Stand up to the meanies

Workplace bullying may be more commonplace in HK than is usually imagined. Evelyn Yu finds out possible ways of dealing with such crisis situations.

All grown up now, the school bullies of days gone by wear suits and ties and work in offices. Their tactics have changed. They don't punch, kick, or throw people to the floor, but they haven't changed their ways. They still push other people into pits of despair. They are just more subtle.

Chow Wai, a 28-year-old insurance manager, recalled what she now describes as the worst three years of her life, when she was a sales assistant for a tobacco company where three coworkers ganged up to make her life like hell. She was new and the only one from the Chinese mainland working in the company.

Coworkers condemned her every mistake and when she did extra work, her coworkers took the credit. She was never invited to social gatherings. She was the only one not given souvenirs when the bullies handed out gifts one by one in the office. They told her she was trash. Rumors spread that her family had close ties with company management, and that she was given the job because of luxury gifts handed to bosses. When chatting online with friends and family, coworkers stood behind her, gleaning every snippet of information to turn against her, and then they went to the boss and complained about her online social networking in working time. The boss told her the job might not be suitable for her.

Close to tears, she worked all night preparing a report, backed by figures supporting that she handled 70 percent of the team's workload. Chow could not identify any reason for the animus of her coworkers. Then she learned there had been other victims, who had come and gone before her.

There is no statutory definition of workplace bullying in Hong Kong. A wide body of researches back the view that it is a repeated, unreasonable behavior posing a risk to health and safety, directed toward coworkers, or a group of coworkers.

The Hong Kong Fire Services Department was shamed by a sexual assault scandal, when a victim was pinned by other fire fighters, some half naked, others in uniform, while the assailants were seen attempting to insert an object into the victim's rectum. The offenders were fired, but only after a photograph of the incident appeared on the internet, setting off a public outrage.

Office bullying is more frequent than is commonly believed. About 53 percent of 509 people randomly polled in a survey conducted by Vital Employee Service Consultancy, an offshoot of the Christian Family Service Centre, said they had been victims of at least one type of workplace bullying. Verbal abuse, assignment to tasks no one wanted, and being shunned by colleagues are among the top complaints. Most of those viewed as bullies were people of superior stature in the workplace.

A survey revealed how some Hong Kong employees, who were not especially favored by their supervisors or their workmates, were assigned to sit at a workstation opposite the toilet; asked to buy things for those higher up the ladder; given new assignments just before the end of the work day; found themselves never receiving invitations to after-work social gatherings; become targets of innuendoes and rumors.

Victims share several traits in common, said Suen Lap-man, principal consultant for Vital Employee Service Consultancy. Employees who tend to be shy, awkward socially and in entry-level positions are the most likely victims. If they are overweight, disabled or physically awkward, they are more likely to be picked on as well.

Bullies themselves often prove to be below the average in their own emotional intelligence and tend to express themselves through uncontrolled outbursts. They see bullying as a way to increase personal power, Suen said.

Benign neglect

Employers and those they appoint as supervisors usually bear ultimate responsibility. Over half of employees surveyed said their bosses were fully aware of how weaker employees were treated. Only 4 percent said senior staff member would speak to the offender to address the problem, while only 2.7 percent said supervisors would open an enquiry into the situation.

Suen noted that managers usually are too busy or just don't bother to interfere. Collecting information and undertaking enquiries can be very "costly". Most senior company staff have no expertise for resolving staff disputes, which may range from sexual harassment to physical abuse.

Suen added that most managers simply separate people involved in conflicts, assigning them to different departments. For small and -medium size enterprises, however, this is more difficult to accomplish. Most employers will pretend not to notice, and carry on in the hope that the problem will simply go away. That seldom happens.

Office bullying poses a risk to an employee's mental health, ultimately affecting the company. Workplace bullying can affect the community at large as well.

"Victims of workplace bullies suffer in their private and social lives. Their self-esteem is dented, their faith in interpersonal relationships sinks. Those who suffer from chronic bullying might develop depression or post-traumatic stress disorder," said Suen.

Suen explained that the mental stress caused by bullying correlates to physical harm, citing an example of a woman in her 40s. Her boss scolds her in front of other staff. The boss sends her abusive emails, belittling her work, she shares the emails with her colleagues.

The victim breaks out in a sweat every time she gets an email. The sound of high heels clacking on the floor makes her tremble. She's afraid the boss is coming to berate her again.

The price firms have to pay

These practices, left unchecked, can affect the company's bottom line. Employees who are bullied take more sick leave than normal. They will quit their jobs as soon as they can find a way out. Many will take revenge by sabotaging property and company interests.

Choi, a residential property manager, said his office took a hit because of office bullying, resulting in a serious staff shortage. He said the company kept posting job ads, because few new recruits lasted three months.

He didn't understand why, until he started paying careful attention to what was going on. There was a company director who would assemble her sycophants, and then rant her condemnation at the new employees, exaggerating their mistakes. At lunch time, new workers sat alone, isolated. When he or she asked questions of more senior staff, the answer would come framed, something like, "I have told you many times. Why don't you ever learn?"

The medical costs and damage to overall productivity are reflected in society as a whole. "On the basis of figures from a number of countries, we estimate that stress and violence in work may have lost 1 to 3.5 percent of GDP," said Suen.

Efforts to ameliorate office disharmony are becoming more and more common, as employers seek guidance from outside sources to put an end to office bullying.

Vital Employee Service Consultancy now serves more than 150 entities in Hong Kong. Clients include banks, hotels, food retailers, and government departments.

Usually, the enquiry begins with the affected company's human resources department. HR managers are advised to try to persuade bullies to desist, letters of warning may be placed on personnel files. Some are fired, like the bully who threatened a fellow employee with a letter opener.

Suen advised that victims of bullying should retain abusive emails, take notes on what bullies say, seek the aid of colleagues to serve as witnesses, and then go to the boss.

He said the best choice is to unite with colleagues if the bully is a senior employee. Management may protect its own, Suen said, but the employers may listen more carefully if approached by a group of employees.

If the bully happens to be a senior manager, and the employee is the sole victim, the situation becomes awkward. Legal protection for employees is lacking in Hong Kong, except in cases like sexual harassment, or physical threats. In most situations, it is all but impossible to prove that the boss is breaking the law. "I would suggest victims to quit. No job is worth putting yourself at risk," said Suen.

Contact the writer at evelyn@chinadailyhk.com

(China Daily 06/17/2016 page6)