In any field of knowledge, there is bound to be not just a good specialist, but a very good specialist who has made a significant contribution to the development and promotion of knowledge. Bullying also has its own guru. His merit is that back in 1997 he created a resource on the Internet called Bully OnLine (www.bullyonline.org), where anyone who is a victim of bullying can get help. Today, this resource is the most popular in the world. Valery Kichkayev's interview with Tim Field, founder and CEO of The Field Foundation.
Valery Kichkayev: Tim, what was the reason for your interest in bullying? As far as I know, you have been educated in a slightly different field.
Tim Field: It happens very often in life that until you face a problem yourself, you can never notice it. This is what happened to me too — I was just a victim of bullying.
V.K.: So you didn't dream of fighting bullying as a child?
T.F.: It might seem strange — I didn't dream. (Laughs.) There wasn't even a word like that back then. I was more attracted to everything related to technology, so I went to Staffordshire University, Northern Polytechnic University at that time. After graduation, he worked in the field of information technology for about 15 years. To be more precise, I have been developing and supporting computer systems, which in recent years have been known as CRM systems. I was very happy with my job. In the late 1980s, I headed one of four software sales sections at one company. We had a well-coordinated and motivated team and an excellent head of department.
V.K.: And what broke this idyll?
T.F.: I still don't know the reason, but the department head suddenly left his post for all of us...
V.K.:... but a holy place is never empty...
T.F.:... so someone else soon took his place, and within a short period of time, to put it more accurately, the level of morality and ethics in the department fell to a minimum. This situation had a strong impact on the efficiency of our section, as we were in direct contact with software buyers, and this required prompt decision-making. To achieve such efficiency, the coordinated work of all section employees was necessary, and this was disrupted with the arrival of the new manager.
V.K.: What exactly were the destructive actions of the department manager?
T.F.: I tried to identify and systematize all the phenomena that started to happen, and this is what I got. Regular nitpicking on all sorts of little things. Vague and unjustified criticism. The successes that were previously achieved by our section have begun to be completely ignored. All new offers have begun to be blocked. If the new leader invited me to meetings, he wouldn't let me speak for them. After a while, he stopped inviting me at all. A large number of approvals were now required to resolve even minor issues. If I tried to object, it immediately caused aggression on the part of the new leader. For example, I've heard the following: “The previous management made a mistake appointing you head of section” or “Perhaps your work would have been more effective in another department, but in a lower position.” Our section began to receive fewer resources to do the job, and we were given absolutely unnecessary work, leaving many employees overloaded. I've had to work for three people.
V.K.: How did it all end?
T.F.: It all ended in extreme stress for me, and I actually had to be treated for two years. Naturally, we had to quit this job, but, apparently, there is a silver lining.
V.K.: After recovering, did you decide to seriously address the problems of bullying?
T.F.: Yes, I created a helpline (The UK National Workplace Bullying Advice Line) that people who suffered bullying at work could call. I also wrote my first book, Bully in Sight.
V.K.: Did you get a lot of calls?
T.M.: The phone was red from an incredible number of calls, and soon I decided to create a website on the Internet. It was the second half of the 1990s, and the World Wide Web was beginning to grow rapidly.
V.K.: Is bullying really such a huge problem? It is unlikely that the business world can be imagined in the form of respectable, idyllic relationships.
T.M.: Believe me, I have no illusions either, but bullying is really a huge problem. As a result, a person's career collapses, and often everything can end in suicide. Bullying is expensive not only for the employee, but also for the employer, as the employee's productivity is greatly reduced due to constant illness and absence from work. Not to mention an employee's productivity under psychological pressure. Statistics confirm my words. Back in 1996, the British In-Institute of Personnel and Development (IPD) published the first results of a bullying survey. One in eight British employees, about 3 million people, has been the victim of workplace bullying. More than half of the respondents said that bullying is a daily practice in their company.
Just a year later, the British Trade Union Congress TUC organized a Bad Boss Hotline where you could complain about a manager. 38% of callers complained of management bullying, 25% about low wages, 15% about contracts (enslaved conditions), 13% about overtime work, 11% about unfair dismissal from office, 10% for health and safety, 4% for short vacations, 3% for racial, sexual harassment and age discrimination.
