The Effects of Bullying (Part 2 of 3)

From Jim: This is twelfth in a series of seventeen blog posts on workplace bullying and related topics running Monday, July 2, 2012 to Sunday, August 12, 2012.  
Events and people depicted are fictionalized composites from multiple sources.  Any resemblance to actual people or events is purely coincidental.  

The following is adapted from Heinz Leymann’s, “Mobbing and Psychological Terror at Workplaces.”  Leymann was the pioneer of contemporary understanding about workplace bullying. 

Leif worked in a large factory in Norway. His job as a repairman was to keep the machine park up and running. He was a skilled worker on high wages. He came originally from Denmark, and his workmates often made fun of him since he spoke Norwegian with a Danish accent. This happened so often that his personal relations became seriously disturbed — he became isolated. On one occasion he became so irritated that he thumped the table with his fist and demanded an end to all further jokes about his accent. From that point, things became worse. His workmates intensified and widened the range of their "jokes." One of these was to send him to machines which didn't need repairing. In this way, Leif gradually gained the reputation of being "The Mad Dane." At the beginning, many workers and foremen did not know that his sudden appearances were the results of "jokes." His social network broke down, and more and more workmates joined in the hunt. Wherever he appeared, jokes and taunts flew around. His feeling of aggression grew and this drew the attention of management. They got the impression that it was Leif's fault and that he was a low-performance worker (which he gradually became). He was disciplined. His anxiety increased and he developed psychosomatic problems and was forced to take sick leave. His employers reassigned him to less skilled work without even discussing his problems; this Leif experienced as unjust. He considered himself to be blameless. The situation gradually developed into one of serious psychosomatic disorders and longer periods of sick leave.

Leif could not keep his job, nor could he get another one, as his medical history could be only seen too clearly in his job applications. There was nowhere in society where he could turn for help. He became totally unemployable — an outcast. One of the ironies of this case is that Leif had previously been employed by a number of companies where he had performed well, had been a good workmate and had been given good references by his employers.

Leymann found similar cases in Sweden, Denmark, Western Germany, England, Austria, USA, and Australia.

Leymann identifies several effects of bullying and/or mobbing: 

• Social: Social isolation, stigmatizing, voluntary unemployment (the person quits), social maladjustment.
• Social-psychological: Loss of coping resources; many coping resources are linked to social situations, and as these change in a negative direction, the coping system breaks down.
• Psychological: A feeling of desperation and total helplessness, a feeling of great rage about lack of legal remedies, great anxiety and despair.
• Psychosomatic and psychiatric: Depressions, hyperactivity, compulsion, suicides, psychosomatic illness. There are suspicions that the experiences deriving from this social situation have an effect on the immune system (one company physician observed a couple of "mysterious" cases of cancer).

And he adds: 

• Among the social consequences, we can assume a presumably high termination percentage, many periods of sick leave over the years, discreditable transfers to other work, social isolation, employment without any real work to do, as well as humiliating psychiatric examinations and diagnoses.
• 10% -15% of suicides in Sweden each year have a backstory of bullying or mobbing. 

The Economic Consequences for the Organization and for Society

The economic consequences—like the psychosocial—are considerable.  A person can be paid without having any real work to do (or none at all), and this can go on for years. Long periods of sick leave; a catastrophic drop in production by the whole group; the necessity for frequent intervention by personnel officers, personnel consultants, managers of various grades, occupational health staff, external consultants, the company's health care centers and so on.

All this extra effort, combined with loss of productive work, can be estimated to amount to between $30,000 and $100,000 US per year per employee for those exposed to such mobbing.  Leymann records cases in the USA, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, West Germany, and Scandinavia where these situations have lasted for ten years or more.

Have a story to tell?  Email me.  I won't use it unless you say it's okay.