A friendly work team is a standard promise of many job vacancies. But the reality is usually different. In addition to conflicts and contradictions, employees have to deal with bullying on the part of their colleagues. Margarita Bylynina, a brand strategist, mass communications expert, social media promotion expert, and head of the Digital Marketing Academy, tells us what mobbing is and whether it can be prevented by recognizing the prerequisites.
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This term emerged relatively recently – in the 1980s of the twentieth century. Its author is a psychologist from Sweden, Hanz Leiman. He was the first to apply the word “mobbing” to people, which previously denoted the collective defensive behavior of animals.
The term comes from the English mob, which means “crowd”. Today it is used to denote psychological violence in a professional team. By the way, mobbing is essentially the same as bullying, but not at school, but in the workplace, in an adult environment.
Mobbing has nothing to do with interpersonal conflicts. The latter arise on the initiative of two people and are easily resolved by discussing the situation. It is much more difficult to stop regular bullying by employees or a boss, because they do not seek reconciliation.
Their goal is to get the victim out of the collective at any cost. Whistleblowing, boycott, gossip are the most “harmless” methods of mobbing. When emotional abuse does not work, they may resort to property damage and physical injury, sometimes sexual harassment.
Avoiding bullying is very difficult, but you can try. Have a frank conversation with your coworkers or superiors to find out the real reasons for their displeasure. Learn to assert your personal boundaries and your rights as an employee.
Record conversations that compromise you, document malicious behavior, report each one to your supervisor, and don’t hesitate to seek help from the courts or other legal authorities to protect your rights. A firm attitude, an understanding of your responsibilities, integrity in professional matters and adherence to corporate ethics will be your best defense against mobbing.
