How to destroy a workplace
Watching the fall out from a workplace bully, in real-time, is one of the most confusing things I’ve ever experienced. In the mid 2000s, in an Auckland newsroom, I witnessed a calculating workplace bully destroy the morale of an entire team. If you’re looking at the picture and thinking I mean the late Paul Holmes, you’re wrong – it wasn’t him. Paul could be a diva, he could lose his rag occasionally, and shouting in the office is never OK; but I never saw him deliberately, systematically undermine anyone.
The bully’s targets were not interns, or young and vulnerable. They were not weak. These were mid-career journalists who’d worked for years in large newsrooms, covering crime, the courts, multiple-fatality road smashes. They were tough and capable.
I did not report directly to this person, and so I escaped the worst of their behaviour. Those that did not escape, crumbled in slow motion; they went from smart, confident, top of their game – to desperate, anxious, constantly second-guessing their own abilities.
One talented and experienced reporter had to take sick leave on more than one occasion, when it overwhelmed her. The really striking thing about the experience of the chronically bullied, is the confusion they feel – these capable people could not work out what they were doing wrong, or why the work they’d always had pride in was suddenly not up to scratch. They couldn’t work out why every interaction with their colleague/boss ended in disaster. It was much like watching a dysfunctional romantic relationship, where the power-partner undermines the person they’re supposed to love, until they truly do believe they’re losing their mind.
We took a delegation to management and for a while it looked like the bully had been dealt with – but then suddenly, the news that this person would not be leaving, left everyone shocked and despairing. I complained about this about-face, and in a restructure, despite the fact that I had the CEO’s personal guarantee that my contract was safe, I lost my job.
Legal action ensued, which turned out to be rather expensive for that company.
And that might be the real lesson that managers who don’t know (or don’t care) whether they’re bullies, should take from the current focus on bullying in New Zealand workplaces. Understanding that a high staff attrition rate – with the attendant need to constantly hire and train new people – makes little economic sense, is not rocket science. Even if you can’t bring yourself to ensure a happy workplace culture for the sake of your staff’s wellbeing, you should be doing it for your bottom line – if you can’t even do that, what kind of manager are you really?