Employee abuse in the workplace is emotional and psychological abuse not covered by law and occurs among employees, managers, and customers.
Examples of Employee Abuse
This type of verbal and emotional abuse includes put-downs, bullying, intimidation, harassment, shame, coercion, exerting values of power, being overworked to extreme, lying, condescension, creating feelings of powerlessness, being made to feel insignificant or inferior, excessive demands of perfection, inconsistent application of practices, not providing employees sufficient information to perform, depriving of rights/ benefits, inappropriate nonverbal behaviors, ignoring, belittling, talking down to another, making judgments, setting up situations for failure, and double binds.
Employee abuse occurs among employees, managers, and customers.
Why People Act Abusively
Reasons people act abusively include to protect themselves, to get their portion, to manipulate, to intimidate, to defend themselves, to maintain their territory, for revenge, having a mental health disorder, acting out, control, fear, modeling from the organization, feeling threatened, insecurity, acting the only way they know how to act, habit, feeling devalued, feeling trapped, being in a culture that condones abuse, anger, impatience, using abuse to achieve results, lack of social skills, having been treated like an object themselves, not having developed the ability to empathize, and viewing others as a means to an end.
How Recipients of Abuse Feel and Act
Recipients of employee abuse may feel harassed, insecure, intimidated, protective, rebellious, devalued, suspicious, uncomfortable, withdrawn, embarrassed, trapped, hurt, worthless, unappreciated, exploited, powerless, angry/furious, revengeful, unacknowledged, hopeless, oppressed, lack of motivation, fearful, and inadequate.
Recipients of abuse may have a variety of behaviors or reactions such as the following:
• If an employee, manager, or customer abuses an employee, that employee’s reactions may include desire to retaliate, absenteeism, withdrawing, and low productivity.
• If an employee abuses a manager, the manager’s reactions may include labeling the employee as a troublemaker, taking disciplinary action, or believing the employee is trying to make the manager look bad.
• If an employee or manager abuses a customer, the customer’s reactions may include desire to retaliate, leaving, asking to see an upper level manager, and filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.
Costs and Consequences of Employee Abuse
Costs or consequences of abuse can affect everyone involved. Consequences to the organization may include absenteeism, turnover, retraining, replacement, inefficiency, low morale, disruption, lawsuits, and lower productivity. Consequences to the recipient of abuse may include low self-esteem, loss of sense of belonging, and lower productivity. Consequences to the abuser may include lawsuits, time for meetings to resolve conflicts, and potential loss of friends. If an organization ignores abuse, expects that the abuse may escalate or spread, and/or employees may take sides.
