Human Resource Management

Bullying in the Workplace and Ethical Climate

MSA 604

Ashlyn Lewis-Hope

Student ID #663654

Central Michigan University

Dr. James S. Neubecker - Reviewer

This MSA 603 paper is in partial fulfillment of the requirements of MSA 698 Directed Administrative Portfolio

Executive Summary

Bullying in the workplace can occur for reasons such as; the work culture encouraging employees to compete against one another in completing a task, and the same workplace only allowing for there to be one winner. The winner might win most of the days, therefore getting a footing on which to bully the other employees who perform less as good.

Another reason would be a bad workforce mix which encourages employees to do whatever it takes in order to get the job done, and this might include causing harm to the other employees just for the sake of getting some work done (Richards, 2012). At the workplace also, if the bullies ever feel that their behavior is reinforced directly or indirectly, or that they are not punished enough, they might be encouraged to continue doing the behavior. Employees caught of bullying should lose their jobs, and in severe cases, police involvement might even be sought after to restore peace and understanding.

Bullying can happen at any organization. The best way to handle this behavior is to terminate the person. To make someone else feel that they are not welcome in their own areas of work can be a very disturbing. Bullying can be associated with many aspects of the organization, including its administration, globalization, and cultural diversity or lack of it thereof. The global world today embraces the concepts of diversity along cultural lines in the workplace, but does not know the effects this might have on individual employees who are having trouble coping. Therefore, succeeding in such an environment, surrounded by people who are from different cultures and have different personalities is necessary for the organization.

Table of Contents

Executive Summary………………………………………………………………………………ii

Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………………....iii

Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………..1

Different Cultures and Personalities ………...………………………………………………...….3

Cultural Reasons Why Workplace Bullying is Tolerated …….……………………………….....4

Cultural Difference Between a Hostile and well Controlled Climate………………………….....5

Managing Various Cultures and The Ethical Climate….. ……………………………………….6

How to Improve Working Relationship…………………………………………………………..7

Conclusion and Recommendations……………………………………………………………….7

References………………………………………………………………………………………...9

Introduction to Bullying in the Workplace and Ethical Climate

Legally, there is one documented way of defining bullying. However, the most commonly used definition of bullying describes bullying as the offensive and intimidating behavior, or misuse of power directed in such a way that it humiliates and injures the target of the bullying exercises (Branch, 2013). For it to be called bullying, it has to occur repeatedly, and is more often than not health-harming in a sense of the word. Bullying can take the form of verbal or physical abuse, which in the end interferes with the ability of some employees to properly do their work. Bullies select their targets based on their definitions of targets, they choose the best time and place to launch their attacks, and finally, they go ahead and launch their attacks (Linton, 2013). Any employee in the workplace can be a victim of bullying and for employees who are very timid and do not know how to stand up for themselves, they can end up being the ones who are most adversely affected by the bullying.

Succeeding in a Diverse Workplace

With more and more business expanding into foreign countries in the name of expanding their business, diversity is a much welcome change. Operating outside the borders of the home country brings with it the associated issue of diversity in the workplace environment, with the diversity being mainly along cultural and personality lines. The globalization trends of most business highlight diversity to be among the determined employees of success. Diversity can be a good thing and an equally bad thing. However, surviving in a diverse environment is not as easy a matter as it may sound. It requires efforts by both the members of the staff, and the administration as well.

To succeed in a diverse workplace, employees and employers need to work together. Employers should promote diversity in the top management positions. From this position, it would be possible to create a lifeline for the other employees who might feel that they are somehow left out in case they are few in terms of numbers in the workplace. Employees should also strive to be more open in the workplace. Being open is the one trait that allows employees to freely interact with one another, exchange ideas, and express their opinions about their work and their lives as well. Once the employees are open with one another and can communicate freely, they will get a chance to understand each other much better, and therefore, appreciate the different cultures that the other fellow workmates bring to the circle of friendship (Okoro, 2012).

In a diverse working environment, it is difficult to stop employees from feeling as if all the decisions being made are more in support of one side than the other. This unfairness in thought creates an unwanted feeling in the workplace, and with such a feeling going around, making people understand the reasoning behind some major decisions can be difficult. Employers can stop this habit from forming, by creating inclusion initiatives that allow employees to become part of all the major diversity initiatives in the workplace. With such an incentive to motivate them, the employees feel like they are at home, even when they are in the diverse working environment.

