Bullying is typically associated with classroom halls and sixth graders. But a recent study has found that bullying is also prevalent in offices and among employed adults, from corporate executives to coffee-drinking yuppies.
According to a study released by Career Builder, around one third of workers have felt bullied at work, and twenty percent decided to leave their job because of this bullying.
Such data was gathered from a nationwide survey by Harris Poll, participated by a total of 3,400 full-time, private sector workers belonging in different industries and company sizes.
According to vice president of human resources Rosemary Haefner, bullying affects employees of all backgrounds, whatever race, education, income, and level of organizational authority they have. However, many victims of workplace bullying do not confront the bully or simply choose not to report the incident. This can prolong a negative working experience that motivates some to leave their jobs.
Bullying is a "gray area" according to Haefner. "When someone feels bullied, it typically involves a pattern of behavior where there is a lack of professionalism, consideration, and respect. These come in various shapes and sizes," she added. Bullying can be done through intimidation, personal assaults, or more passive-aggressive behavior.
"Bullying can be harmful to the individual and the organization overall," Haefner noted.
In line with this, results of the study revealed the different types of bullying experiences they had. Many felt bullied when they were falsely accused of mistakes, feeling judges against a different non-conforming standard, feeling ignored or dismissed, or being the subject of gossip. Others experiences being belittled during meetings, criticized, devalued in front of others, excluded from projects and meetings, attacked for personal characteristics like gender, race, and physical appearance.
It was also interesting to note that government workers were nearly twice as likely to be bullied (47%) than employees in corporate settings (28%).