In 1998, one in six British workers already considered themselves a victim of bullying.
The study was also conducted by my native University of Staffordshire. According to its results, 53% of British employees (approximately 14 million people) have been bullied at work during their employment.
I estimate that bullying costs the UK 30 billion euros a year. Believe me, this figure is not out of the air.
V.K.: I know that there are many definitions of the term “bullying”. Which one do you use?
T.F.: Bullying — this is the regular negative behavior of one employee towards another employee or towards a whole group of employees. It includes various nitpicking, often completely unfounded, a negative assessment of work or the rejection of any evaluation, the desire to isolate an employee or groups of employees from others, and the spread of dirty rumors and gossip. The list goes on. I recommend visiting our site www.bullyonline.org, where you can find a large number of definitions and characteristics of behavior.
V.K.: What is the portrait of a typical buller and do bullers differ from each other?
T.F.: The main thing that characterizes a buller is that after he finishes stalking one victim (she, for example, is forced to leave her job), the persecution of another begins, and so on ad infinitum. I call these bullers serial. They are the main danger. Here are just some of the characteristics of the serial buller. A skilled liar, capable of impromptu. He lives like Jekyll and Hyde. As Jekyll, he is good and fluffy, in the image of Hyde, he is vindictive. It behaves well in the presence of management and disgusting in front of subordinates. He tries to convince everyone that he is a very active and talented manager who is able to achieve good results in his work. Naturally, he convinces superiors and subordinates in different ways. He suffers from arrogance and narcissism. She wants to sound like a know-it-all. He can pretend to be a deeply religious person. He is free to use words and can easily distort the meaning of what has been said. It can be ironic. He tries to avoid responsibility.
As for typology, due to the fact that I had to deal with several thousand cases of bullying, I developed my own typology. Full characteristics of the types are available on our website, I'll just focus on each one briefly. So there are four main types of bullers.
Type “I'm looking for attention” (Attention-Seeker) is usually a woman. The main goal is to create the impression of a kind, caring and compassionate person. In fact, the beautiful mask hides a deceptive — and arrogant — and at the same time incompetent in the field of professional activity. She can show open anger if she is made responsible for something.
“I want to be” type (Wannabe) is usually a man. Bullers of this type dream of honor and respect, but they lack professionalism in their field to do so. They actually don't want to do that, because it requires efforts they don't want to put in. In addition, they are deprived of intelligence. Instead of somehow correcting this situation, they direct all their scarce knowledge to improving their skills in deception, fraud, and flattery.
“Guru” type (The Guru) — differs from the others in that, as a rule, he is competent in a professional field (usually technical), although often in a rather narrow one. His weak point is social skills. These people are insensitive, their emotions are not developed. They are incapable of showing empathy. In my opinion, these people suffer from a moderate form of autism. However, this is only my guess. They also suffer from narcissism and psychopathy.
Type “Sociopath” (Sociopath). In my opinion, the most disgusting buller is usually a man. He is intellectually highly developed, but incapable of empathy. He does not feel guilty and is incapable of remorse. He gets great satisfaction when he sets people against each other and acts as an observer himself. He likes to manage the flow of information and control decision-making, especially personnel decisions. He likes to use the “I Want to Be” type as a performer. In short, the devil is in the flesh.
V.K.: In our country, the word “bullying” is almost never found. The word “mobbing” is usually used. Is there a difference between these concepts?
TF.: “Bullying” is a word that is mostly used in the UK. English journalist Andrew Adams first used it to describe this phenomenon in 1990. That's when the phrase “workplace bullying” appeared. In other European countries, the word is usually used mobbing. Over time, experts appeared who began to talk about the differences between these concepts. For example, that mobbing is a form of intimidating one group of another or a group against one person. By doing so, they want to emphasize that the aggressor is a group of individuals. For me, there is no fundamental difference between these concepts, especially since I think that the band always has a leader who is sometimes simply invisible.
V.K.: Is there a difference between a male buller and a female buller?
T.F.: If there is a difference, it is not meaningful. Men are more aggressive and tend to show physical strength even to the point of using it. Women act more subtly, try to hide their bad intentions and mislead. If they need pressure and aggression to achieve their goals, they would rather use a man than resort to it themselves. Their principle is to let a man do the dirty work for me.
