Bullying as Employee Motivation. Bizarre!

Can you believe it?! Some workplaces actually support bullies and bullying! It has to do with the hierarchy of management and competitive environments. Where competition is intense, bullying becomes the common and accepted way to motivate employees. Bullying becomes part of the culture of the organization.

Of course, bullying is not openly or actively promoted, but rather, it is supported by silence and inaction of organizational people who have authority. It is supported and can be perpetrated by any level of authority--from directors to managers to supervisors to reports.

Although people respond differently to bullying, some reactions are consistent: bullying increases stress and decreases morale. The universal result is that performance declines.

People subjected to bullying cannot do their best work when they constantly are fearful of meeting up with the bully and being further intimidated. Isn’t it bizarre to think that fear makes good employees?