I encourage you to do your own research on workplace mobbing and educate yourself to know the signs of it occurring, what you can do to prevent yourself from becoming a victim, and what you can do to prevent becoming a member of a workplace mob.
I was the victim of workplace mobbing at Miraca Life Sciences. I did not know it had a name and I was devastated by it because I felt I had done something to deserve it. Workplace mobbing is distinct from workplace bullying behavior. Mobbing behavior is baseless
Above is an excerpt by Dr. Harper an anthropologist who studies organizational conflict. I was accused of all three actions/behaviors she discusses: these accusations were both baseless and false. I am in treatment to overcome the psychological injury this has caused me; namely I am suffering from PTSD and still recovering from the affects of stress related to burnout.
Common Characteristics of Mobbing Targets
While there may be a tendency to characterize adult mobbing victims who suffer in the workplace in a similar manner to victims of playground bullying, this simply is not accurate. Playground bullying victims tend to be viewed as awkward children who are deemed timid or weak by their more assertive peers. However, victims of mobbing in the workplace have but one common blemish among them – they tend to fall outside of organizational norms. They also generally tend to be women between the ages of 32 and 55 years.
These mobbing targets are typically educated and well-regarded for their competency. Further, they tend to be attractive and often are both outspoken and willing to make strategic organizational changes to benefit or propel the organization. They also tend to be highly accomplished, exceptionally creative and greatly dedicated.
Because of their competence and strong work ethic, it is often very difficult for mobbing victims to comprehend why they suddenly were isolated, humiliated and ridiculed. In fact, former allies can quickly turn against the target — without cause — believing that because the individual is being widely criticized, there must be just cause. The target is often branded as a troublemaker and others who had otherwise good feelings about the person quickly disassociate, creating feelings of isolation and abandonment. The target quickly loses his or her feelings of belonging, identity and dignity.
The Types of Organizations Where Mobbing Happens
As mentioned earlier, mobbing in the workplace can happen in organizations of any size and within any industry. However, common offenders have been identified. Characteristics of these toxic environments are listed below.
Industries / Organizations On The Decline: Industries experiencing a decline in overall demand for their products face a great deal of financial duress. Publicly-held organizations also face increased pressure to satisfy shareholders. Widespread concerns like these leave an organization highly prone to mobbing, as upper level management tend to ignore these types of challenges when faced with improving the bottom line quickly. Some in higher management will, unfortunately, even go as far as lending encouragement to this damaging behavior.
Bureaucratic Organizations: In bureaucratic organizations (such as the government), there are numerous policies put in place to keep the overall organization running smoothly. However, the atmosphere in these environments lends itself to a disconnect among higher level managers who would typically reduce the severity of the challenge to a mere clashing of personalities. What often happens in bureaucratic environments is reported cases of mobbing are not addressed, often with the attitude that the situation will resolve itself. Instead, left unaddressed, mobbing does nothing more than expand further and increase in intensity.
Initiated most often by a person in a position of power or influence, mobbing is a desperate urge to crush and eliminate the target. The urge travels through the workplace like a virus, infecting one person after another. The target comes to be viewed as absolutely abhorrent, with no redeeming qualities, outside the circle of acceptance and respectability, deserving only of contempt.
As the campaign proceeds, a steadily larger range of hostile ploys and communications comes to be seen as legitimate."
Bullies are very good at convincing others, including coworkers and managers, that the victim deserves the abuse that they are subjected to. As the attacks continue day in and day out the target begins to be worn down and eventually will make a mistake. Perhaps they will have an emotional outburst and lash back at the bully.
This is stereotypical in mobbing cases and this incident will be used to turn the tables on the target as the bully will loudly proclaim that this proves that the target is the real troublemaker. This often gives management, who have done nothing about the bullying, the opportunity to bring formal disciplinary measures against the target and the victim winds up being the one who is punished.
This adds insult to injury as the mobbing continues to escalate out of control, especially once managers have gotten onboard with the abuse and have sided with the bully.
It is not unusual for mobbing targets to suffer heart attacks or strokes, or even to commit suicide or in rare cases, kill their tormenters.
"Gossip will rapidly shift from what management is doing to the worker, to what the worker is doing to management. The gossip will be initiated and spread most aggressively by those who once supported the worker who ....will assuage their conscience by convincing themselves they did the only right and necessary thing when they turned against their friend or coworker.
