People who have been bullied at work
Christie's story
Christie used to work for a big company. In her office, there was a manager who was renowned for her temper tantrums and completely hostile behaviour if she was in a "bad mood."
The manager would purposely withhold information from her staff, and if a decision was made that was not to her liking, she would punish those who supported the decision by not talking to them and by rallying other managers against them.
The manager was extremely petty, resorting to childish acts like simply not responding to any requests for help or information from people she didn't like or agree with and by blatantly excluding individuals on both a business level and person level. Christie felt more like she was back in school than being part of the team of staff.
Christie's senior manager was repeatedly made aware of the situation by various members of the staff, and while he tried to set examples for the manager in question and tried to speak with her on occasion, it never made any difference. It was extremely difficult for Christie to deal with this behaviour on a daily basis and resulted in even more stress, when her job was already stressful enough.
Christie's environment was extremely unhealthy and depressing and she was overjoyed when she was finally able to resign and move on from that company, and it was due in large part to the bully of a manager with who she had to work.
Anne's story
Anne feels like she's had to put up with bullying in the workplace ever since she started work.
She knows that managers sometimes have to be a bit forceful to get things done, but there has been lots of times where Anne feels people have gone too far.
Although she's 19 and only been at work for a few years, she's been verbally abused, sworn at and ridiculed about her personal life. She even feels she's been physically assaulted and eventually been made redundant because she spoke up. She's also been told to lie to customers: but if you don't "get away with it, you're fired!"
Anne felt she was in a bit of rut and felt no-one could ever do anything about it. And employers know it, she says. She feels like you just have to put up with it and "soldier on."
Then one day she spoke with an old work friend who had also experienced bullying. She advised Anne to note down all the dates that she felt she had been bullied and what happened, then take the information to her manager. If that didn't work, she should then lodge an official complaint a manager higher up the ladder. "If you're genuine, they should seriously listen to you," said her friend.
Fortunately Anne's not had to use this advice, but has felt a lot better now that she knows what to do if something does happen. "It's the best bit of advice I've ever had," says Anne.
