Bullying or bad management?

The media frenzy around workplace bullying has highlighted an important topic. Whether No.10 is home to bullies is for others to investigate, but it begs the question of how we define bullying. Are we confusing bullying with what is, in fact, bad management? The Oxford English dictionary’s definition of bullying is “another person coercing others by fear – persecute or oppress by force or threats”. It is a deliberate and conscious course of action that targets perceived weaknesses in its victims. Bullying is indefensible and cruel, and has a significant impact on those that find themselves targeted. The unpremeditated outcomes of poor management are not the same thing.
 

Language does not simply reflect what is going on in organisational life: it also influences what people think and what they do

Linda Holbeche, director of the Holbeche Partnership and visiting professor of HRM/OD at Cass Business School