Talking about workplace bullying, pt 2

Workplace bullying. You have either been affected by it or know someone who has.

Tauranga man Max Christoffersen is sharing his views on the topic that people tend not to talk about.

I've never liked the phrase ‘workplace bullying'.

It seems a bit weak and somewhat anemic.

I much prefer my own custom-built phrase, Psychopathic Workplace Intimidation (PWI) as the description of the conduct that seems to be the raison d'etre of the modern successful manager.

PWI is widespread across working life. It is planned, malicious, vicious and designed to belittle and disempower.

It is always a power game and one that is often disguised in language and conduct designed to mirror the appearance of successful management culture described in whatever new popular culture journal the human resources team believe is the new testament of HR psychobabble and corporate culture.

To those who observe from afar, PWI is a near relative of obsessive compulsive disorder. But it's a professional affliction that is approved by HR departments who value the ability PWI sufferers have to inflict, project and destroy the professional confidence, ability and self-esteem of those around them.

In my observation of such professional conduct (both near and from a distance) it is that those afflicted with PWI appear to be the ones who are promoted up the corporate ladder.

In higher education, the health sector, central government/councils and private practice those with the track record of intimidation, exploitation and unjustified track records of premature staff departures are those who go far.

Such conduct is rewarded, encouraged and endorsed. And it's the HR managers who are doing the applauding.

I could name the managers I've worked with who are afflicted with PWI, but they are not the unwanted inspiration for this column. HR managers are.

I've long wondered what HR managers do and why they are needed. Every HR manager I've seen in action appears to have aspirations for grander corporate goals.

But those career goals are always hidden behind coded jargon and deflection from the real issues that those working at the coal-face are aware of on a day-to-day basis. HR managers appear to be immune to the culture that they have by nature of their responsibility for staff recruitment created, groomed and matured.

One of the greatest barriers to a growing economy is the view that so many Kiwis hate their work and feel undervalued for 40+ hours each week. And yet HR managers are seldom ever seen when the consequences of rampant PWI are left unchecked.

They are invisible and unaccountable. I have yet to see an HR manager sacked for allowing and by proxy promoting through deliberate inaction the rampant spread of a toxic working culture in an organization. But I could name a few who should have been.

I'm not even sure who HR managers work for and strangely – neither do they. On-line discussions between various HR professionals has raised the issue of whether they are working for the employee or the employer? The answer here would appear obvious to anyone outside the lunatic fringe of HR zealotry.

I have never met an HR manager that has inspired me to value my organisation to the same level my workmates have. If I need inspiration it often comes from the floor.

Managers in NZ have a poor track record and the growing culture of workplace intimidation would suggest that if anyone is to lose their jobs in the ongoing recession it should be those in middle management who display all the signs of workplace power ‘Uber Alles'.

We all have to engage with HR departments and today, dealing with HR staff scares me.

Just when you think you understand the new HR dance imported typically from overseas fads documented in self-help journals and web sites for HR professionals, it changes for a new fad that will impact on anyone applying for work.

Whether it's a name change from ‘HR' to ‘People and Performance' the name game is always changing in a misguided bid to rebrand the exercise of hiring staff in seductive, self aggrandizing jargon.

A quick Google search reveals there's a new emerging culture on the HR landscape. The old way is now being taken over by newly created professional mantras ranging from ‘talent acquisition' and ‘leadership development' to ‘culture evangelism' and the growth and promotion of the ‘new HR', which seems to be the same as the old HR only with new words.

It seems simple to me. You employ the best people for the job. You secure the budgets, the top-down mandate and the manpower necessary for them to complete their clearly described tasks and let them get the job done without workplace barriers (like PWI afflicted managers and toxic work place cultures) getting in the way. HR is easy. It's the people working in HR that aren't.

The words and culture of modern HR is so fundamentalist in tone and language that I find myself rushing to judgment to declare that I'm not a believer. American style pulpit evangelism is always an act of salesmanship.

And HR is all too close to the same religious culture that values style over substance. It's lost on me as I and others engage with HR managers as the first point of contact as businesses attempt to recruit new staff from a glut of well qualified unemployed men and women in NZ.

Here's a tip HR managers. Communicate. There are few things more disturbing than communicating with an organization with HR staff who fail to demonstrate common courtesies to prospective employees.

Ask anyone seeking work. HR ‘Client Account Managers' fail to communicate and leave prospective workers hanging for weeks and sometimes months without a courteous word received.