As the gossip spreads, new details will be added by each speaker and over time in order to keep the topic entertaining, the gossip will become more and more salacious and unbelievable until eventually, the worker will be accused of being mentally ill, making a threat to self or others, and/or committing a serious ethical or criminal transgression. Of the dozens of mobbing targets I have spoken with, I have not spoken to any who have not been accused of one or more of these three things—unless they got out early." From
What to Do When a Coworker is Mobbed
I was the victim of workplace mobbing at Miraca Life Sciences. I did not know it had a name and I was devastated by it because I felt I had done something to deserve it. Workplace mobbing is distinct from workplace bullying behavior. Mobbing behavior is baseless
Above is an excerpt by Dr. Harper an anthropologist who studies organizational conflict. I was accused of all three actions/behaviors she discusses: these accusations were both baseless and false. I am in treatment to overcome the psychological injury this has caused me; namely I am suffering from PTSD and still recovering from the affects of stress related to burnout.
Common Characteristics of Mobbing Targets
While there may be a tendency to characterize adult mobbing victims who suffer in the workplace in a similar manner to victims of playground bullying, this simply is not accurate. Playground bullying victims tend to be viewed as awkward children who are deemed timid or weak by their more assertive peers. However, victims of mobbing in the workplace have but one common blemish among them – they tend to fall outside of organizational norms. They also generally tend to be women between the ages of 32 and 55 years.
These mobbing targets are typically educated and well-regarded for their competency. Further, they tend to be attractive and often are both outspoken and willing to make strategic organizational changes to benefit or propel the organization. They also tend to be highly accomplished, exceptionally creative and greatly dedicated.
Because of their competence and strong work ethic, it is often very difficult for mobbing victims to comprehend why they suddenly were isolated, humiliated and ridiculed. In fact, former allies can quickly turn against the target — without cause — believing that because the individual is being widely criticized, there must be just cause. The target is often branded as a troublemaker and others who had otherwise good feelings about the person quickly disassociate, creating feelings of isolation and abandonment. The target quickly loses his or her feelings of belonging, identity and dignity.
The Types of Organizations Where Mobbing Happens
As mentioned earlier, mobbing in the workplace can happen in organizations of any size and within any industry. However, common offenders have been identified. Characteristics of these toxic environments are listed below.
Industries / Organizations On The Decline: Industries experiencing a decline in overall demand for their products face a great deal of financial duress. Publicly-held organizations also face increased pressure to satisfy shareholders. Widespread concerns like these leave an organization highly prone to mobbing, as upper level management tend to ignore these types of challenges when faced with improving the bottom line quickly. Some in higher management will, unfortunately, even go as far as lending encouragement to this damaging behavior.
Bureaucratic Organizations: In bureaucratic organizations (such as the government), there are numerous policies put in place to keep the overall organization running smoothly. However, the atmosphere in these environments lends itself to a disconnect among higher level managers who would typically reduce the severity of the challenge to a mere clashing of personalities. What often happens in bureaucratic environments is reported cases of mobbing are not addressed, often with the attitude that the situation will resolve itself. Instead, left unaddressed, mobbing does nothing more than expand further and increase in intensity.
Initiated most often by a person in a position of power or influence, mobbing is a desperate urge to crush and eliminate the target. The urge travels through the workplace like a virus, infecting one person after another. The target comes to be viewed as absolutely abhorrent, with no redeeming qualities, outside the circle of acceptance and respectability, deserving only of contempt.
As the campaign proceeds, a steadily larger range of hostile ploys and communications comes to be seen as legitimate."
Bullies are very good at convincing others, including coworkers and managers, that the victim deserves the abuse that they are subjected to. As the attacks continue day in and day out the target begins to be worn down and eventually will make a mistake. Perhaps they will have an emotional outburst and lash back at the bully.
This is stereotypical in mobbing cases and this incident will be used to turn the tables on the target as the bully will loudly proclaim that this proves that the target is the real troublemaker. This often gives management, who have done nothing about the bullying, the opportunity to bring formal disciplinary measures against the target and the victim winds up being the one who is punished.
This adds insult to injury as the mobbing continues to escalate out of control, especially once managers have gotten onboard with the abuse and have sided with the bully.
It is not unusual for mobbing targets to suffer heart attacks or strokes, or even to commit suicide or in rare cases, kill their tormenters.
Workplace Mobbing at Miraca Life Sciences
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