Factfinding
As argued in my blog of May 27th, 2019, it is crucial that third parties (external assistance providers, judges and others) proceed to accurate truthfinding in the case of Workplace Bullying.
Workplace Bullying ultimately is about a totally isolated individual against a group/organisation. By definition there is a (huge) power differential. The members of the group not only are in the majority, they also have higher positions and thus the power and the finances. The employer has far more means to endlessly produce one-sided documents in which ALL the blame is laid on the isolated target. This, first of all, needs to be understood clearly. And constitutes a compelling reason why factfinding from the side of the victim should be done carefully.
If there is no thorough scrutiny, the bullying victim easily runs the risk of being stigmatised as “troublesome”. When the victim’s input and evidence then are brushed aside, this creates a really unjust, surreal situation. The aggressors are being aided and go scot-free. While the innocent, on top of all the bullying, loses everything!
Strategies of the Aggressors
The strategies of the bullies/aggressors are generally the same. This means that when third parties acquire more expertise regarding Workplace Bullying, they can rather easily tumble their game! And intervene fairly!
It is for instance inherent to conflict situations that the path taken MUST be followed to the end! Not even the tiniest mistake may be admitted! And the higher the conflict runs, the more crucial it becomes that ever bigger mistakes, by ever more people, are swept under the carpet. The consequence of that in turn is ever crueller violence towards the scapegoat. Taking bullying incidents immediately serious and learning from mistakes will not only profit the victim but also colleagues, the work atmosphere and thus productivity/the organisation. The way in which conflicts are handled is actually an important criteria for success for organisations.
Furthermore, in cases of libel, it usually concerns blaming the other of what they are guilty of themselves! For instance blaming the bullying victim of ‘not cooperating’, while the employer categorically does not take the slightest notice of labour law rules to get rid of someone and pertinently refuses to listen. Or, for example, blaming someone of ‘not having the right mentality to function’ while they themselves spend endless (boss’) hours on insidious murder, finding loopholes between rules and making up rubbish reasons in order to avoid any responsibility. By reversing reality in this way, the consequences of their own deeds are laid at the victim’s door. By turning back this reversal then one can trace out the actual behaviour of the employer. Which in turn could prove useful in making improvements in the organisation concerned.
Standard strategy furthermore is pertinently denying the bullying. In this way they do not have to seek solutions. Plus it makes defence practically impossible for a victim. Popular here is the horrible bromide : “it is your perception”. With the intonation of “your fabrication”, against the aligned story of the group. It is nonsense though. Everyone’s reality is everyone’s perception. The principle should be “bullying is bullying when it is experienced as bullying” and should be taken seriously in each and every case.
Forwards
This could very well turn out to be a significant way forward as regards this huge social problem. Intervening from the outside in organisations in which the rulers will oppose the slightest change in the status quo will prove prospectless. Indeed independent third parties should acquire more knowledge about Workplace Bullying and proceed to truthfinding! In order to no longer let themselves be manipulated by the aggressors and not participate in the violence and become accomplice in destroying innocent people. The more the employer’s knuckles will be rapped, the more likely that they be obliged to put their own house in order.
So that innocent people are no longer punished for being honest. While the aggressors go scot-free, frustrate output by causing unsafe environments and driving costs through sick-leave. That impunity, the costs of which are ultimately born to a large extent by society, should stop!
A far better understanding is needed of the damage caused by bullies!
Maartje Rutten, The Hague, June 10th, 2019