”Mobbing — (from English mob — crowd) — psychological harassment, mainly group, of an employee by an employer or other employees, including constant negative statements, constant criticism of the employee, social isolation within the organization, exclusion of social contacts from his official activities, dissemination of knowingly false information about an employee, etc.”
Encyclopedia of labor law
The word “mobbing” is relatively new in our business vocabulary. However, the concept referred to by this term is as old as the world. In a nutshell, this is “mob bullying” against one person. In particular, at the workplace.
A lot of articles have been written about mobbing as a phenomenon that analyze in detail the causes of its occurrence in a particular work collective. Among these reasons are the ambiguously defined range of employees' business duties, poor work organization, lack of adequate motivation among employees, and the desire of management to survive an employee... However, this unpleasant phenomenon also has one more side — psychological. It largely explains what “laws of our unconscious” create the very need, the inner incentive to mobbing. After all, I'm sorry for some cynicism; harassing someone is a lot of work; what makes people spend time, effort and nerves on this at the expense of their own work (and seemingly their own benefit)?..
There are not many main “internal incentives” for mobbing. Let's start with the main thing — fear. This is one of our most powerful emotions. In particular, teams are often wary of someone who is emphatically “different”. I mean, the same ethological “white crow principle”: “A stranger has entered our flock; we don't know what to expect from him. That's why — atop him!” And here it should be noted that because of such fear, mobbing does not occur in communities that are recruited “from scratch” — in fact, there are no “friends and foes” there yet. But if the team is, as they say, established, or even more likely stagnant, where a kind of “psychological swamp” reigns, mobbing is very likely to occur in it as soon as someone with rather unusual behavior, appearance, etc. appears in this team.
Another reason that triggers the mobbing mechanism is that it is carefully concealed for the time being internal stress the whole team. It arises for a variety of reasons (here you can list the entire list of “shortcomings in the organizational structure of an enterprise”, usually provided by business consultants: from “unclear goals and strategies” to a vague range of duties), but it cannot accumulate endlessly within the team; it requires exit and relaxation. And as soon as an employee provokes some kind of aggression against them with their behavior, appearance or something else, this one-time aggression, fueled by the accumulated general tension, often develops into real emotional harassment.
And another reason for mobbing is... lounging. In the broadest sense of the word. When employees are busy carrying out their tasks (and ideally concerned about the prospect of financial payments for doing so), they do not need to spend time and effort on “psychological terror”. They're busy. And when employees are underloaded, “under-puzzled”, and most importantly, not focused on any positive end result in their work”, do you need to structure their working hours in any way? By the way, in this case, mobbing often falls on overloaded employees: they say, we're not doing anything, but he's sitting and working! He just wants to please his superiors: come on, here we are!..
Here it is necessary to explain why the desire to “please the authorities”, however hypothetical, is sometimes perceived by others as a “signal to declare war on you”. This is almost always the case in teams where it is possible to achieve financial and career growth only by “gaining the favor of the immediate superiors”. And there is an unspoken competition among employees — who is more likely to be the boss's favorites, who will be more active in pleasing him. And aggression (sometimes openly proactive) invariably attacks any employee and will seem to others “a more successful opponent in this fight”. They'll start bullying him before he actually becomes a boss.
This is also one of the reasons why such teams primarily bully newcomers. First of all, a new person is a stranger, which means that he causes unconscious fear. Then, he brings with him a kind of “unknown” — who knows what's on his mind? And this, especially in a team eaten away by internal tension, is again becoming a trigger for “psychological terror”. And finally, this newcomer was sent to us for some reason; for some reason, the boss needed his presence (not to mention situations where the new employee is the direct creativity of the management)...
Speaking of superiors. So far, it has been about so-called “horizontal mobbing” — pressure from colleagues. But there is also “vertical mobbing”: one of its variants is pressure “from above”. Strictly speaking, it is incorrect to call this phenomenon “mobbing” or bullying the crowd (which is why they have now coined a separate term — bossing). Because if your boss puts psychological pressure on you, he usually does not do it in a crowd. And here are slightly different mechanisms, reasons and incentives.
Most often, when bossing, the boss solves some of his deeply personal problems. For example, he needs to get rid of an objectionable employee. But if an employee is not happy that he does not comply with the terms of his employment contract, you can always think about how to fire him by law. If an employee becomes unhappy with the boss for some personal reasons, then this is primarily a fault with the boss himself: he does not know how to properly build his relations with his subordinates. It's like the saying about two people arguing, the smarter one being the most to blame. This is also the case here: a supervisor (at least ideally!) should be more able to avoid conflicts and build constructive communication strategies. And if, instead of building such strategies, he “squeezes out” an employee who is also valuable to the entire structure as a whole, what can be said about the professional suitability of such a boss as a management unit?..
And the most common reason for bossing (although not always openly declared) is usually that the boss once spent time with a victim of his pressure in a relationship that went beyond official relations, and then, for various reasons, had to return to the official distance again. And psychologically moving away is always unpleasant... That's how management gets rid of former “close friends.”
