When you experience the perplexing games of a toxic manager or coworker, it is helpful to know the bully or jerk category they fit within. Bully DNA is amazingly consistent, regardless of the organization.  It helps to be prepared, if not predict, their behavior before you experience your next toxic encounter.

Knowledge is power if you want to survive a toxic workplace.

According to our good friend Dr. Gary Namie, founder of the Workplace Bullying Institute, based in Bellingham, Washington, there are four categories of toxic bullies scouring the workplace.  Dr. Namie developed these descriptive four categories after exhaustive research and his very own close encounters with the inhumane kind.  According “Busting the Workplace Bully” by Kie Relyea, The Bellingham Herald, the four types are the Screaming Mimi, the Two-Headed Snake, the Constant Critic, and the Gatekeeper.

• Screaming Mimi is “the fist-pounding, vein-bulging maniac who chooses a public setting.” She yells. She cusses. She points her finger in your face. Think of her as the sales manager who shrieks at you in a meeting.

• Two-Headed Snake is the “smarmy Jekyll and Hyde back-stabber.”  He steals the credit for your work. He smiles into your face, then shares private information about you with your co-workers or other bosses. “It’s really about rumor, innuendo and damage of reputation. Their goal is to control others’ impressions of you,” Gary Namie says.

• Constant Critic gets you behind closed doors and tries to erode your confidence in your own competence. He’s the negative nitpicker who accuses you of getting it wrong. He’s not above doctoring documents to pin “mistakes” on you.

• Gatekeeper withholds the resources you need to succeed.

We recommend the Workplace Bullying Institute website to find advice on how to deal with these bullies.

Image Credit: HK Pro Club

Throughout my life I have chosen not to engage in the use of profanity. It stems from my devoted faith in God and respect for others taught to me by my parents.  However, in our YouTube movie series, Sid Citrus: A**hole Boss, we have purposefully adopted the term.  There is no other term that properly grabs the attention and isolates the severity of the psychopathic actions of the highly toxic and abusive manager.

Although I am not completely comfortable with the use of the term in our movies and in my writings, I am even more uncomfortable with the terribly costly psychological abuse occurring every day at the hands of corporate assholes, a.k.a., jerks and bullies.

According to the Workplace Bullying Institute, prolonged exposure to workplace psychological abuse leads to debilitating anxiety, panic attacks, clinical depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), gastrointestinal diseases, high blood pressure, diabetes and even suicide.  The affects of long-term psychological abuse in the workplace can set-off a tidal wave of physical and mental health conditions that can forever alter the target of the corporate a**hole’s wrath.  Bottom line, the unchecked, health-harming treatment that continues with the complicit approval of company leaders is more offensive to me than the term, a**hole.

We understand there is a certain amount of resistance to the term.  Realistically, when the word is used in a movie it would, at worst, provoke a PG rating.

The more important issue is not the term but our unified actions to eliminate such health-harming behavior against targets all across American workplaces.

To learn more about the high cost of these workplace deviants, read Stanford Professor Robert Sutton’s book, “The No A**hole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn’t” and Workplace Bullying Institute Founder Dr. Gary Namie’s book, “The Bully at Work.”

Working diligently and faithfully to create a civilized workplace.

Respectfully,

Kevin Kennemer
Founder & Partner
The People Group
Certified Great Workplace

Workplace bullying is a very real problem. People like you and me deal with the brutal effects of psychological mistreatment every day.  Someone recently asked the following, very important question. It is important to share the question and my answer to TPG Blog readers.

Question

I have some questions on workplace bullying.  From the websites and advice given by many advocates, the victim is told to leave his/her job if things don’t improve. Why?  It would seem there is an inequity here.  The victim is punished financially for being victimized by his/her coworker. What legislation has been introduced (and not passed) that protects a victim’s rights?

Answer

Dear Friend, thank you for your questions. Allow me to respond based on my actual experiences and research.

Bullying is Legal: It is perfectly legal to bully employees in the United States as long as it is not racial or sexual based discrimination.  It is not illegal to be a jerk in the office.  In fact, in some business environments, tyrants tend to be rewarded for their behavior although it has been proven their behavior is destructive, not productive.

