully has no control over the situation of violence at home, but in society or school he can do this, and feel like he has power in his hands.

Other reasons:

puberty - during hormonal “shock” (restructuring), it is released into the blood higher level testosterone and adrenaline in adolescents, which can lead to an increase;
tendency towards sadism;
desire to be the center of attention;
high level of aspirations.

Victims of bullying

Why does the choice fall on the victim? a certain child– it is difficult to answer this question; rather, it stems from the causes of the phenomenon itself. Often, victims of school bullying are:

underachieving students;
gifted children;
children with disabilities health;
children of teachers;
complainers and sneakers;
children from poor families;
representatives;
representatives of other nationalities;
children with unusual thinking;
teachers' favorites.

Psychology of bullying

The basis of violence and aggression contains three component structures: the pursuer - bully or buller, the victim, and observers. Very rarely there is a fourth component - the defender. While studying the phenomenon of bullying, psychologists came to the conclusion that feelings such as envy, hostility, false feeling injustice, the desire to assert oneself can cause the formation of this phenomenon in the school environment. An apology for bullying is only a small compensation for the feelings of the victim if adults recognize the fact of bullying in time and take action.

Types of bullying

Types of bullying are divided according to the type of impact on the individual. This can be physical violence causing bodily harm, and psychological pressure. The division is conditional, because the infliction of physical injuries is also associated with deterioration mental state, it doesn’t matter whether it’s a child or an adult who knows how to stand up for himself, if the bullying is systematic, both the body and spirit of the person suffer, especially when it comes to sexual violence.

Bullying at school

School bullying involves aggression of some children against others, or even an entire class bullying one student. This happens sporadically at first, then systematically, and is consolidated on a regular basis. There are 2 main manifestations of violence in school:

Physical bullying– the child is pinched, slapped, kicked, and sometimes seriously injured.
Psychological bullying– impact on the psyche through:

threats;
accelerations;
persecution;
intimidation;
giving offensive nicknames and labels;
boycott announcements, isolation;
extortion of money and personal belongings.

A new type of psychological bullying is cyber-bullying. On email, messengers begin to send vile messages to the child, images, insulting texts, and can intimidate with death threats. The difference between cyber-bullying and traditional bullying is that the bully remains anonymous, which aggravates psychological condition child, because the danger, the threat is not identified, and this greatly suppresses the personality.

Bullying at work

Psychological pressure from work colleagues is not uncommon. In any group you can find someone who is a “scapegoat” or a “lamb to the slaughter.” How to fight bullying at work, recommendations from psychologists:

increase your professionalism, become indispensable in your position, no one can accuse you of incompetence;
it is not recommended to be like the offender, this will only increase provocation on his part, let him scream, insult until he runs out of energy, you can explain this to yourself by the fact that “whoever hurts, he talks about it,” in this case he screams;
it is important to find like-minded people - these could be employees who have previously been bullied;
seek help from management;
if the bullying continues, as an option, ask the manager to transfer to another department.

Bullying in the family

Family bullying- a widespread phenomenon in the modern world, its reasons lie in heredity ( genetic predisposition in the form of character accentuation), economic, social, medical and psychological factors. There are 3 types of bullying in the family:

Physical bullying– systematic damage to the health of a child or another family member with bodily harm or physical injury.
Sexual bullying– involving a child without his consent in the sexual activities of adults to satisfy their sexual needs.
Psychological bullying– humiliation of the child’s dignity, violence against the individual through insults, the child develops psychopathological traits.

How to deal with bullying?

How to stop bullying - psychologists and managers are working on this pressing issue educational institutions, it is difficult to eradicate bullying if everything was left to chance from the very beginning and violence flourishes. Prevention – the only way nip everything in the bud, then the consequences are minimal and not so dire. Often bullies are teenagers from disadvantaged families, so correction behavioral disorders, working with family - important aspect fight against bullying.

How to identify bullying?

How to resist bullying? To do this, you need to be in observation, this also applies to a specific particular case, when a parent notices that something wrong is happening with his child and the teacher’s observation of the microclimate in the classroom and the general desire of all teaching and administrative staff to see and observe the life of the school as a whole. This makes it possible to identify cases of bullying at an early stage, when preventive measures can still have the desired impact and minimize psychological trauma. What to pay attention to for both parents and teachers:

a child or teenager huddles away from everyone during recess, doesn’t talk to anyone, looks depressed;
the student’s health is deteriorating, frequent psychosomatic manifestations in the form of respiratory diseases;
the student sits alone at his desk, no one wants to sit next to him (often these are the last desks in a row);
during breaks, or after classes, you can see a picture of a group of guys waiting for someone, looking around, and you can feel the aggression emanating from them;
In the cafeteria, you can also suspect something is wrong when one of the students constantly buys food for another (often junior schoolchildren buy lunch for high school students);
parents may note the fact that the child began to often ask for money for the “needs” of the class, so it is important to find out this point from the class teacher;
the child comes home depressed and goes to school with great reluctance.

