UND management students learn about bullying at work

Yesterday, I caught up with Brett Rinke after teaching a couple of classes with Dr. Patrick Schultz in the Management Department of UND's College of Business and Public Administration. The classes were about workplace bullying, and coincidentally, Brett had just used an article in a presentation he had done about bullying. (I know Brett from the Northeast Dakota Area Human Resources Association, the local affiliate of the national Society of Human Resources Managers. He is president of UND's student affiliate of SHRM.

I am so pleased that the word is getting out more and more about workplace bullying, especially in a business school that educates our next generation of managers, directors, and C-levels. (If you're interested in hearing more, contact me at 218.399.1010 or jeri@workwrite.biz.)

The short version of the article Brett gave me is that a new study reveals bullying is causing more damage to employees than sexual harassment.

"Employees who experienced bullying, incivility or interpersonal conflict were more likely to quit their jobs, have lower well-being, be less satisfied with their jobs and have less satisfying relationships with their bosses than employees who were sexually harassed, the researchers found."

Here's the whole article:


Problem of Workplace Bullying Demands Attention, Researchers Say

By Rita Zeidner
3/31/2008

Workplace bullying appears to inflict more harm on employees than sexual harassment, according to a new peer-reviewed study.

“As sexual harassment becomes less acceptable in society, organizations may be more attuned to helping victims, who may therefore find it easier to cope,” said lead author M. Sandy Hershcovis, Ph.D., of the University of Manitoba. “In contrast, non-violent forms of workplace aggression such as incivility and bullying are not illegal, leaving victims to fend for themselves.”

Herschcovis presented her findings at the Seventh International Conference on Work, Stress and Health, co-sponsored by the American Psychological Association, the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health and the Society for Occupational Health Psychology.

Hershcovis and co-author Julian Barling, Ph.D., of Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada, reviewed 110 studies conducted over 21 years that compared the consequences of employees’ experience of sexual harassment and workplace aggression. Specifically, the authors looked at the effect on job, co-worker and supervisor satisfaction, workers’ stress, anger and anxiety levels as well as workers’ mental and physical health. Job turnover and emotional ties to the job were also compared.

The authors distinguished among different forms of workplace aggression. Incivility included rudeness and discourteous verbal and non-verbal behaviors. Bullying included persistently criticizing employees’ work; yelling; repeatedly reminding employees of mistakes; spreading gossip or lies; ignoring or excluding workers; and insulting employees’ habits, attitudes or private life. Interpersonal conflict included behaviors that involved hostility, verbal aggression and angry exchanges.

Both bullying and sexual harassment can create negative work environments and unhealthy consequences for employees, but the researchers found that workplace aggression has more severe consequences. Employees who experienced bullying, incivility or interpersonal conflict were more likely to quit their jobs, have lower well-being, be less satisfied with their jobs and have less satisfying relationships with their bosses than employees who were sexually harassed, the researchers found.

Furthermore, bullied employees reported more job stress, less job commitment and higher levels of anger and anxiety. No differences were found between employees experiencing either type of mistreatment on how satisfied they were with their co-workers or with their work.

“Bullying is often more subtle, and may include behaviors that do not appear obvious to others,” said Hershcovis. “For instance, how does an employee report to their boss that they have been excluded from lunch? Or that they are being ignored by a co-worker? The insidious nature of these behaviors makes them difficult to deal with and sanction.”

From a total of 128 samples that were used, 46 included subjects who experienced sexual harassment, 86 experienced workplace aggression and six experienced both. Sample sizes ranged from 1,491 to 53,470 people. Participants ranged from 18 to 65 years old. The work aggression samples included men and women. The sexual harassment samples examined primarily women because, Hershcovis said, past research has shown that men interpret and respond differently to the behaviors that women perceive as sexual harassment.

Rita Zeidner is manager of the new SHRM Online Employee Relations Focus Area.
The Focus Area was launched in early March 2008.

Solving homelessness takes more than a job

Steven Samra, who had been homeless until 2000, takes us through the steps and obstacles to getting and keeping a job while homeless.

"If only they'd get a job, they wouldn't be homeless anymore."