V.K.: What are the consequences of bullying?
T.F.: At the beginning of the conversation, I already said that the consequences can be fatal, for example, suicide. Bullers create their own world, a second reality, into which they suck the victim, and the victim is forced to live according to the laws created in this pseudo-reality. Therefore, the main task is to return people to the real world.
V.K.: And how can it be brought back to the real world?
T.F.: Buller skillfully manipulates a person, cunning, lies, and eventually the victim begins to doubt their own abilities and themselves. Therefore, the most important thing is to explain to the person what happened to him, show the true picture, restore his self-confidence and tell him how to act in the situation he found himself in.
V.K.: By the way, should an employee who was chosen as a victim fight, or should it be better to change his job as soon as possible?
T.F.: Since the situation is usually neglected, it is better to leave your place of work. Believe me, it's better to find another job where your work is really appreciated than to fight hard in your old job.
V.K.: When we talk about help, we always mean victims of bullying, but the bullers themselves are to some extent hostages to such behavior. Did you ever help them?
T.F.: It wouldn't be so sad and hopeless if it weren't for one fact. Buller is a person whose main characteristic is a pathological reluctance to consider his behavior destructive. He thinks his behavior isn't the problem, it's his victims' behavior. In very rare cases, bullers came to me for help, and even then it was difficult to call such people bullers in the full sense of the word. They were people who fell under the influence of serial bullers due to some negative circumstances in their lives, and they were forced to use dirty methods.
V.K.: Tim, I would like to hear your opinion on the role of HR managers in preventing bullying.
T.F.: You may find this fact surprising, but in 98% of cases, HR managers not only do not help victims of bullying, but are also happy to participate in bullying an employee. They are often the first violins of such bullying, although sometimes they are only a tool for company executives. I talked a lot with victims of bullying, and I was told sad stories that it was HR managers who organized the bullying. My opinion may seem rather controversial, but it turns out that the main task of HR managers, at least in the UK, is to protect the interests of employers, not colleagues at all. I'm sorry, but I can't say anything good about the positive role of HR managers. This is my personal experience.
V.K.: It turns out that HR managers play a key role in bullying, only with a negative sign.
T.F.: Let's not be sad about this. There are positive signs that the current generation of professional HR managers will be more open to problems such as bullying.
V.K.: You have been fighting bullying for over ten years. Have there been any positive changes over the years?
T.F.: It seems to me that Bulling appeared on this planet at the same time as humans. Therefore, it is very difficult to drastically change the nature of human behavior even in a few decades, let alone several years. Nevertheless, it is necessary to combat negative manifestations. The fact that bullying in civilized countries is recognized as unacceptable behavior is a great progress. Over the past 50 years, a number of laws have been adopted prohibiting discrimination based on nationality, race and religion. Sexual minorities have been protected. There are already laws against stalking, and I think this process will continue. It may take another ten years, but in the end, there will also be a law against bullying. At the same time, we must continue to teach the public that bullying is unacceptable, because it has supporters who are trying to find an excuse for such behavior.
V.K.: Is there at least one country that would have a law against bullying?
T.F.: Yes, this is Sweden. By the way, you can read the main provisions of the law adopted in this country on our website.
V.K.: What is the main essence of this law?
T.F.: The point is that the employer must plan and organize work in such a way as to prevent bullying. If signs do appear, a list of countermeasures to be taken by the employer is proposed.
V.K.: What are you currently doing?
T.F.: Frankly speaking, I'm so tired over the past 12 years of fighting bullying that I decided to retire and take a break.
V.K.: Bullers from Britain and around the world are rejoicing!
T.F.: No, no, I didn't forget about bullying! I am currently shooting a film about bullying as an assistant screenwriter, and at the end of the year I will continue to write a book on how to recognize bullers and psychopaths in the workplace.
V.K.: Tim, I would like to thank you for agreeing to answer my questions and wish you success in the fight against psychopaths and bullers.
T.F.: And thank you for deciding to tell the magazine about the problem of bullying and the key role of HR managers. (Laughs.)
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