Bullying prevention

Prevention of bullying at school should be built through the joint efforts of teachers, administrative staff and parents, only then can we talk about success. How to fight bullying at school - prevention:

creating conditions at school that do not allow bullying to occur;
if a case of bullying does occur, prompt measures are important: separate the victim and the bully to reduce stress;
work with children to strengthen personality and spirit, exercises to resist aggression;
identification of forms of bullying that occur at school;
discussion of the problem at the class level, teaching staff;
conversation with bullies and their parents;
correction of destructive behavior of an aggressive student, work with his family.

Consequences of bullying

Bullying leaves an indelible mark on the psyche of all participants in the process. The victim of bullying is the most affected party and the consequences depend on how long the bullying continued. Most frequent psychological disorders this is a decrease in self-esteem, consolidation of the “victim” status, various psychosomatic disorders, the formation of neuroses and phobias. The scary thing is that there is a high percentage of victims of bullying.

Bullers also face the consequences of their destructive behavior; when they become adults, they look back with regret on their past selves, and feelings of guilt and shame accompany them for the rest of their lives. Such an imprint on the soul does not allow one to live full life, a person often mentally returns to those moments and, as it were, mentally tries to correct them. But among the bullies there are also many who connect their lives with crime and continue to have a destructive effect on people and society as a whole. Responsibility for bullying exists and the actions of bullies are criminally punishable, it is important to remember this.

There is also a category of observers or spectators who see bullying, but pass by; the policy of non-intervention costs victims of bullying dearly, but also leaves an imprint on the soul of the observer: the voice of conscience becomes dulled, the person becomes callous, indifferent, incapable of empathy and compassion, these feelings are simply by virtue of defensive reactions atrophy.

Causes and consequences of bullying at work - advice to the victim of mobbing on how to fight and resist

Every group and society has its own “scapegoat”. Usually it becomes a person who is simply not like others. And a team does not always need a special reason for bullying - most often, mobbing (and this is what bullying, terror in a team is called) occurs spontaneously and without good reason.

Where do the legs of mobbing come from, and is it possible to protect against it?

Reasons for mobbing – where does bullying at work begin and why exactly did you become a victim of mobbing?

The concept itself appeared among us recently, although the history of the phenomenon dates back hundreds of centuries. To put it in a nutshell, Mobbing is bullying by a group of one person . As a rule, at work.

What are the reasons for the phenomenon?

Not like everyone else.
As soon as a “white crow” appears in the team, such a person is “without trial or investigation” recognized as a stranger and, with a cry of “here,” they begin to persecute. This happens automatically, unconsciously. What if this “black sheep” is a “sent Cossack”? Just in case, let's terrorize him. To know. This situation usually arises in a team that is a “stagnant swamp” - that is, a group of people with an already established climate, communication style, etc. In new teams, where all employees start from scratch, mobbing is a rare phenomenon.
Internal tension in the team.
If the psychological climate in the team is difficult (ill-organized work, dictatorial boss, gossip instead of lunch, etc.), then sooner or later the “dam” will break, and the discontent of the employees will spill out on the first person who comes to hand. That is, to the weakest. Or someone who, at the moment of an outburst of collective emotions, accidentally provokes employees into aggression.
Idleness.
There are also such groups, sad as it may be. Employees who are not overloaded with work suffer from idleness, focused not on completing any task, but on killing time. And any workaholic in such a team runs the risk of getting into trouble. Like, “What do you need more than everyone else? Can’t you do anything else but cower in front of your boss, Judas?” This situation arises, as a rule, in those teams where it is impossible to take off career ladder, if you don’t play the boss’s favorites. And even if a person really fulfills his duties responsibly (and does not show off in front of his superiors), they begin to harass him even before the boss notices him.
Bullying from above.
If the boss doesn't like the employee, then most of the team tunes in to the wave of the leadership, supporting the pressure of the poor fellow. More the situation is more complicated, when an undesirable employee is terrorized because of her close relationship with her boss. Read also:
Envy.
For example, to the rapidly developing career of an employee, to his personal qualities, financial well-being, happiness in family life, appearance, etc.
Self-affirmation.
Not only in children's teams, but also, alas, in adult teams, many prefer to assert themselves (psychologically) at the expense of weaker employees.
Victim complex.
There are people with certain psychological problems who are simply not able to “take a hit.” The reasons for “self-humiliation” are low self-esteem, demonstration of one’s helplessness and weakness, cowardice, etc. Such an employee himself “provokes” his colleagues to mobbing.

