Following is an article that I wrote a while back. I want to reiterate to people exactly what we mean by a toxic working environment and health-harming behavior at work.
Identifying Toxic Work Cultures: Recognizing & Controlling Workplace Bullying
When one hears the word “bully,” people think of the prototypical roughneck at school that shoves the little kids into lockers. Or maybe it’s the hooligan that takes someone’s lunch money as a fee for letting them live another day. But people tend to forget or ignore that bullying does not necessarily end on the playground or the gym locker room.
Many people fail to recognize that there is such a thing as the workplace bully. This personality type is becoming more well known thanks to many people that have brought the topic to light in recent years, but it’s still a relatively new field of study in the psycho-social aspect as well as in business.
I have researched the various forms of bullying and how employers can create a bully-free environment in their workplace. But as with any problem, there first has to be recognition. I want to give the reader an indication of the “signs and symptoms” of bullying so that the reader will be better able to identify what is making their workplace “sick.”
via Identifying Toxic Work Cultures: Recognizing & Controlling Workplace Bullying.