Mobbing at Work - Part II

 

Following up on the blog posted on the 16th of January 2022 entitles "Mobbing at Work-How do you deal with it", mobbing is a subject that will be revisited here as well.

What is workplace mobbing?

According to Dr. Dorothy Suskind's article on Psychology Today entitled "Are you Being Mobbed at Work", Workplace mobbing is:

"the purposeful humiliation, degradation and terrorization of an individual by a group of people in an effort to remove that person from the organization"

Suskind states that whereas bullying is an individual act, mobbing is an outgrow of an organizational culture where a group of individuals gang up on a victim in order to terminate the victim's employment. 

She also mentions that the target is usually someone creative with a work ethic that surpasses expectations setting a new bar of innovation in the organization. That person's work uncovers entrenched problems in the "in-group", which the organizational leader prefers to ignore or to keep hidden. 

"Victims of mobbing often share the following characteristics or circumstances: They speak out against harmful organizational policies, [...] wrongdoing, and prioritize protecting the clients, patients or students they are called to serve over maintaining appearances"

Suskind also mentions the term "shadow files" and explains that because the target is someone with a strong work ethic to whom a formal investigation cannot be launched, the mobbing leaders follow informal channels. Therefore they create the "shadow files", the secret documents filled with gossip, innuendos and peer interview notes. Those false allegations aim in creating a false narrative for the victim in order to terminate their employment. They do not target the victim's work ethic but rather their character.

The mobbing leaders will then host a "degradation ceremony" in which they will declare the victim's work ethic as a lie, the victim's accomplishments as non relevant thus leaving the mob leaders with no other option but to extract that person from the organization. 

Sunskind ends the article by stating that even though the victim is unaware of the mobbing happening behind the scenes, when this is all finally revealed, the victim will hope that the HR Team and/or the management will support that person. However, studies show that in most cases, the HR Team and the management teams are the first ones to blame the victim and terminate their position. 

"You were thrown into a sea full of sharks and you are surviving just fine" or am I? #foodforthought

© 2023