In addition to the main reasons for mobbing, there are others (organizational). If the internal atmosphere of the company is conducive to the emergence of collective terror (boss incompetence, lack of feedback with superiors or subordination, connivance regarding intrigues, etc.) - sooner or later someone will fall under the mobbing rink.

Types of mobbing - consequences of bullying in the workplace

There are many types of mobbing, we will highlight the main, most “popular” ones:

Horizontal mobbing.
This type of terror involves the oppression of one employee by his colleagues.
Vertical mobbing (bossing).
Psychological terror on the part of the leader.
Latent mobbing.
A hidden form of pressure on an employee when various actions(isolation, boycott, ignoring, impediments, etc.) they indicate to him that he is an unwanted person in the team.
Vertical latent mobbing.
In this case, the boss demonstratively does not notice the employee, ignores all his initiatives, gives him the most difficult or hopeless work, blocks career advancement, etc.
Open mobbing.
An extreme degree of terror, when not only ridicule is used, but also insults, humiliation, outright bullying and even damage to property.

What are the consequences of mobbing for the victim of terror?

Rapid development of psychological instability (vulnerability, uncertainty, helplessness).
The appearance of phobias.
Fall in self-esteem.
Stress, depression, exacerbation of chronic diseases.
Loss of concentration and decreased performance.
Unmotivated aggression.

How to deal with mobbing - expert advice on what to do and how to resist bullying at work

It is possible and necessary to fight terrorism at work! How?

If you are “lucky enough” to become a victim of mobbing, First, understand the situation. Conduct an analysis and find out why this is happening. Of course, you can quit, but if you don’t understand the reasons for the bullying, you risk changing jobs again and again.
Do they want to push you out of the team? Are they waiting for you to give up and quit? Do not give up. Prove that you are the exception to the rule, an employee who cannot be replaced. Ignore all attacks and barbs, behave confidently and politely, do your job without stooping to retaliatory barbs or insults.
Avoid professional mistakes and be alert– carefully analyze each situation in order to notice the “planted pig” in time.
Don't let the situation take its course. It’s one thing to ignore ridicule, another thing to remain silent when they openly wipe their feet on you. Your weakness and “tolerance” will not pity the terrorists, but will turn them even more against you. You shouldn't be hysterical either. The best position is in Russian, with honor, dignity and as politely as possible.
Bring the main instigator of the bullying (“puppeteer”) into conversation. Sometimes a heart-to-heart conversation quickly returns the situation to normal.

Dialogue is always smarter and more productive than any other way to resolve a conflict

Carry a voice recorder or video camera with you. If the situation gets out of control, at least you will have evidence (for example, to present it in court or to your superiors).
Don’t be naive and don’t believe the phrase “the victim of mobbing is usually not to blame.” Both sides are always to blame, a priori. Yes, the situation was provoked not by you, but by the team (or boss), but why? There is no point in panicking, wringing your hands and engaging in self-criticism, but analyzing the reasons for this attitude towards you will be very useful. It may well turn out that mobbing is in fact simply a collective rejection of your arrogance, arrogance, careerism, etc. In any case, the infantile position of the “ostrich” will not solve the problem of mobbing. Learn to talk less and hear and see more - a wise and observant person will never become a victim of mobbing.
If you are an intelligent person, your powers of observation are fine, you don’t suffer from arrogance and arrogance, but they terrorize you for your individuality, then learn to defend it . That is, simply ignore other people’s rejection of your position (appearance, style, etc.). Sooner or later everyone will get tired of picking on you and calm down. True, this only works if your individuality does not interfere with your work.
If the bullying is just beginning, fight back firmly. If you immediately demonstrate that this number will not work with you, then most likely the terrorists will retreat.
Mobbing is akin to psychological vampirism. And vampires, terrorizing the victim, certainly thirst for “blood” - a response. And if neither aggression, nor hysteria, nor even irritation comes from you, then interest in you will quickly cool down. The main thing is not to break down. Be patient.