What should I do? One might think going to Human Resources would help you resolve the problem.  In most cases the bully has political power and influence and Human Resources has overwhelming sided with bullies and management, rather than the target of abuse.  HR will likely turn their back on targets unless the abuse is tied to illegal discrimination.

Why should I consider resigning? The long-term effects on bullying targets are treacherous.  Anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, gastrointestinal disease, headaches, autoimmune diseases, and the list goes on.  In addition, the target can have a difficult time working a full-time job after prolonged exposure to the psychological mistreatment at work.  Many times the best thing for the employee is to put themselves first and resign.

Confronting the bully: No doubt the target should confront the bully before resigning from their position.  It helps to bring someone with you during the confrontation.  You need to tell the bully you will not stand for further behavior that is unacceptable.  If the bully tries to attack you verbally, simply walk away and tell them you do not have to be subjected to this behavior.  If he/she stops future bullying, that is great.  If not, you probably should find another job if you can.

Resources: Besides the resources on my website, I highly recommend you read the book, “The Bully at Work” by Dr. Gary Namie, a good friend and absolute expert on the topic.  His website is also full of useful information.  http://bullyinginstitute.org

Legislation: The Workplace Bullying Institute keeps track of this information.  There are currently 12 states that have introduced legislation to prevent workplace bullying.  http://workplacebullyinglaw.org

These signs are from “You know you’re being bullied when…” by Dr. Gary Namie, Workplace Doctor and Founder of the Workplace Bullying Institute.  We are incredibly grateful for the exceptional work of Dr. Namie worldwide.

1. You attempt the obviously impossible task of doing a new job without training or time to learn new skills but that work is never good enough for the boss.

2. Surprise meetings are called by your boss with no results other than further humiliation.

3. Everything your tormenter does to you is arbitrary and capricious, working a personal agenda that undermines the employer’s legitimate business interests.

4. Others at work have been told to stop working, talking or socializing with you.

5. You constantly feel agitated and anxious, experiencing a sense of doom, waiting for bad things to happen.

6. No matter what you do, you are never left alone to do your job without interference.

7. People feel justified screaming or yelling at you in front of others, but you are punished if you scream back.

8. HR tells you that your harassment isn’t illegal, that you have to “work it out between yourselves.”

9. You finally, firmly confront your tormentor to stop the abusive conduct, you are accused of harassment.

10. You are shocked when accused of incompetence despite a history of objective excellence, typically by someone who cannot do your job.

11. Everyone — co-workers, senior bosses, HR — agrees (in person and orally) that your tormentor is a jerk, but there is nothing they will do about it (and deny saying what they said later when asked to support you).

12. Your request to transfer to an open position under another boss is mysteriously denied.

Written by Dr. Gary Namie, Founder, Workplace Bullying Institute.

Women cannot always depend on their female leaders to be their mentors or role models. In fact, female bullies tend to target other women an astounding 70% of the time.

Our good friend, Dr. Gary Namie, founder of the Workplace Bullying Institute, was recently interviewed by Good Morning America concerning the silent epidemic of workplace bullying.  According to Dr. Namie, employees should not have to deal with an environment of fear and anxiety that leads to clinical depression and post traumatic stress disorder.  The effects of a bully’s treatment can last for the rest of a target’s life without the proper medical care.

The insightful Good Morning America interview is posted at this link: Women Bullies in the Workplace

A Bottom-Line Issue

Why should business leaders be concerned about workplace bullies? These office terrorists present a significant bottom line issue.  Bullying in the workplace reduces productivity, stifles innovation, squashes risk-taking and increases costly employee turnover.  In fact, bullies typically target the best and brightest people under their supervision.

Soccer Moms Can Be Bullies Too

In my career as a human resource executive, I have observed soccer moms turn into bullies by inserting a lucrative incentive compensation plan and a supervisor who rewards aggressive behavior.  A certain number of working moms will set aside civility because in their minds they love those little kiddos and will bully their way up the corporate ladder to win the economic struggle in the workplace.

