ACCORDING to Mrs Roslyn Ten, fair and progressive employment practices are the cornerstone of a more engaged and productive workforce ("Understand and adapt to diverse needs"; Thursday).
Workplace bullying contributes most to an unhappy work environment, and is far more prevalent than perhaps commonly thought.
Such bullying seems to be particularly widespread in publicly listed companies.
Certain leadership positions in the armed forces or on a professional sports team require the exercise of sheer will to ensure compliance.
However, different rules apply in the office, where bullying has more to do with the boss' desires than with the workers' needs.
At my previous workplace, bullying was honed into a fine art through systematic and persistent personal attacks, ostracism, hostile interactions, aggressive communication, manipulation of work and acts aimed at degrading subordinates.
Morale was severely affected by an unhealthy power imbalance between the boss and his targets.
This resulted in psychological consequences for affected workers and their colleagues, costing significant loss of productivity and affecting the company's bottom line.
My previous employer encouraged the bullying, since the department head used it to strategically rid the workplace of older employees, so as to avoid any legal obligation to pay compensation claims and to prevent investor confidence from being shaken.
Workplace bullying may be verbal, non-verbal or psychological in nature. Such aggression is particularly difficult to tackle, since it is usually perpetrated by someone in authority who operates within the established rules and policies of the company.
The negative effects are not limited to the targeted employee, as they often result in a decline in overall staff morale and productivity.
Bullying by bosses usually grows out of a sense of insecurity.
Managers who are not sure of their own worth are usually the culprits; bosses who feel incompetent are more likely to bully subordinates.
Since social interactions play a crucial role in the organisational structure and pursuit of corporate goals, the consequences of bullying are a negative work environment and decreased productivity.
Edmund Khoo Kim Hock
Workplace bullying contributes most to an unhappy work environment, and is far more prevalent than perhaps commonly thought.
Such bullying seems to be particularly widespread in publicly listed companies.
Certain leadership positions in the armed forces or on a professional sports team require the exercise of sheer will to ensure compliance.
However, different rules apply in the office, where bullying has more to do with the boss' desires than with the workers' needs.
At my previous workplace, bullying was honed into a fine art through systematic and persistent personal attacks, ostracism, hostile interactions, aggressive communication, manipulation of work and acts aimed at degrading subordinates.
Morale was severely affected by an unhealthy power imbalance between the boss and his targets.
This resulted in psychological consequences for affected workers and their colleagues, costing significant loss of productivity and affecting the company's bottom line.
My previous employer encouraged the bullying, since the department head used it to strategically rid the workplace of older employees, so as to avoid any legal obligation to pay compensation claims and to prevent investor confidence from being shaken.
Workplace bullying may be verbal, non-verbal or psychological in nature. Such aggression is particularly difficult to tackle, since it is usually perpetrated by someone in authority who operates within the established rules and policies of the company.
The negative effects are not limited to the targeted employee, as they often result in a decline in overall staff morale and productivity.
Bullying by bosses usually grows out of a sense of insecurity.
Managers who are not sure of their own worth are usually the culprits; bosses who feel incompetent are more likely to bully subordinates.
Since social interactions play a crucial role in the organisational structure and pursuit of corporate goals, the consequences of bullying are a negative work environment and decreased productivity.
Edmund Khoo Kim Hock