Dismissal is the path of the person who waves the white flag. That is, complete defeat. But if you feel that terror at work is gradually turning you into nervous man with dark circles under his eyes, who at night dreams of a Kalashnikov assault rifle in his hands, then perhaps rest will really benefit you . At least in order to treat stress, reconsider your behavior, understand the situation and, having learned the lessons, find a more cordial team.

What's in the article:

The situation when the entire team takes up arms against one person is familiar to many. What to do if because of this you have to live in constant stress? Today on the website Koshechka.ru you will learn what mobbing at work is and how to counter this phenomenon.

Mobbing: an excursion into history

The concept of “mobbing” appeared in our everyday life relatively recently. Although humanity has been familiar with this phenomenon since ancient times, psychologists began to explore this area of human relations in the 80s of the last century.

This word was introduced into our speech by the Swedish psychologist H. Leiman. It comes from the English word “mob”, which means “crowd”. It was Leiman who gave this concept a clear definition. Mobbing is an open and hostile attitude of the majority of people in the work collective towards an individual, which manifests itself with enviable regularity.

The victim of mobbing is abused in every possible way, leading to dismissal from work. Psychological research has proven that about 20% of people suffer from harassment at work. About 10% of suicides occur due to mobbing. As you can see, this phenomenon in the work collective poses a danger not only psychologically, but also for physical health.

Reasons for mobbing

The most common reasons that lead to one of the team members becoming an outcast include:

Unfavorable psychological climate at work.

It happens that due to improperly organized work, a dictatorial boss, or the flourishing status of gossips and informers in the team, discontent grows. Sooner or later, this time bomb will explode and the discontent of employees will be directed at the one who is the weakest in the team. The person who, at the moment of an emotional outburst, accidentally provokes his employees into aggression may also suffer.

The appearance of a newcomer at work who is not like everyone else.

I very often consider “White Crows” to be outsiders; they are not accepted into the team. People are wary of innovations and rejection of what is unacceptable to them occurs on an unconscious level. In this situation, mobbing is only possible at work where there are well-established traditions in communication. In young teams, mobbing practically does not happen.

Envy

Your success in financial well-being, career advancement and, even, in personal life may cause mobbing from your colleagues at work.

Self-affirmation at the expense of others

Self-affirmation at the expense of those who are weaker is inherent not only in children's, but also in adult groups.

Boss' dislike

Mobbing from colleagues at work is possible due to the fact that the team simply tunes in to the wave of their boss and, to please him, begins to bully the employee they don’t like.

However, the most main reason Psychologists consider this phenomenon to be the very personality of the victim. Both your shortcomings and your strengths can lead to bullying at work; you just need to ensure that the aggressors do not have these qualities.

You can provoke mobbing if:

To gossip;
Show weakness and uncertainty;
wonder;
Boast;
Be indignant and complain about work;
To be the boss's favorite employee;
Ignore banquets and corporate parties, standing out from the crowd;
Arrive at work on time if the team is accustomed to being a little late, or vice versa;
Receive a prize or award.

Management can also use mobbing to reduce the number of employees. This technique is often used if you need to fire someone in order to save money, and objective reasons no for dismissal.

The two most common types of mobbing at work

Mobbing has many varieties, but two of them are most common. You must know them in order to promptly recognize and take steps to eliminate this phenomenon in your life.

Vertical and horizontal. Vertical is aimed at the boss or vice versa: when the boss is trying to survive the subordinate. Horizontal is when a group of people bully one of their colleagues.
Hidden or latent. In this case, the victim experiences a lack of communication in the team, they ignore her, contacting her only about work issues.

The purpose of these actions is aimed at only one thing - to force a person to leave his job.

How to resist mobbing

It is not only possible, but necessary to combat mobbing at work! Otherwise, the victim of attacks from colleagues faces: depression and stress, low self-esteem, decreased performance and loss of concentration, aggression without motive and, against the backdrop of all this, exacerbation of chronic diseases.

If you feel that you have become a victim of mobbing, the first thing you should do is calm down and analyze the current situation. Analyze everything and find out why this situation arose. You can leave your job, but if you do not find out the reasons for the persecution, then it is quite natural that in a new workplace you will again become a victim.

To analyze the situation, identify the main instigator of the conflict and the people who can support you, psychologists advise keeping a notebook in which you will have to write down everything that concerns your relationships with colleagues. Over time, these notes will help you figure out the real reason bullying at work.

How to deal with mobbing at work if everyone is just waiting for you to break down and leave your job workplace? Do not give up! Prove to everyone that you are an indispensable employee! Learn to react calmly to barbs; ignore them and continue to do your job calmly and confidently. Under no circumstances respond to insults, do not stoop to the level of people who offend you.