And many job applicants never hear anything at all from major institutions with staff who appear too busy reading management magazine espousing the ‘New HR' to let candidates know where their job application is at in the process.

Sadly that HR time could also have been put to good use dealing with the psychopaths in suits. The HR industry is littered with stories of PCI bullying in action.

The bullying tactics range from public put-downs in meetings to deliberately leaving staff out of the communications loop and then holding them accountable for the work-place disaster they were powerless to avoid. One colleague was recently taken behind closed doors to discuss the use of the word ‘amongst' in a private HR session.

Verbal warnings were issued as a result of this word choice. You'd think there were more important things to discuss. And who endorsed this workplace crime? The HR department.

I've come to understand that HR managers are a curious bunch with a near religious view of the significance of their work.

I could trust them more and become a believer in HR as a professional discipline if I knew they valued and understood people as much as they claim to understand their employer's corporate goals and aspirations.

If they could demonstrate an equal amount of empathy for the employee as they do for the employer, HR departments may become valued by all for their professional integrity. This for me and many others seems a long way off.

If NZ is to climb out of a recession, it may start with HR managers recognizing that they have played their part in contributing to NZ's corporate culture through devotion to unsustainable policies, imported US based management culture and workplace indifference to signs of manager power-plays that went unchecked.

HR managers may be the first line of economic recovery by learning to communicate professionally, work diligently with respect for human frailties and recognizing that they too have made mistakes. NZ may have a chance if the HR industry recognises and acts on its own failings and creates a local solution rather than importing HR jargon and culture from afar.

Too many Hamiltonions know all too well of the ongoing corporate cancer at their workplace and the rampant inaction and indifference HR staff displayed when they sought support. It is time that ‘bullying' was removed from the discourse and psychopathic behaviour is included. Because that is what it is.

There are managers still working in the ‘old HR model' of endorsed workplace intimidation. They were hired, promoted and lauded for this ability by faceless HR departments. I look forward to learning of their demise.

You know who you are.

The Ministry of Business and Innovation defines workplace bullying (PWI) here:

http://www.osh.govt.nz/publications/factsheets/bullying.html

The PSA view is here;

http://www.psa.org.nz/Campaignsandissues/WorkplaceBullying.aspx

More information and case stories here:

http://www.leadershipchallenge.co.nz/beyondbullying/

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6 comments

its

Posted on 26-06-2017 12:21 | By Capt_Kaveman

wide spread and illegal but is anything been done? no


Belittling

Posted on 26-06-2017 15:25 | By Dino

Oh yes - I have been caught up in one of these scenarios working for a big corporate in Tauranga - HR was the root cause of it all, and there was nothing I could do about it...Management would not or did not want to see what was happening - talk about soul destroying and confidence smashing.....just remember people that karma will come back and bite you in the butt.....


golly gosh

Posted on 26-06-2017 17:39 | By old trucker

As ive said before, i agree with Max, its RAMPANT here in Tauranga,all these stiff shirts that climb the ladder are there because Management need them because they can turn them into one of them, to make them feel good, one 2ic i worked under was a right so and so, walked around all shift,(12hrs) with a clip board, as Co was owned by a overseas Co, he thought he was god, my thiughts were he was a waste of space, and did nothing , another Foreman picked on me every day, the Manager (said) in so many words get over it to me, it was aweful to be treated like this,it got me sent to hospital with a heart attack, management did not care about me, never missed a day ever, but still treated bad, this person is NO LONGER withus,Thankgod. Sunlive ,Thankyou 10-4 out.PS. my thoughts only.


Dino

Posted on 26-06-2017 18:03 | By maildrop

It's a common misconception that HR are there to protect the staff. They are only interested in the company image and will invariably side with management and try to shuffle any affected staff out of the company. The bigger risk, from a corporate point of view, is to sack someone without enough cause and be taken to a tribunal and have all the negative smear. Better to let the victims leave when they have had enough. Sucks don't it.


Me too Dino

Posted on 29-06-2017 15:55 | By Border Patrol

Have also been there and done that, pretty much the same scenario also with a corporate employer.The employers know that ERA has no teeth. It is a stressful, prolonged process for the staff member concerned and even if a case is found in the staff members favour, the payouts are pathetic. Due to this, a lot of cases wouldn't even go to ERA because the outcome at the end of the day isn't worth the process that you are put through.


Agree with Maildrop

Posted on 02-07-2017 19:44 | By Papamoaner

HR seems to be universally becoming a dirty word. The good they do is outweighed by the damage they do to people


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