Bully Tactics

Workplace bullying is much more hideous than an unlikeable boss who has a few quirks.  An office bully follows a deliberate strategy and possesses similar methods in how they pursue their targets.  According to the ABC News report, the following are documented bully tactics:

• Humiliation - Humiliating comments to the target in front of coworkers.
• Yelling – Excessive yelling intended to intimidate and cause anxiety and fear.
• Work Status - Undermining the target’s status by excluding them from meetings, email, important decisions, etc.
• Health – Negative health affects, i.e., high blood pressure, anxiety, fear, clinical depression, post-traumatic stress syndrome, etc.

Reformed Women Bullies?

Even the reformed women bullies GMA interviewed were quick to give excuses for their behavior. It is likely a bully will revert to their behavior unless the office tormentor is willing to completely acknowledge the error of their ways, the harm they have caused, and truthfully admit their behavior was wrong.  Bullying is never justified in business or life.  Unfortunately, I did not see a sense of remorse in these women bullies in this report.

Work Should Not Hurt

As Dr. Namie states, “work should not hurt.”  The results of repeated bullying can lead to clinical depression, debilitating anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, according to Namie.  These are very high prices to pay for a job.  Joan Frye, 62, the target interviewed by GMA, endured her bully for two years and now has suffered physically, mentally and financially because an employer was unwilling to monitor the work environment.  After six years she is unable to work due to the mental torment.

Healthy Workplace

As a business leader are you aware of any workplace bullies navigating their way throughout the ranks? Bullies are very deceptive and experts at brown-nosing their supervisors while tormenting their subordinates.  According to a Harvard Business Review article, “Bullies manage up and terrorize down the corporate ladder.”

A great deal of emphasis is being paid to Healthy Work Environments. Typically, these programs concentrate on physical exercise, nutrition, weight loss, etc.  Unless companies begin to deal with the workplace bullying epidemic, which will likely grow worse in the current economic climate, a healthy workplace will be a moving and unobtainable target.

Note: My sincerest thanks to Dr. Gary Namie, founder of the Workplace Bullying Institute and author of The Bully at Work, for notifying us about this ABC News/Good Morning America story.  We greatly appreciate the fine work Dr. Namie is performing for the worldwide workplace.

“The pain train is coming,” shouts Terrible Terry Tate, famous Super Bowl commercial character and designated Office Linebacker who gives out the pain to employees who do not follow office policies.  He works in an office where written employee reprimands have been traded in for midair, bone-crushing football tackles. In one famous scene Tate shouts, “You kill the joe, you make some mo” after he jump tackles the office jerk who just took the last cup of coffee without brewing more for his coworkers.  He finishes off many of his downright physical disciplinary sessions with a loud train sound, “woo woo!”

“When it’s game time, it’s pain time,” says Tate to his coworkers who sometimes try to frantically and hopelessly run from the overpowering athlete suited up in a football uniform and assigned an office cubicle too small for his ego.

These scenes make for hilariously funny television commercials but it’s not funny when the pain train arrives each day in the form of emotional terrorism by brutal managers and coworkers.

Workplace abuse, emotional pain, trauma and psychological terrorism is a big problem in the United States.  According to the Workplace Bullying Institute, 37% of American workers – 54 million people – have been bullied at work.  It is estimated that workplace abuse affects 49% of American workers – 79 million people – when witnesses are included.

Typically the pain arrives in the form of psychological mistreatment, not mid-air tackles at full speed.  In America we have moved beyond physical brutality at work, except for tragic office killings typically perpetrated by victims of bullying behavior who reached the end of their rope and resorted to unjustified murder and violence.

Whether unintentional or cleverly sadistic, the office is full of mistreatment in the form of bullies, jerks or fear-inducing managers who have resorted to psychological violence as a means of control.

That is why the following questions posed in the article, “What’s a Psychologically Healthy Workplace?” can reveal the true psychological health at your workplace.  These questions are very appropriate when considering the safety of your work environment.  The article was published by The New Workplace Institute Blog hosted by David Yamada, NWI founder and professor of law at Suffolk University Law School.