When being bullied, take your work responsibilities more responsibly. Any puncture you make can later be used against you. Eliminate lateness, poorly performed work, and delays in completing tasks. This approach to work will not allow aggressors to unsettle you.

If bullying at work is just beginning, try to fight back firmly. The aggressors will understand that this trick will not work with you and will retreat.

Remember, the initiator of pressure will immediately sense your weakness if you show panic and fear. This will only lead to new attacks. Don't give anyone this pleasure!

Still, it is impossible to let the situation take its course. Ignoring ridicule, do not remain silent when they “wipe their feet on you.” Excessive patience and weakness will not make aggressors compassionate. Hysteria won't help either. It is best to make it clear as politely as possible, but with dignity, that you do not intend to tolerate any more attacks.

You can fight attacks by building a constructive dialogue with the aggressors. Try to have a heart-to-heart talk with the main instigator of the conflict, very often this technique improves the situation, because dialogue is better than argument.

Avoid professional mistakes. By carefully analyzing what is happening, you will be able to notice the “planted pig” in time and correct the situation.

What to do if the situation gets out of control? advises: in this case, it is advisable to have a video camera or voice recorder in order to be able to argue illegal actions against you in court.

Mobbing at work is psychological vampirism, how to resist it? It is common knowledge that psychological vampires crave feedback. They need your aggression, hysteria and irritation. If this does not happen, the “vampire” will quickly lose interest in such a victim. Ignore other people’s rejection of you, sooner or later the aggressors will calm down, losing interest in you. In this situation, the main thing is not to break down and persevere!

Quitting your job is a complete surrender! But, if you can no longer tolerate the current situation, if you are gradually turning into nervous woman with dark circles under your eyes, think: is it worth enduring all this? Perhaps it would be easier to quit in order to reconsider your attitude to the situation, heal your nerves and, having learned this lesson, find new job to start new life in a friendly team.

Such a situation is depressing; not every woman will be able to work in such conditions, and not every woman will be able to adequately “stand up for herself” and give a worthy rebuff to the “oppressors” without losing her job. In order to build the right line of defense against offenders, it is necessary to adequately assess the situation - to understand why pressure from colleagues occurs and how to deal with it. And then you need to act - according to experts who have studied this problem, “only those who allow themselves to be dropped are lost.”

As a result of constant “bullying,” the burden of production problems becomes unbearable for the employee, which not only leads to serious mental trauma, but can also lead to serious mental illness. There are known cases where colleagues drove new employees to suicide, the “situation” at work became so unbearable for the victims.

Pressure from colleagues

People end up in this situation for two reasons - either they are “too good” or “too bad” for the organization. If you carefully examine the informal structure of organizations, then in a kind of “X-ray” picture of the organization you can see both the informal leaders of the team and the “outcasts”. And the most valuable information about the team is who it wants to expel - people who clearly cannot cope with their responsibilities, thereby complicating the lives of other members of the team, or enthusiasts who generate new ideas and cause “ headache» teams where the main value is calm and minimizing activity.

Collectives of the first type, through psychological pressure, get rid of “ weak link", increasing your efficiency. The second type of team is undoubtedly sick and, in the long term, is doomed to lose its market position.

Particularly common is bullying of a new employee in a female team - they don’t “notice” her, don’t share news with her, constantly criticize her and, secretly from her, rejoice at the discomfort she experiences.

Both an ordinary employee and a new team leader can be subjected to psychological pressure. In this case, they use concealment and distortion of information, sabotage of instructions, transmission of her words, taken out of context, to senior management and interpretation of them as manifestations of disloyalty to the boss or to the organization as a whole. Of course, sometimes a woman leader herself is “to blame” for the fact that the team did not accept her - she manically took up the transformation of established foundations, behaved too provocatively or, on the contrary, modestly and indecisively. But this doesn't always happen.

There have been cases when recruitment agencies were asked to find a department head who was planned to be placed above an existing manager. The goal is clear - the “new girl” will carry out changes in the enterprise, and the former manager will supply him with the necessary information. The intentions, of course, are good, but in reality, the person who is least interested in the success of his successor is appointed as the “new girl’s” closest assistant. In such a situation, a “behind the scenes” struggle almost always unfolds, from which even leaders who are extremely confident in their competence do not always manage to emerge victorious. The rule “forewarned is forearmed” does not work in such a situation - most newcomers still manage to “get caught” and they have to look for work again.

