“The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude, be kind, but not weak, be bold, but not bully.” -Jim Rohn
I’ve often been somewhat surprised at the impact of the dreaded office bully. Some refer to them as toxic managers, but the reality is that any employee can be a bully at work. What’s perhaps more surprising is how often management turns a blind eye to the problem. In some cases, they actually do the exact opposite to what you might expect someone would do with a problem employee. What do managers do that they shouldn’t and can office bullies cost your company money?
Ignoring the Impact of the Office Bully
True, there are some very good managers out there that simply won’t tolerate unpleasant individuals making other people uncomfortable at work. To all those good managers out there who confront bullies, well done! However, the efforts of good managers are often trumped by the bad ones who continue to ignore the severity of the office bully. When it comes to the office bully, bad managers typically do one of two things:
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They either ignore the problem
- They try and find something for the bully to do that will stop the complaining.
Rarely do managers take the time to confront the bully head on. In fact in a number of instances, the approach is to find that one added job or responsibility the employee can take on that will stop them from their behavior. Managers will actually reward the wrong behavior by trying to find that one thing that will keep the problem employee happy. It’s amazing, but it happens all the time.
By rewarding the wrong behavior, the employee learns to both continue complaining and being a bully. In their minds, they see their approach as the right way, and are being rewarded for how they treat others. Meanwhile, those employees who never complain, are always professional and courteous, and results driven, get passed over time and again for added responsibilities.
After all, these employees never complain, so they must be happy to continue doing what they’re doing – right? Well, one day, those good employees leave, and your company is left with all the bad apples, bullies and just plain bad employees. It raises your costs and makes it much more difficult to call upon them to reduce costs.
1. Bullies, Toxic Managers & Bad Employees Cost Your Business Money: I’ve mainly come across the bully in terms of manufacturing and production, but they are equally bad in any department of a company. The end result of the office bully is that employees become indifferent and ambivalent. There is nothing worse to a company than having an ambivalent work force, who only do what’s needed not to upset the office bully. So, what kind of impact does it have?
2. The Office Bully in Your Sales & Customer Service Departments: Do you want your sales and customer service people to go above and beyond the call of duty in servicing your customers? Of course you do. However, do you think they’ll continue to do that when they work for an office bully? Of course they won’t. Will that cost your company money? Guaranteed! The bottom line is that when people are confronted with an office bully, they’ll tell that bully what they want to hear. They won’t go out of their way for fear of retribution.
3. The Office Bully in Your Purchasing & Inventory Management Departments: Do you want your purchasing to be motivated to save your company money? Do you want your purchasing and inventory management to negotiate favorable stocking agreements with your suppliers? Every company does. Having a proactive and resourceful purchasing and inventory department can make all the difference in the world to reducing your inventory costs. However, if they are always second guessed on their decisions, or don’t even feel empowered to make decisions, you can be assured they’ll simply shut down. This will eventually translate to your suppliers who’ll resent dealing with angry and abusive purchasing agents.
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I could go on and on about the negative impacts of the dreaded office bully. However, what’s worse is how these office bullies are placated by management, and given free reign to do what they please.
The costs to your company are substantial. Don’t ignore the office bully. Adopt a plan to end the impact of the these individuals and put a plan in place to ensure your company never deals with these issues again.
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