Eight Questions Reveal Psychological Healthy or Unhealthy Workplace

• Is there a sense of zest, “buzz,” and opportunity in the workplace?
• Do employees feel they are valued and treated with respect and dignity?
• Is the organizational culture friendly, inclusive, and supportive?
• Is organizational decision making fair, transparent, and evenhanded?
• Are diversities of all types accepted or merely tolerated?
• Does the organization face or dodge tough questions concerning employee relations?
• Are allegations of mistreatment of employees handled fairly and honestly, even when the alleged wrongdoers are in positions of power?
• Are compensation and reward systems fair and transparent?

According to Yamada, “These inquiries implicate organizational culture and power, which may threaten bad and/or insecure employers.  But if we want to get to the heart of whether a given workplace is psychologically healthy, we must ask these more difficult questions,” states professor Yamada.

How did your company score after truthfully answering these questions?

On Thursday, October 23, 2008, the Oklahoma Business Ethics Consortium’s Tulsa Chapter held its monthly luncheon with national guest speaker Dr. Gary Namie, director of the Workplace Bullying Institute. Why would an ethics group invite a workplace bullying expert to speak, you might ask?  The answer is simple: How can the same organizations who promote a code of conduct, health and wellness, community involvement, employee volunteerism and corporate giving, also allow workplace bullies – psychological office tyrants – to run rampant inside their organizations while targets of their brutal violent episodes suffer physical and mental repercussions?

Allowing workplace bullying to occur is not right. It is not moral. It is not ethical.

According to Dr. Namie, “Workplace bullying is a health hazard. Cardiovascular diseases are the most common stress-related physical problems for bullied targets.”  He further stated, “Psychological injuries caused by bullying range from debilitating anxiety and panic attacks through clinical depression to post-traumatic stress disorder caused by the bullying.  And it’s all unconscionably legal, though morally reprehensible,” states the passionate Dr. Namie.

Clinical depression is experienced by 39% of targets and post traumatic stress disorder is experienced by 30% of women targets.

Is it ethical for an organization to do nothing?

Doing nothing is not a neutral act, according to the founder of the Workplace Bullying Institute.  In fact, Dr. Namie calls it “cruelty by indifference.”  I agree wholeheartedly.

If your organization allows workplace bullies to conjure up their cancerous potions of fear and psychological violence and tyranny, it is time to take action.  It is wrong to sit silently and do nothing.  Taking no action is not an option for good corporate citizens. It should not take enacting anti-bullying legislation to do the right thing, although that is probably where this country is headed.  Let’s do the right thing today.

CEO’s find the truth hard to handle at times.  Especially regarding employee relations issues, and their resulting effects on morale, quality and productivity.  For example, the CEO may have a hard time believing one of their top performers is a certifiable asshole who is damaging the company’s morale and causing a deterioration of trust in leadership.

The good news is there is a five step program for ridding your company of corporate assholes who have burrowed themselves inside your organization.

Step #1 – Admit assholes are bad for business. Recognize that assholes are bad for the organization. Yes, take that truth syrum and walk over from the dark side to the light.  Believe it or not, there are some CEO’s who think a few assholes scattered throughout the organization actually increase productivity. If this is the case, why not give those assholes some chains and whips to help their cause and instill greater fear.  If fear really works, why not increase the fear for greater effect? Nonsense!  You know it and I know it; assholes must be terminated.

Step #2 – Understand assholes are expert kiss-ups. Understand that assholes are masters at managing up, kissing up and brownnosing, all while causing terror down the corporate ladder.  While you are feeling good about your asshole, he is instilling fear in your organization. As the CEO, the asshole who is your direct report typically makes you feel good when you are around them.  It feels good to have your back end massaged by these clever manipulators.  They are experts at massaging your backside in order to protect theirs.