How to “gain” authority in a team

Of course, it is impossible on the basis of one unfriendly statement or indication of possible error to conclude that targeted pressure is being applied against the “new girl”. But if there are several such signs, and they become everyday, it is worth thinking about what measures to take. Moreover, the sooner a newbie woman understands the current situation, the more chances she has to correct it.

Perhaps newcomers will be able to avoid this problem or smooth it out if they do not “intrude into someone else’s monastery with their own rules.” Play by the team rules. Even if you know better methods of work, try to first create more or less trusting relationships with your work colleagues, and then make rational proposals.

Indeed, when the behavior of the “victim” provokes dissatisfaction among colleagues, it is often enough for a person to dot all the “I’s” in his relations with the team and adjust his actions.

If the cause of bullying is insufficient work efficiency, then you can try turning to colleagues for support. A guilty head is not flogged.

If there is a mentor, then, most likely, he will act as a patron - no one will give offense to a specialist who has grown with his own hands. And if you are preventing the team from “sleeping peacefully,” then you need to find out from the managers and business owners whether they are ready to support the changes that you are making. If so, ask for “reinforcements”. If not, then either find an enterprise where you can self-actualize, or do exactly the work that was assigned to you.

If we're talking about about the antipathy of others, based on subjective factors and selfish goals (a fairly common occurrence in women’s groups) and bullying from colleagues, constantly “unsettling”, the new girl needs to decide for herself how important work in this organization is for her. The simplest and shortest way to solve this problem is dismissal. But guarantees that at the new place of work similar problems They won’t make themselves known, no one has. Therefore, if there are more pros than cons in this work, it’s worth trying to figure out the enemy and join the fight. Of course, managing such a process is very difficult, especially since the forces of the opposing parties are usually unequal. But it's worth a try.

If you cannot resolve a conflict with colleagues on your own, you should contact your manager and, having presented the facts to him as objectively as possible, ask him to understand the current situation.

How to behave as a leader

Management should not underestimate this phenomenon, and even more so encourage it. If a subordinate encounters fierce resistance while carrying out the tasks assigned to her, it is necessary to provide her with support.

Sometimes it is enough to discuss with intriguers their true motives leading to resistance, to discover the personal interests underlying such behavior.

At the same time, it is advisable to openly discuss the problem that has arisen so that each side has the opportunity to speak out. Otherwise, the situation can be aggravated and there will be grounds for new rumors.

The employer should pay great attention to preventing pressure on newcomers, since it is he who is responsible for creating working conditions that do not harm the health of employees, including mental health. In particular, as such prevention, it is important to explain to subordinates their job responsibilities.

According to various estimates, about 10-15% of the team is subject to mobbing; this figure is comparable to the average rotation in the team for the year. The reasons for mobbing should be sought in social role human, emotional, personal and volitional spheres.

Mobbing is collective attacks, bullying or, conversely, rejection, isolation and boycott of one of the team members. May manifest itself in labor collectives at work, in study groups or classes at school, in the army it manifests itself as hazing. Expressed in various forms psychological violence against him (sometimes in combination with physical).

MOBBING: WHAT is it and what can you do about it?

Mobbing has always existed, but it came to the attention of psychological researchers in the 1980s. “Mobbing” from the English “mob” - crowd. H. Leiman defined mobbing as a regularly recurring unethical and openly hostile attitude of several people (crowd) or one person towards another individual in a work collective.

They try to bully an employee who has become a victim of mobbing so that he breaks down psychologically and eventually quits.

The degree of aggression of the collective and moral restrictions can be different and the forms of mobing, respectively, too.

Mobbing is a dangerous phenomenon not only for the psychological, but also for the mental and physical health of a person.

After all, being in an aggressive environment, where everything around you “breathes” hatred, is in itself harmful to health.

Consequences of mobbing

Mobbing also costs organizations a pretty penny. As a rule, employees engage in bullying instead of working, and the performance of those who are bullied also decreases every day.

The economies of countries and organizations where mobbing is not prohibited objectively suffer losses!

But in the collective itself, the individual suffers and the one who is bullied and persecuted also degrades morally.

Reasons and types of mobbing

Mobbing can be spontaneous or controlled.

Everything depends on the leader and the microclimate in the team entrusted to him.

Competent and wise leader quickly stops similar phenomena already at their beginning.
Arrogant and cruel leader will encourage them and use them to his advantage, without even thinking about negative consequences mobbing for the team, its productivity and oneself.

