Is this a case of bullying? Sara Branch, Sheryl Ramsay and Michelle Ba
Paul: Have you noticed how Jane keeps making those odd comments during meetings whenever I am talking?
Denise: Yes I had. At first I thought she was being funny but now it seems to be constant. What do you think her problem is?
Paul: I don’t know, but it is starting to bother me. She isn’t just making snide comments anymore, she has recently started talking over me during meetings with clients and ‘egging’ others on to make smart comments directed at me. I am starting to really hate going to meetings I know Jane will be at or just being around her. Then, the other day she came into my office and yelled at me because I hadn’t got an assessment to her. I tried to explain it wasn’t due for another couple of days and that she would have it, but all she could do was tell me how much work she had to do and that I didn’t understand how busy she was. As if she is the only one who is busy round here. When she left, she slammed the door with such force it shook the whole office, or at least it felt like it did. I am starting to think Jane has it in for me but I don’t know why. Plus, what can I do? Each thing she does may seem minor on its own. I am not sure Andrew [their manager] will take any notice. He’ll probably laugh and say ‘suck it up’ when I say Jane slammed my door and made snide comments. It sort of looks like I’m being petty, but I’m not – it really affects me badly. As time went on, things did not improve between Jane and Paul. The snide comments continued, with smart comments now coming increasingly from a number of other members of staff. A couple of weeks later, Denise told Paul how Jane tried to ‘bad mouth’ him to her, and that she thought Jane was criticising him to other staff too. Then the messages started. Paul began receiving abusive e-mails from Jane (accusing Paul of not doing his job and stating he was useless). When Paul started receiving abusive texts as well as e-mails, he went to Andrew for help.
Andrew said he would have a chat with Jane. After that things settled down a bit. At least the e-mails and texts stopped, although tension between the two persisted. Despite Paul trying to put things behind them and be pleasant, Jane would often ignore him. Sometimes she gave Paul the feeling she was looking right through him, as if he didn’t exist. Then came the Facebook incident. Someone using Paul’s name posted extremely rude comments and messages to a number of his friends. The only way Paul thinks it could have happened was that he left his Facebook page open one day and someone used his profile to post the comments. Over this time Paul’s health started to deteriorate; he wasn’t sleeping well, experienced headaches regularly and was starting to display signs of panic attacks at work. Paul had reached breaking point. He simply couldn’t face going to work any longer. He took sick leave to consider his options.
Questions
1 Do you have the full picture of what is going on in the workplace?
2 What else would help you to have a greater understanding of the case?
What other people in the workplace think: Kate: Look, Jane can be difficult at times, but she gets thing done. Really, let’s face it – we’ve all been carrying Paul for ages. Actually, I’m happy Jane is standing up to him now because it’s what we have all wanted to do for some time now. Marian: I know everybody around here seems to think Paul is useless and that Jane is fantastic. 550 CHAPTER 22 WORKPLACE BULLYING M22_REDM8242_05_SE_C22.indd 550 07/28/16 6:11 PM Andrew: As Paul’s boss I take his sick leave seriously.
Up until recently he was one of my best staff members. I was even thinking of promoting him to team leader. I know there seems to be tension between Paul and Jane, but Jane reassures me everything is okay and, until Paul makes a formal complaint, my hands are tied. It is hard to know which way to go with this type of stuff; in a way you are dammed if you do something and dammed if you do nothing. On the face of it, it looks that way, but Jane is only nice to you if she likes you. I am happy I have somehow kept my head down and stayed on her good side. I am not sure why she has started picking on Paul because we all used to get along before things got really busy. I am not sure if I would call it bullying though. I tried talking to Paul, but he just seems in such a bad place now, he is not making sense.
Questions
1 Imagine you are a HR professional employed by this organisation. You have been asked to provide a development programme for staff (in relation to the above scenario)
a Where would you start?
b What are the main issues you need to clarify before getting started?
c Indicate the aims of such a programme and outline the most important elements that need to be addressed within the programme.
d How would you evaluate such a programme?
