“I never thought it would happen to me. I had spent a decade being a reasonably good manager and leader. I didn’t think I would be the broken person who couldn’t turn up to work because I couldn’t stop myself crying, not just on one day, but repeatedly.”
A 2017 research paper investigated a question as to whether those of us who believe we can defend ourselves against workplace bullying are actually resilient. The study of 739 workers found that employees who believe they are resilient against workplace bullying are only resilient when the exposure to bullying is at a low level. However, when exposed to medium to high levels of bullying, employees showed a higher level of symptoms of anxiety and stress than those who believed they were unable to defend themselves.
The nature of bullying as systematic and on-going exposure to negative behaviour and abuse over an extended period of time undermines even the most resilient of us. Over time, our personal resources are eroded and our belief systems are undermined, leaving us more vulnerable to injury. Unfortunately, when you believe you are resilient to bullying, you have further to fall resulting in potentially greater injury.
This means that there is only one sure way to prevent injury from workplace bullying and proceeding Workcover or legal claims. That being, we must stop workplace bullying from occurring in the first place.
Are you curious to learn more about preventing and stopping workplace bullying?
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