Most often, newcomers try to humiliate, suppress and “survive” from the established work collective, but it happens that a person who has been in this team for a long time, an experienced specialist and even a leader, finds himself out of favor.

It happens that the immediate manager becomes embittered against one of the team members.

There are two types of mobbing in work collectives:

vertical – aggression and pressure comes from the boss (bossing) or from a close associate/deputy,
horizontal – when territories are organized by those equal in position.

Sometimes these 2 types of mobbing are present simultaneously. Or the leader started bullying, and the “pack” picked it up. Or the “pack” started, and the leader supported or followed the lead, so as not to become an object of bullying himself.

Any person in a team can be subject to mobbing.

Neither past merits nor the level achieved in one’s career or expertise are protected from mobbing.

More often than not, “white crows” fall under mobbing. That is, those who differ from others for the worse or better side.

There are many reasons for mobbing in human society:

Envy (talent, intelligence, beauty, youth, special skills, knowledge, expertise);
Fear of appearing pale and unpromising compared to an experienced and skilled colleague;
The desire to humiliate and thereby assert oneself (this usually affects people who were once humiliated in a similar way);
The desire to subjugate, to show one’s power;
High level of competition in the team;
Low professionalism;
Lack of full-time employment of employees during working hours;
Low professionalism;
Low moral level in the team.

What in the personality of the “victim” provokes mobbing?

The reasons for mobbing can be both positive and negative traits the personality of the “victim”, any shortcoming or advantage. If the vast majority of the team does not have this.

But these are qualities that manifest themselves through concrete actions person. And mobbing is provoked not even by the qualities themselves, but by these actions.

A trigger for mobbing is any shortcoming or advantage that can become a target for aggressors, for example:

Boasting, an attempt to put oneself above others;
Manifestation of self-doubt, weakness;
Complaints and gossip;
An attempt to become “the best”, “a role model”;
Receiving an award, bonus, some kind of special assessment or gratitude for work, which is not and is not expected from others;
Manifestation of laziness when everyone is working and vice versa, honest work when everyone is shirking;
Demonstration of punctuality when everyone “lives” in a free schedule, and vice versa;
Ignoring corporate events.

Any actions that do not coincide with the behavior accepted in the team and the established culture.

Even a new manager can immediately become an object of mobbing if he suddenly begins to sharply change the established structure of the team entrusted to him.

But more often than not, it’s the newcomers and the weak who become the “victims.”

Mobbing is sometimes deliberately used by management when it is necessary to reduce the number of employees. In this case, those who are bullied are those who have no reason to be fired, but need to be fired.

And sometimes in order to probationary period pay less, and then simply report that “the employee was not suitable.”

What to do with mobbing?

Mobbing is the responsibility of management, but the nerves that suffer the most are those who come under mobbing.

If this happened to you, you should think about it: “Why was I targeted? Do I need to change my behavior or do I just need to change the team?”

This will require a sound assessment of the situation, a critical assessment of yourself and your actions, an understanding of the consequences they cause, and the situation itself in the team.

Based on the analysis results, choose from the available methods of protection against mobbing:

1. Change yourself for the better if the reason for mobbing is your objective shortcomings.

2. Do not respond to aggression with aggression. When those who bully you don't see your painful reaction or attempt to defend yourself, they lose their taste for it.

Maintain restraint and goodwill towards everyone. Even when they are cruel to you.

Who knows how you used to behave? Maybe someone was also suppressed.

Stay calm, show restraint, take a stress management course or seek personal advice from a psychologist.

Learn to take the “punch”. This is a school. And that's the lesson. When you learn, they will stop attacking you.

3. Identify and discredit the instigator of your bullying.

It is useless to fight the “mongrels”. But without a “leader” they scatter on their own.

It is possible to “knock out” the leader very soft actions. For example, give him a sincere compliment, his professionalism and merits, even past ones. And ask him for help.

If you managed to “step on the throat of your own song,” that is, pride, then the rest will work out by itself.

The strong and the winners leave their “capitulated” opponents alive. “Live” further in this team. There will be no more bullying.

4. You can inform your superiors about mobbing and its consequences, but just don’t complain about anyone.

Complaints will cause reverse effect. “Weaklings” and “informers” are not liked anywhere.

5. Seek support from other employees.

Communicate with those who have taken a neutral position.

6. In case of violation of the law, contact the police and services responsible for regulating such relations and observing the law.

7. In case of serious material, moral or health damage, file a lawsuit.

8. Quit.

Perhaps this seems like an admission of defeat... But think about it, is it really so important to “win” in this fight? And what is more important? “Victory” or health?

