December is always a good month to recap. Also the time of good resolutions. Thus, on the basis of 2019, let us look forward. Workplace bullying has reached epidemic proportions. Improvements so far are mainly internal. Whatever is added institutionally however, can never be really safe. As it can never be independent and objective. What […]
The Individual As written before, it unfortunately constitutes an almost insuperable threshold to be open about the fact that you are being bullied at work, to stand up for yourself and protect yourself. Having to admit, as an adult, that you are being bullied requires exposing yourself to far more vulnerability than appears to be […]
In Ervin Laszlo’s latest book, Dawna Jones elaborates in one of the chapters on improving work environments, working relationships and hence the functioning and the output of companies and organisations. New, more inclusive objectives play a crucial role. ‘Inclusive’ as in fitting seamlessly with the potential of the employees and trying to maximise it. It […]
Starting up a business these days at least gives you the advantage of more than enough case study material being available on how things should not be done. Plus bookshops are packed with books on organizational behaviour, leadership, communication and socialization processes etc. LinkedIn is full of one-minute videos by coaches offering a multitude of […]
Workplace Bullying : It will leave its mark on you! What hits deepest is difficult to say : – never being heard, believed, let alone receiving help – never being accepted and even less respected – that whatever you try to improve the situation is to no avail, making it thus impossible for you to […]
Six years of Workplace Bullying. A complaint. Four years and four months of relentless juridical fight. Yet victory! At the very final moment! Pure technical, procedural judgment. No mention, whatsoever, of bullying. Thus : Dismissal annulled. Thus : Back to that same employer… Shock!! Back to an employer that, in ten years and four months […]
Persistence pays off! Hurray! Being bullied for six years. Filing a complaint when there are witnesses of serious intimidation. Then getting the sack on, as has now been established in appeal, improper grounds… That is not allowed! Even though no actual bullying incidents have been condemned, dismissal following the filing of a complaint on improper […]
That Workplace Bullying constitutes a gigantic social problem has been made clear. As well as how huge the amount of victims is and the ‘collateral damage’ caused by arduous collaboration and thus suboptimal output, plus the extra costs of sick-leave. Of course, efforts for improvements have been made over the past years, the majority of […]
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 Netherlands is a constitutional state. What if your rights, are violated, on multiple accounts? And when you raise this (repeatedly), with written proof, it gets brushed aside. What rights then, do you have, really? An Example Imagine! After six years of being bullied, you file a complaint when you have witnesses of the way […]
Asking for Help Weird, deformed world in which stressful, overflowing agendas have become a status symbol. With all its consequences. And taking good care of yourself, protecting yourself and asking for help when that status symbol grows over your head, instead, is seen as weakness. Again, with all its consequences. One million Dutch employees have […]
Ten days ago (19/04/19) a series called “Bullied from 9 to 5” started on Dutch television. Fantastic initiative! One in eight Dutch employees is being bullied at work and it costs the Government an estimated €900 million a year. Five victims of Workplace Bullying participated in this episode. One participating victim finally got the opportunity […]
If indeed one million Dutch employees are being bullied at work, that means that hardly any company or organisation is spared this outrage. Of course there are workplaces where it happens more often than in others, with remarkable similar characteristics. And, fortunately, there are also, predominantly younger, smaller and more innovative organisations, that proceed more […]
Outrageous really that the threshold for filing a complaint when you are plainly being psychologically harassed at work is so ridiculously high. In a country like the Netherlands. Still, my theory remains that the more people who file a complaint, the more indispensable improvements will become. It is exactly the fact that way too few […]
Not much really. With six years and overall ultimately even more than nine years of experience, the advice is and remains : focus on your Self! Which does not mean that you should not try to make use of the “tools” that are available internally. If only to prevent, at any point in time, any […]
In the series “Tools to Defy Workplace Bullying”, a positive start : An Encouragement! ‘Workplace Bullying’, being a ‘Victim of Workplace Bullying’…., it has a connotation of “weakness”. Not very helpful if you want to overcome the gigantic taboo on Workplace Bullying. For companies and organisations it is difficult to admit that it actually concerns […]
Workplace Bullying : is filing a complaint effective? Not infrequently, it will cost one’s job! Income, obviously and understandably, is almost always the most important consideration. Although it isn’t even guaranteed, judged from the position that you are in. Is it worth your job? What is the alternative? Taking into account that you can basically […]
Have you ever started a new job with all enthusiasm and interest in the world? Where that turned out to be idiocy? Where you are completely cast aside as of the very beginning. Where you’re treated with angry and dismissive looks. People pitted against you, behind your back. Who subsequently give you the cold shoulder […]