The purpose of bullying is to hide inadequacy.

Bullying has

nothing to do with managing etc; good managers manage, bad managers bully. Management is managing; bullying is not managing. Therefore, anyone who chooses to bully is admitting their inadequacy, and the extent to which a person bullies is a measure of their inadequacy. Bullies project their inadequacy on to others: to avoid facing up to their inadequacy and doing something about it; to avoid accepting responsibility for their behaviour and the effect it has on others, and, to reduce their fear of being seen for what they are, namely a weak, inadequate and often incompetent individuals, and, to divert attention away from their inadequacy - in an

 Bullying is an inefficient way of working, resulting in

disenchantment, demoralisation, demotivation, disaffection, and alienation. Bullies run dysfunctional and inefficient organisations; staff turnover and sickness absence are high whilst morale, productivity and profitability are low. Prosperity is illusory and such organizations are a bad long-term investment. Projection and denial are hallmarks of the serial bully.
Bullying is present behind all forms of harassment,

discrimination, prejudice, abuse, persecution, conflict and violence. When the bullying has a focus (eg race or gender) it is expressed as racial prejudice or harassment, or sexual discrimination and harassment, and so on. When the bullying lacks a focus (or the bully is aware of the Sex Discrimination Act or the Race Relations Act), it comes out as pure bullying; this is an opportunity to

 Bullying includes abuse, physical or verbal violence,

humiliation and undermining someone's confidence. You are probably being bullied if, for example, you are:

constantly picked on humiliated in front of colleagues regularly unfairly treated physically or verbally abused blamed for problems caused by others always given too much to do, so that you regularly fail in your work regularly threatened with the sack unfairly passed over for promotion or denied training opportunities
Bullying can be face-to-face, in writing, over the phone or

by fax or email.

The consequences of workplace bullying may include the following, bearing in mind that many of these points may be as a result of other internal or external factors:
Reduced efficiency, productivity and profitability; Increased absenteeism, sick leave and staff turnover; Poor morale, erosion of employee loyalty and

commitment; Increased costs associated with recruitment and training; Increased workers compensation claims; Increased indirect costs such as management time, engaging mediators or counselors; Adverse publicity and poor public image;

 An unsafe work environment and potential fines for

breaches of the occupational health and safety legislation; Costs resulting from failure to meet legislative provisions including civil and criminal actions; Legal costs incurred defending a claim of workplace bullying; Vicarious liability and other associated employer liabilities; Potential increase to insurance and workers compensation premiums.

What to do if you are bullied at work Employers have a 'duty of care' to their employees and this includes dealing with bullying at work. There are measures you can take if you are being bullied. Get advice
Speak to someone about how you might deal with the

problem informally. This might be: an employee representative like a trade union official someone in the human resources (HR) department your manager or supervisor

Some employers have specially trained staff to help with bullying and harassment problems. They are sometimes called 'harassment advisers'. If the bullying is affecting your health, visit your doctor.

Talk to the bully

The bullying may not be deliberate. If you can, talk to

the person in question, who may not realise how their behaviour has been affecting you. Work out what to say beforehand. Describe what has been happening and why you object to it. Stay calm and be polite. If you don't want to talk to them yourself, ask someone else to do so for you.

Keep a written record or diary

Write down details of every incident and keep copies

of any relevant documents. Making a formal complaint Making a formal complaint is the next step if you can't solve the problem informally. To do this you must follow your employer's grievance procedure.