Anyone whose health is suffering due to mobbing or even just an unhealthy atmosphere in the team should think about changing jobs and teams.

Mobbing and a healthy team led by a wise leader are concepts from different worlds.

Only you choose the world in which you live.

About mobbing and bossing with business coach Elena Suvorova

-What is mobbing?

From the English word "mob" - crowd. For the Russian mentality, the concept is not new, we have encountered it before, and in the sense accepted for us it means “harassment of one of the members of the team.”

- In what situations does it occur?

Most often, these are situations related to the appearance of a new employee in the team. First of all, it becomes the subject of general attention and, of course, the subject of assessment, study, research and all sorts of concerns of the established team about what they now want from it.

Since the team is established, there are some rules, norms of behavior, and a new employee cannot always fit into them.

As they say, employees are hired based on professionalism, but fired because of their behavior and poor relationships with the team.

-Let's tell you in more detail about the reasons: could it be envy or other differences from the team?

Mobbing is what it is definite shape social aggression, which manifests itself precisely in aggressive actions of various scales directed against a specific employee.

And the reason for mobbing can be anything: envy of colleagues for success, both professional and personal; these may be differences between a person in a different style of clothing, a different style of communication in society. All this may seem unacceptable and dangerous for the team.

Mobbing often occurs in teams where management encourages “informing” and denunciations, because values are not high and people “have fun” as best they can, as they see their capabilities.

Often, numerous groups also become poorly managed; the people in them are very different, and they fill their free time with such “entertainment” with each other.

- An interesting thought: can an unmarried woman become the subject of mobbing?

You can cause complaints, fears and aggression on the part of the team with completely harmless things. After all, people can differ in many different ways: social status, marital status.

For example, a single girl, finding herself in a group of all married ladies, may cause fears on their part that now her life program is to get married, as they think, and they will be alarmed that she is different.

And if there are not enough unmarried men in the team, each will worry primarily about her husband.

- What behavior strategy is best for a person to develop if he comes to new team: where is it better to be careful, how not to become a victim of mobbing, how to behave, etc.?

If a person is used to living in comfortable conditions, he needs to understand that in business comfortable conditions- This rather an exception than the rule.

And we need to train ourselves, willy-nilly, and be prepared for the fact that when colleagues sometimes create difficult situations for us, “testing us to the core” - this is normal.

These are costs from school life: boys measure their strength, girls measure their outfits, grades.

And the same thing happens in adult teams at work.

Those who have experienced these moments at school or even at home are more “thick-skinned” and can easily cope with such situations at work.

1. Back down and become softer, more correct and more suitable for those corporate values the company you find yourself in.

2. If you understand that their values do not coincide with yours at all, you do not want to, and do not need to, adapt to them. Your right to choose - to remain yourself, the “black sheep”, remain in this team or go beyond its borders.

And I met people who made different choices at different times.

Also, many leaders are born from such social troubles. Because, going through such tests, including mobbing, they better understand themselves and their true values compared to other people, and they understand how much they need to adapt to the crowd or, on the contrary, remain themselves and one day lead the crowd behind them.

Which one to choose? the right strategy for myself? It all depends on how these situations affect you.

If they suppress you, take away your energy, take away your will, strength, and, God forbid, your health, it is certainly better for you to work through these situations with a psychotherapist, understand what actions or inactions of yours caused them and try to correct them and gently change them .

If this means changing jobs, change. But don’t start with this right away, because we know, according to the law of repetition, if we have not worked out this situation now, there is a high probability that it will repeat itself in our lives until we solve it.

In a situation where your opinion or position does not coincide with the opinion of the crowd, it is not always worth following the lead of the crowd.

You have the right to defend your position and point of view. The main thing is to do it correctly. IN soft form which does not cause irritation.

The “White Crow” shouldn’t paint itself black either. This is unlikely to help.

Just like the “ugly duckling,” you just need to grow up and gain strength, not paying attention to mobbing. After all, the future of a beautiful swan awaits him ahead.

Be yourself. But be patient and respectful of other team members. Don't demand special respect for yourself. And show respect to others.

Important advice for those who suffer from mobbing, for those who are suppressed by it - try to build relationships with those who are neutral and do not support bullying in the team.

If your boss is bullying you- this is the so-called bossing aimed at you, here too two options are possible:

1. Either you understand that work is more important and adapt to this relationship.

2. Either you say goodbye to this boss and this job and, perhaps, become the boss yourself. published .

Elena Suvorova

If you have any questions, please ask