Workplace Ethics

1
Workplace Ethics

• Bullying and gossiping
• From the playground to professional world ?

by Margaryta Anokhina
2
Different names

• Mobbing
• Work harassment
• Emotional abuse
• Mistreatment
• Victimization
• Psychological violence
• Workplace aggression and emotional abuse

3
Different Forms

• Shouting or using unsuitable language towards
  others.
• Constant unwarranted criticism.
• Giving staff menial or trivial tasks as a way of
  humiliating them.
• Deliberately blocking promotion.
• Deliberately giving too much work to individuals
  in the hope they will fail.
• Regularly excluding individuals.
• Singling out individuals with constant jokes.
• Repeated personal insults.
• Physical or psychological intimidation.
• Falsely claiming credit for other people's work.

4

• ridiculing or demeaning someone - picking on them
  or setting them up to fail
• spreading malicious rumours
• exclusion or victimisation
• unfair treatment
• overbearing supervision or other misuse of power
  or position
• unwelcome sexual advances - touching, standing
  too close, display of offensive materials
• making threats or comments about job security
  without foundation
• deliberately undermining a competent worker by
  overloading and constant criticism
• preventing individuals progressing by
  intentionally blocking promotion or training
  opportunities.

5
Definitions

• Repeatedly and persistently acts, aimed to
  torment, wear down, or frustrate a person, as
  well as repeated behaviours that would provoke,
  frighten, intimidate or bring dicsomfort to the
  recepient.
• Bullying may be characterized as offensive,
  intimidating, malicious or insulting behaviour,
  an abuse or misuse of power through means
  intended to undermine, humiliate, denigrate or
  injure the recipient.

6
Who are involved?

• Co-workers- the group
• Supervisors
• (81 of bullies in USA)
• Victims
• Organization

7
How big is the problem?

• 1 of 10 were targets of bullying (UK)
• Between 10 and 20 of employees are bullied
  annually (USA)
• 8,3 experienced, 23, 4 witnessed (Iceland)
• In UK it became such a big problem that the
  government has sponsored a major investigation
  into the issue, while almost 90 per cent of
  companies now have a bullying policy in place

8
Consequences

• poor morale and poor employee relations
• loss of respect for managers and supervisors
• poor performance
• lost productivity
• absence
• resignations
• damage to company reputation

9
Ethics

• Ethical behaviour goes beyond obeying laws, rules
  and regulations.
• It is a commitment to do what is right, as well
  as merely what is allowable.
• A distinguishing mark of the professionals is the
  acceptance of the commitment to act ethically and
  in the public interest by all .

10
How to prevent bullying in organizations?

• Recognition of the fact of bullying
• Creating a zero-tolerance policy
• Explaining employee responsibilities and rights
• Training personnel how to recognize and report
  bullying
• Team creating

11
Reasons for bullying behaviours

• Misuse of power/ mismanagement/ poor leadership
• Highly competitive environment
• Mix of personalities
• Employer is rewarding such behaviours
• Poor organization
• High uncertainty
• 38 are targeted because they stand up to unfair
  treatment by the bully
• 56 are mobbed because the bully envies the
  target's level of competence
• 49 are targeted simply because they are nice
  people
• 46 are bullied because they are ethical

12
When it stops?

• When targets are terminated (37)
• Quit to restore their health (22)
• Transfer out of the job (17)
• Perpetrator is punished (4)
• Or terminated (9)

13
Is it possible to eliminate the issue totally?

• Humans
• Relationships
• Power

14
Gossiping

• While gossip forms one of the oldest and (still)
  the most common means of spreading and sharing
  facts and views
• it also has a reputation for the introduction of
  errors and other variations into the information
  thus transmitted

15
Ethics of gossiping

• Emrys Westacott
• basic human activity that enhances our
  understanding of human nature and the world
  around us
• gossiping is a morally complex endeavour that
  requires a sophisticated evaluation of individual
  responsibility, motives, sources and notions of
  justice
• if the official channels do not provide the
  information they need, then they must obtain it
  through unofficial channels, by far the most
  important of which is gossip

16
Gossiping on working place

• Form of workplace violence
• Lost productivity and wasted time
• Erosion of trust and moral
• normalise and re-enforce moral boundaries in a
  speech-community
• foster and build a sense of community with shared
  interests and information
• entertain and divert participants in
  gossip-sessions

This Soviet war poster conveys the message
"Don't chatter! Gossiping borders on treason"
(1941).
17

• Thank you!