Work Place Abuse/Bullying

Work Place Abuse/Bullying

      There may be bosses or managers who hit or sexually harass employees, but the most common form of abuse in the work place is destructive criticism. Many bosses will attack the person or blame the person for their problems. Employees get cussed and sworn at, jobs get threatened, bosses make them feel like they are not good enough, no matter what you do it is not right, knit-picking, name calling, belittling, and making a person feel worthless. Some bosses will cut wages and make a person feel like that they do not deserve their wages. They may make them work extra hours and find something wrong that they did to not get paid for those hours. Taking breaks away and telling an employee that they did not work fast enough to get a break, and making them punch out for their breaks anyway. They may blow up and go ballistic over a minor insignificant thing. People get yelled at in front of others and make public displays of their mistakes and put their names on it. There are also cases where bosses would make fun of the employee and stir up other employees against that one. These type of practices are known as work place bullying or work place abuse.

      Years ago - prior to 2001, the economy was flourishing, and even though there were many bosses like this, a person could quit and find another job relatively easily. Now that the economy is bad, jobs are not readily available, so a person who is stuck in this situation cannot get out without completely losing their means to survive. As our economy is getting worse and worse, these type of things are happening more and more and people are stuck with no where else to go. I, myself have had experiences like this, and would find myself cringing going to work to the point where it would make me sick thinking about work. I have also had good bosses and good places to work where I would almost look forward to going to work.

      There is a time and a place for constructive criticism, which is showing a person their mistake and explaining to them how that mistake could be avoided. When a person is not doing their job, or when a boss gets a bad emloyee, there is a means to address that person. Specific details are needed to show them their fault, and bad attitudes cannot continue. Bad employees need to be addressed immediately and possibly be dismissed before their bad attitudes rub off on others. When bosses take good employees and beat them down, the good employees can get discouraged and production can drop. Good employees need to be reinforced of their good work on a regular basis and when a problem does occur, they may be more likely able to handle the constructive criticism. If only bad things are brought up and not good things, a good employee can get discouraged.

      There may be many of you who may have experienced things like this, and if you have, I will pray for you.

Rodney Calmes