Employees can also take advantage of the diversity training seminars organized either at their workplaces, or by their employers. Such initiatives enable the employees to shape their diversity policies, therefore allowing them to appreciate their fellow work partners some more, and understand their backgrounds and heritages a little bit more. In addition, the employees can take advantage of the job satisfaction surveys that are launched by the administration. The surveys are used as tools of comprehensive reporting. This has the capability of exposing some concerns that management had no idea what is going on in the actual field. This will be a chance for employees to air their views regarding issues as they see them in the workplace. If they are not happy about something in the work place, they have the chance of complaining and seeing something get done about it.

Different Cultures and Personalities and How they can Impact the Workplace

A global workplace would bring together employees from different kinds of countries, and from this, the workplace would be filled with people who are different from one another in terms of the languages they speak, their behaviors, their beliefs, and their way of thinking. Cultural and personality differences are very important to take note of when in a diverse workplace, as the two can determine the success of the team at doing their work, and dealing with their differences. A better understanding for the workplace in this situation is taking the imagery of a stew. In a stew, there are different ingredients used to cook the main meal that is being prepared. These different ingredients have their different flavors and tastes, which they contribute in their proportions to the taste of the final meal being prepared. However, each ingredient is different from the rest, and in addition to affecting how the meal tastes, the meal also affects its own survival. The workplace exists bound by a number of rules and regulations, as well as expectations for different titles that different people hold in the workplace. For the workplace to function as one unit, it would require the assistance of all the players, and for that to happen, players need to have some kind of an understanding amongst themselves first.

In the workplace, culture is determine by who the person is, where they grew up, where they are right now, where they come from, their beliefs, and their strengths and weaknesses. In the diverse workplace, different cultures are oriented towards different things. For some people, culture determines our perceptions to issues such as power distance, certainty and uncertainty, masculinity and femininity, individualism and collectivism, importance of time, handling of obligations, involvement and commitment, as well as status and power bases among many others.

On the other hand, personality differences are responsible for classifying people into different categories. For instance, there are people who like making decisions, while others keep their options open. Others like details, while others like to chase after their mystery. Others make decisions based on emotions, while others think logically before making a decision. Others think out loud, and hence talk a lot. Others talk less. These different classes of personality types can be used to broadly understand why people do the things they do, and in the manner they do them in (Al-Jenaibi, 2013).

These different cultures and personalities define who the person is, and therefore, impacts on their job performance on all levels. Happy employees thrive well in an environment that is associated with a happy feeling, but equally perform poorly when they are in situations where they can encounter things that make them unhappy. Therefore, the different cultures and personalities impact on the ability of the employee to do their work and therefore, affect how the workplace survives.

Cultural Reasons why Workplace Bullying is tolerated

The workplace has people from all kinds of cultural backgrounds. These employees all do things differently. Some employees come from a very competitive culture where if the bully’s target has some skill deficiencies, there are concerns as to whether or not bullying that employee could lead to getting of those skills. There are also relaxed cultures where the people concerned are not motivated enough to do anything about cases of workplace bullying when they are brought to their attention.

There are some cultures in which belong to a majority of society members who support aggression, humiliation, and abuse of the rights of the other individual in the workplace. In such a society, standing up against bullying can be difficult especially since a majority of the society behaves in a similar manner. Therefore, instances of bullying in such a setting not only goes unnoticed, but might be inspired by emulation of other employees doing the same thing to other employees in the workplace.

The working conditions might also be inclined in such a way that, they inspire a culture of violence, harassment, and humiliation into the employees. For example, a case with a bad boss who is constantly complaining and downplaying the roles of the different employees, as well as maybe even insulting them. Therefore, the employees survive by taking out their anger on their fellow employees, some of whom might be too weak to fight back, or raised in a society where fighting was not tolerated hence they choose not to fight back.

Cultural Differences between a Hostile and a Well Controlled Ethical Climate

In an organization, the ethical climate refers to the moral atmosphere that the work environment shows, as well as the ethics practiced within the working environment as well. Culturally, a hostile ethical climate can be associated to poor performance among the employees, while as a well-controlled ethical climate produces happier and more productive employees.