Another underlying reason for bossing may be the boss's blatant desire to assert himself at the expense of his subordinates. But in this regard, pressure from him is more likely to become a reason for horizontal mobbing “in the team entrusted to him”. For example, a boss will give two employees the same task, drawing them into a secret competition. And he'll openly have fun watching them try not so much to complete the task optimally as to “tear their competitor out of the race”. This is just one example. In all such cases, the employees will “eat each other”, and the boss will feel like a powerful puppeteer pulling the puppets by the strings. The only question remains: what does this psychologically flawed person do with underrealized self-esteem in the EXECUTIVE chair, especially when employed by a large and serious structure?.. Because the benefits of the “divide and conquer” approach are highly questionable, especially for the company as a whole. It's easy for this situation to get out of hand, no matter how much you believe otherwise.
However, there is also another type of “vertical mobbing” — by subordinates to superiors. Again, this happens more often in the same “stagnant team” that already has its own informal leaders. And if a new leader was appointed to such a team, and the subordinates “didn't like” him, it would be difficult to envy the manager. Especially if he gets down to business zealously (even for the most constructive reasons!) and will start making some active changes to the usual way of life on the fly. Because in the “psychological swamp” there are no incentives for social growth, there is no movement forward, but everyone has their own “homes” and, as they say, “pay”. Especially if its size does not depend on whether the employee is doing something or is simply “still at work”. Any leader who tries too actively to stir up this swamp will primarily arouse fear — the very fear that provokes a desire to get rid of its source. And the subordinates will at least start a boycott: according to the principle of “I listen to the order while you are with you”. Therefore, if you do not want to provoke such implicit but powerful resistance, be careful not to announce serious innovations until you look around and figure out what's what.
But this general question arises: what can be done to, if not completely get rid of mobbing in all its manifestations, at least reduce its frequency and intensity, and make it not so destructive for the company as a whole? Generally speaking (otherwise, the article won't work out), the answers are essentially already known: clearly formulate the company's tasks and goals, clearly outline employees' tasks (avoiding overlap and unhealthy competition), care about the psychological climate within the team, about the competent “organization of work”... Unfortunately, not every manager is ready to spend time, effort and money on this. As a result, it turns out that the main reason for the presence of mobbing, bossing, etc. in the structure is the short-sightedness of the company's management. In a team where a new employee is not a competitor for the attention of management or a “dark horse” that can break a long-established peace of mind, but an additional strength in achieving common goals, where everyone together moves one common cause, and everyone's active work benefits everyone else, mobbing is much less likely. That is why, even at the interview level, it is recommended to take a closer look at the psychological climate within the organization, as well as the firm's strategic goals and objectives. And if you have even a slight suspicion that management is solving some of its own problems, which are far from developing the structure and making a profit, keep in mind that in this team, the probability of mobbing is almost 100%. And it is far from certain that you will not be his victim personally.
To become a victim of mobbing (if you have the prerequisites for it), it's enough to be “different” at least in some way. Most often, it is either unreasonable to pretend that you are “the best”, or it is unjustified to feel “the worst”.
The most scandalous and noticeable mobbing occurs in relation to bright demonstrative personalities: they often behave as if they are really “the best”, and in every way. And at first, they even perceive the aggression that arises in response... with pleasure: well, special attention is paid to their person, even if, to put it mildly, not entirely constructive!
And the most difficult people endure declaring a “undercover war” are people who are prone to doubts and difficulties in choosing, as well as those with innovative thinking and complex relationships with reality: as they say, “out of this world”. Such individuals may be excellent specialists in their field, but they stay somewhat apart in society, because the very process of communication is already difficult for them. And people start bullying such a “guy with incomprehensible behavior”, sometimes just “just in case”. And the “type” tolerates bullying in silence, but suffers greatly from it. And if he does not find any other ways to escape the pressure of the crowd, at best he loses his job, and at worst, he falls into a serious psychosomatic illness or suicide.
But these are extremes, and there can be a lot of intermediate situations. And if you are a victim of mobbing for one reason or another, what should you do?
Again, this is not a conversation for an article, but several general recommendations can be formulated in absentia.
Above all, don't be tempted by unreasonable advice like “if mobbing is aimed at you, then you have nothing to do with it.” Yes, the phenomenon itself is most often triggered by the company's management problems. But why was the mob's aggression aimed specifically at you? Of course, you don't need to practice samoyed here, but it will be useful to conduct some analysis of the situation, the environment and your own personality (perhaps with the help of a specialist). Because even if you are forced to change your job, won't it turn out that you will provoke the same aggression against you in your new place?
Then, strive to be an absolute professional in your field, as well as have a clear idea of your immediate work responsibilities. And of course, to fulfill these duties. Then at least you can't be accused of professional omissions.
And one more thing: at least at first, when you get a new job, communicate with the team as smoothly and formally as politely as possible. Don't try to immediately impose your emotional disposition, get involved in internal fights or attract too much attention with extravagant behavior, etc. And if you already need this attention, find a way to fulfill this need outside of your workplace; of course, if you value this place.
And most importantly, don't stop watching all the time what is happening at your work in general and around you in particular. If you wish, you can always see and hear a little more if you learn not so much to speak as to observe silently. And of course, think about what you see and analyze the information received. So it turns out that a person with intelligence, and even someone who knows how to use this intelligence, is practically not in danger of becoming a victim of mobbing!
“7+7Z” magazine (Germany)
http://www.naritsyn.ru/what_is_mobbing_and_how_to_deal_with_it.htm
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