Do not suffer bullying in silence. Confront and report the issue before it affects you.
No you are not an easy target.
Nobody at your work can yell at you, insult you or get attacked in any sense.
If you feel negative about any such situation and it is one the reason behind your stress, then you need to stand up for you own right.
However, this is also true that not every situation of misunderstanding or personal disagreement that makes you feel negative is bullying.
Here are some of the signs of bullying behaviour.
Check these before you take any serious action.
- Shouting, be it in private, in front of colleagues, or in front of customers
- Calling names
- Undermining someone’s work by setting them up to fail;
- Demeaning or disrespectful comments;
- Excessive monitoring or criticising someone’s work;
- Purposefully withholding information required to perform a job efficiently;
Here are some great ways, which will help you handle office bully and tell the attacker that you are no more his easy goat.
Communicate
Communication sorts many problems and it will help in this too.
So, as an initial effort, you should walk to the person, who is bullying you, and tell him how his actions, words are affecting you.
It can be possibility that your colleague did not realise that he has jumped the level of being funny or behaving unprofessional.
Document incidences
As a matter of record, keep a record of bullying or offensive behaviour, may be an eye witness. This would support you when you’ll make official complain.
Reach out to direct manager
Discuss the situation with your direct manager before going to HR or senior management.
Talk about the situation that is affecting you mentally or physically and is hampering your working capability.
In case, you do not get expected response here, then proceed to the HR or senior manager.
Keep calm. Wait a while. Follow up!
If you haven't got any reply yet, wait for sometime, as the management might be taking some decision.
You can then follow up with the concerned person for any action taken or any sort of solution.
If you still don’t take the action, there is always a legal way that you can go for.
How to recover from bullying?
You need to take some positive actions to recover from this bulling experience.
Devote your time to your old habits, spend time with family and friends, or plan a vacation to refresh yourself.
You deserve a better change, so in case you wish to change your job, do it.
Lead image used for representational purposes only
Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com
