Good Work Culture In Banks Is Possible Only With People Centric Approach

Stop workplace Bully?-----Needed For A Better Work culture?

Contributed BY Himadri Shekhar Bhattacharjee

Yes, workplace bullying is the external manifestation of efforts of some bosses to find scapegoats to hide their own incompetence by putting  innocent employees on the altar  and tormenting them.

Workplace bullying is a menace threatening workplaces of India INC and happily ‘dug in’ deep inside  the domain of some Indian Public Sector Banks, where, still British style of coercive management is still used.

In these public sector banks, still works are got done through the traditional tool of ‘Dants’ and threats of stoppage of increments, transfer to a remote place etc. Here, though the owner/majority shareholder is the country and its citizens at large, employees are compelled to sit till late at night, at the workplace, just to appease their egoist bosses.

SEE, HOW ‘ BANK OF BARODA’ COULD CLING TO THE HEIGHT OF SUCCESS BY REPOSINGMORE FAITH AND TRUST ON EMPLOYEES AND ADOPTING A PEOPLE CENTRIC APPROACH RATHER THAN A PROCESS- CENTRIC APPROACH THROUGH:

• Linking customer satisfaction to employee satisfaction,
• Initiating sympathetic hearings to employees’ problems,
• Communicating corporate goals to employees in a positive way,
• Investing in employees’ training.

Many adults are victims of bullying bosses or co-workers. And, just as in school, many peers stand by and watch it happen without intervening.

"There needs to be a lot more education about this issue in the workplace," "We can't just put zero-tolerance policies in place — in school or the workplace — without having a comprehensive understanding about bullying."

For example, many people may believe that only the bullying target is made to suffer, but a recent government study on bullying in Swedish workplaces shows that that bullying also harmed witnesses.

Specifically, women who were witnesses to the bullying saw an increase of about 33% in clinical depression while male witnesses experienced about a 16% increase.

"Bystanders and the whole organization are involved in the process of bullying behavior, and, in turn, intervention programs should be focused on the whole workplace system," researchers from Sweden's Institute of Environmental Medicine say.

But bosses, who had success as bullies, such as getting what they wanted when they bullied someone else, continue their bullying throughout their  working life, unabated, into the workplace.

"But in the workplace, the stakes are much higher, especially if the person doing the bullying is the boss," . "If the person is in power, it may mean that you're not included in email or you lose out on a job or promotion."

In the new scenario, you lose on those PAF marks, you annoy your boss and your PAF marks fall below the threshold limit and you forfeit all prospects towards that coveted promotion.

A recent CareerBuilder survey finds that 35% of workers say they have been bullied at work, an increase from the 27% reported last year. Nearly half of those workers say their bosses are the ones doing the bullying, and the most common forms of bullying were being falsely blamed for mistakes or ignored.

Recent instances of deaths of bank officers of some of Indian banks, mostly from the public sector stable, proves that, the menace has succeeded in getting ingrained in the mindsets of bosses. How to combat this menace? Let us ponder over the following suggestions:

•       Teaching conflict resolution. Employees should be trained on how to give appropriate negative feedback and be respectful.

·       Inappropriate behavior should be confronted and dealt with immediately. Instances of bullying at respective banks/offices should be reported in social media and comments solicited.

•       Knowing what it looks like. Employees should be encouraged to talk about bullying behavior in the workplace.

•       The put-downs and deliberate isolation of an employee are indications of bullying behavior that should be identified and stopped.

•       Emphasizing individual strengths. Sometimes those lowest on the career ladder in the workplace are the targets of bullies.

It should be understood by bosses that, if all employees are allowed to develop their skills and shown respect for their contributions, they're more likely to be self-confident and not become the target of a few bullying bosses.

Those who are bullying targets often are so miserable that they quit their jobs or are forced to leave because they've developed physical ailments related to the stress of being bullied and can no longer work, reports the Workplace Bullying Institute. The problem is especially acute for single working parents, it says.

"I think we're just beginning to understand how pervasive bullying really is," she says, "and that it can follow us from school into the workplace."

LAST, BUT NOT THE LEAST THE MOST FRUITFUL CORRECTIVE ACTION WOULD HAVE BEEN, GARNERING ENOUGH COURAGE TO SAY ‘ENOUGH’ IN THE FACE OF THOSE BULLIES, THOSE PAF MARKS, PROMOTIONS, BE DAMNED.

Remember,"Nothing can prepare you for living or working with a sociopathic serial bully. It is the most devastating, draining, misunderstood, and ultimately futile experience imaginable."