Saturday 9 January 2016

Is "workplace cyberbullying" different to face-to-face bullying at work?

So, what is workplace cyberbullying, and is it different to f2f bullying?


(image courtesy of https://storify.com/revjones22/cyber-bullying-vs-physical-bullying)

The short answer to this question is: Workplace cyberbullying is sometimes referred to as bullying using technology, or online bullying, and yes, workplace cyberbullying is different to face-to-face bullying at work.

F2F bullying at work is repetitive behaviour that humiliates or negatively affects the target - generally there is an imbalance of power between the perpetrator and target, against which the target may feel powerless to defence themselves.

Workplace cyberbullying can be unconscious, deliberate or malicious online communication that is either overt (that is, the perpetrator identifies themselves to their target) or anonymous (where the perpetrator hides their identity).

Perpetrators can include the target’s team mate sitting in the next-door cubicle, a subordinate or staff member, colleagues or peers, supervisors. Perpetrators can also include external clients and stakeholders.

These perpetrators use technology, such as social media websites or workplace email, to instantaneously and publicly broadcast a comment, video or picture, anywhere and anytime, to embarrass or defame the target.

In the workplace context, online cyberbullying can be person-related or task-related. Person-related bullying includes slander, social isolation and insinuation about people’s mental health. Task-related bullying can include micro-management, inconsistent allotment or incompatible distribution of tasks, persistent criticism of a person and their work.

Why is workplace cyberbullying different to face-to-face bullying?

Workplace cyberbullying is seen as a lot more intense than face-to-face bullying, because one defamatory video, post or comment has the capacity to instantaneously go viral and global, which is then hard to remove from the internet. The key differences between workplace f2f bullying and cyberbullying are also illustrated below by a simple figure, that I developed for my research (http://eprints.qut.edu.au/88058/, p. 43). 



So, this means that an employee who is going for a job or promotion and is also dealing with an anonymous website alleging that they are a workplace harasser or bully (or more),  then it's possible that the prospective employer may ask (quite reasonably) for the background to this website and place the employee in an extremely difficult situation. This outcome could possibly happened in face-to-face bullying situation, however in these cases the perpetrator's behaviour tends to be localized to the target’s immediate team or group, and the target's attempts to relocate to a new job is probably not shared.

Perpetrators also use technology to follow their targets from work to home, from job to job and from state to state. In this respect, targets can sometimes feel cyberbullying is inescapable. Therefore the potential for workplace cyberbullying to damage an employee’s wellbeing and reputation, and potentially their career, is immense.

So, how employees use 1990s anti-bullying intervention and prevention legislation and polices to resolve cyberbullying? Well, I personally believe 1990s legislation and policies are as effective as a medical doctor telling an Ebola victim to go home and take an aspirin.  

Yes, 1990s anti-bullying legislation and workplace policies talk about the right for all of us to work in a harassment and bully free work environment, and this ideal remains relevant. However, for employees navigating this new cyber-world, I believe we can provide better intervention and prevention measures.


Dr Lawrence has a BA SSc and a PhD in organisational social psychology and works with individuals and organisations as a consultant, speaker and trainer. She uses her social science expertise to enhance interactions between organisations and the people who lead and work in them by fostering new insights for diagnosing organisational problems, and build new capabilities and culture.



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