Step #3 – Adopt, model and promote your company’s code of conduct. I recommend your company also adopt an Anti-Bullying and No-Jerk policy.  Why?  The Workplace Bullying Institute and Zogby research indicate that 37% of American workers have been bullied at work.  That is almost 4 out of 10 employees.  Bullying is four times more prevalent than illegal harassment, yet most companies overlook it.  Because this has become such a prevalent workplace problem, a number of respectable companies have adoped No Jerk Hiring Policies:

“No Jerk Policy” Hall of Fame Companies

Barclays Capital | SPM Communications | Lloyd Gosselink Attorneys at Law

IDEO | Sterling Foundation Management | Gold’s Gym | van Aartrijk Group

Robert W. Baird | The Wine Buyer | Mozilla | Washington Mutual | SuccessFactors

Arup | Goldcorp | Hamilton Canada

Step #4 – Require thorough investigations and no cover-ups. Make sure human resources completely investigates claims of workplace bullying by corporate assholes.  The typical response will be for HR to conspire with or feel pressure from the asshole manager and eventually assist in the firing of the targeted employee or employees.  This allows the evidence to be terminated and walk out the front door.  In other words, assholes like to eliminate their dirty laundry.  Require HR to document the behavior, obtain witness accounts and submit a full written report to the CEO office.  Identify patterns of behavior and provide support to human resources when they recommend bullies and assholes undergo counseling.  Finally, terminate jerks if they don’t straighten up, regardless of their position in the company.

Step #5 – Communicate to stakeholders your company is a Jerk Free Zone. Communicate to employees, applicants and stakeholders your company is a Jerk Free Zone.  Don’t even permit customers to treat your employees terribly.  If you want to create a high-performance team environment, protect your employees.  Sure, develop lofty goals for your team members and create high performance expectations.  Driving out fear in the workplace will almost ensure your organization will be successful. Do this and success will follow you wherever you go.

Your chest is pounding. Anxious feelings resurface as painful office altercations replay in your mind causing a sick feeling in your stomach. Your shoulders and neck begin to tighten and ache. Your mind ruminates over last week’s noxious encounter with a bully manager and his evil recruits. Although Sunday is supposed to be a restful day to invigorate your mental and physical wellbeing, you find yourself mentally clocked-in at the office, clocked-out at home, and woefully dreading the next day to begin. Sound familiar?

Unfortunately, this is a common Sunday afternoon mental exercise American workers relive at the beginning of many work weeks. Sadly, the recurrence of fear and trepidation on Sunday is well-founded. Researchers discovered a few years ago the deadliest time of the week is Monday morning as workers return to their job. There are twenty percent more incidents of heart attacks on Mondays due to the stress of returning to toxic company cultures with abusive managers.

Although brave soldiers have sacrificed and the United States have spent billions to stop violence against defenseless countries and our world allies, our nation has not gained control of the increasing psychological violence inside the borders of the American workplace. Civility, trust and respect seem to be losing ground to schoolyard-type bullies who work in the corner office. Competition for promotions, raises and bonuses can bring out the worst in people. If results at any cost are rewarded, company managers and employees may resort to bullying behavior to get things done; an unethical, inhumane, but perfectly legal management technique in America.

Although it is illegal to discriminate against women or minorities based on sex or race, it is perfectly legal in the United States for an unreformed-schoolyard-bully-turned-executive to yell, scream, berate, curse, belittle, exclude, or be downright cruel to employees. According to Dr. Gary Namie, Workplace Bullying Institute, “Bullying is mostly legal. Employers can ignore it with little risk. However, it is four times more prevalent than illegal status-based discrimination.”

Some companies encourage and reward bullying tactics that force employees to cower and passively accept their role to do what you are told. Typically, an employee who complains of such bullying behavior to human resources will eventually be terminated in a matter of days, weeks or months. Although human resources should review, investigate and resolve each employee relations issue in an objective manner, human resource professionals and friends of the bully tend to turn against the target of the bullying behavior.

When company leadership adopts, models and promotes positive people practices and initiates the process of creating a great place to work, the toxic levels inside the organization will begin to fall and employee energy and engagement will begin to rise.