Culturally, a hostile ethical climate is described by cases of harassment, discrimination, selfishness, rudeness, self-centered employees, and maybe even over-supervision by some of the supervisors. On the other hand, a well-controlled ethical climate could be comprised of employees who are caring, sensitive to the feelings of their fellow workmates, trusting of the intentions of one another, secure about their abilities, and even showing concern over what the other employees might be going through (Vardaman, 2014).

Managing Various Cultural and Ethical Climates

In an organization where progress and performance of the employees determines their positions for tomorrow; competitions and hard work go hand in hand. However, the issue having various cultural and ethical climates in the workplace does not make things easier. The management of various cultural and ethical climates calls for a careful approach to the issue both by the management and the other employees, so as to create a working environment that is inclusive of all cultures represented, and makes everyone feel like they are value.

The appointment of which employee should be assigned to which tasks, should be assigned purely based on the skill and abilities; not based off the relationship between whoever is picking, and whoever is being picked for a task should not be questionable. In this way, employees are sure that they have an equal chance of being appointed to handle certain chores and are not afraid that they are not related to people in positions of power (Weckerle, 2013). In addition, the employers should ensure the employees have a better understanding of cultural differences, and their ethical climate as well. In this manner, the employees understand their team dynamics better, allowing them to interact much more easily with one another and form meaningful attachments.

Another way of managing a different cultural and ethical climate, is through the fair distribution of power based on ability, and reducing instances of ethnic stereotyping among the employees. Stereotyping can lead to formulation of early and awful judgments and therefore, stopping them from happening is an important thing. Power in a task should be assigned based on the abilities the person has in such a task. Ethnicity should not be encouraged in the workplace. Employers could also encourage the formulation of collective judgments, which will show the position of every member of the group, and by making employees feel that their input and contribution in the organization is valued, they are in a better position to better appreciate one another.

How to Improve Working Relationships

The only way to improve working relationships in a workplace is by giving the employees a chance to interact with one another, work as a team, and present their opinions for review by the other people. As the teams strive to work together, they have to come up with up with a form of understanding which builds on their working relationships. Only when their working relationships are good can the employees really perform to their maximum abilities (DeMarco, 2013). Team building exercises can contribute to the relationship in the workplace. When managers are trained in teambuilding their ability to problem solve is easier. It is important for managers to be trained in team building exercises; therefore they can use their knowledge to level the ethical climate out when need be. If managers are displaying cohesiveness among themselves this also could contribute to positive working relationships.

Conclusion

After focusing on the administration, globalization, and multiculturalism aspects of bullying in the workplace is an issue but can be limited. Although different cultures and personalities are accepting of bullying, this should be a behavior that should not be brought into the workplace. The concept of accepting all different types of people can result into a positive workplace. Productivity can increase when the ethical climate is stable and the morale within an organization is acceptable. The negative behavior such as bullying can be used into a positive behavior. But even then there are limitations of what can be said or done. Managing various cultures can be challenging but also rewarding. When improving the relationships within the organization, it is important for managers understand many cultures. Multiculturalism, is one of the keys of having a bullying free workplace.

References

Al-Jenaibi, B. (2013). Managing conflict in workplace: A case study in the UAE Organizations. International Business Strategy and Entrepreneurship: An Information Technology Perspective: An Information Technology Perspective, 165.

Branch, S., Ramsay, S., & Barker, M. (2013). Workplace bullying, mobbing and general harassment: A review. International Journal of Management Reviews, 15(3), 280-299.

DeMarco, T., & Lister, T. (2013). Peopleware: productive projects and teams. Addison-Wesley.

Linton, D. K., & Power, J. L. (2013). The personality traits of workplace bullies are often shared by their victims: Is there a dark side to victims? Personality and Individual Differences, 54(6), 738-743.

Okoro, E. A., & Washington, M. C. (2012). Workforce diversity and organizational communication: Analysis of human capital performance and productivity. Journal of Diversity Management (Online), 7(1), 57.

Richards, H., & Freeman, S. (2012). Bullying in the workplace: An occupational hazard. MP Publishing.

Vardaman, J. M., Gondo, M. B., & Allen, D. G. (2014). Ethical climate and pro-social rule breaking in the workplace. Human Resource Management Review, 24(1), 108-118.

Weckerle, A. (2013). Civility in the Digital Age: How Companies and People Can Triumph over Haters, Trolls, Bullies and Other Jerks. Que Publishing.