You've thought it before. Perhaps you've even muttered it a few times. But however pervasive this "common-sense" rationale for ending homelessness might be, "getting a job" is just not that simple for a homeless person.

Before we even get to the point of being able to afford a home as an employed and "productive member of society," let's talk a moment about what simply trying to get a job actually entails for the typical homeless person: (Read the rest of Steve's story here.)

Keep the Change

In AAUW last week, I heard about an old enemy and a new friend.

The old enemy is the "Pay Gap." I remember wearing 59 cents buttons back in the day when we talked about the Equal Rights Amendment. I'd lost track of the number since then. It's 78. That's the number of cents the average college-educated U.S. woman earns to the average college-educated U.S. man's 100 cents.

Men start their careers with a slight earnings edge over women, according to the U.S. Census Bureau Intelligence Report, January 2009. The difference eventually mushrooms to an average of more than $20,000 per year. Here's the spread:

Age National Average Salary

15-24 Women: $23,357
Men: $26,100

25-44 Women: $42,558
Men: $55,286

45-64 Women: $44,808
Men: $67,040

Closer to home, Minnesota ranks 14th among the 50 states and North Dakota 46th in pay equity between the median annual earnings of men and women with a college degree or higher, according to an AAUW Educational Foundation analysis of the U.S. Census Bureau's Current Population Survey, 2005, 2006, and 2007 Annual Social and Economic Supplement for Median Earnings and Educational Attainment.

In Minnesota, median annual earnings for men stood at $63,000 and for women at $49,000 between 2004 and 2006. In North Dakota, median annual income for men was $51,000 and for women $41,000 during the same time period.

That gave Minnesota an "earnings gap" of 77 percent and ranking of 20 among states. North Dakota had a gap of 79 percent and a ranking of 11. The national average is 78 percent.

In Minnesota, 32 percent of women and 35 percent of men had a four-year college degree, ranking 8th highest among the 50 states. North Dakota had 28 percent of both women and men with four-year degrees, ranking 18th. The national percentage is 29 percent of men and 27 percent of women.

The New Friend

My new friend is the Paycheck Fairness Act (S. 182/H.R. 12). The National Women's Law Center fact sheet offers a list of ways in which the bill would update and strengthen the Equal Pay Act.

In the U.S. House, it was introduced January 2009 by then-Senator Hillary Clinton and Rep. Rosa DeLauro to strengthen the Equal Pay Act of 1963. The bill expands damages under the Equal Pay Act and amends its very broad fourth affirmative defense. In addition, the Paycheck Fairness Act calls for a study of data collected by the EEOC and proposes voluntary guidelines to show employers how to evaluate jobs with the goal of eliminating unfair disparities. The bill was passed by the House of Representatives on January 9, 2009.

U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) co-sponsored this bill in the Senate, where it remains. You can track it at OpenCongress.

Want your voice heard? Send a postcard to Congress through AAUW's "Keep the Change" initiative. You don't need to be a member of AAUW to send one.

Another Opportunity
A friend told me she had applied for a position with a package delivery service and had passed all of their tests. She was the only woman in the testing group and as such thought she would be hired on the basis of minority status. She was told she was not hired because the job was given to a man with a family to support. Unfortunately, this incident was not back in the dark ages, but only a few years ago.

So, we have 24 cents to go for pay, along with a long road to correct heartland attitudes about women as breadwinners.

Read "A New Push for Equal Pay" from Parade Magazine.
Here's a quiz to see just how much you know about pay equity.

The Hairdo Most Hired!

Add this to the list of things to make sure you aren't doing during interviews--picking up subconscious impressions imparted by the way applicants ... part their hair!

According to the “Hair-Part Theory” devised by Catherine Walker, a cultural anthropologist, and her brother John, the side on which hair is parted affects the way people are perceived and how others interact with them, The Roanoke Times reports.

For example, men who part their hair on the left, the side favored by the majority of males, are perceived as traditional (duh), strong, successful, friendly, and popular. By contrast, men who part their hair on the right are perceived as either defensive and weak or radical and atypical--and definitely not mainstream.

Women who part their hair on the left are also perceived as successful, popular, and reliable, so the Walkers say left parts are good for businesswomen and female politicians. Stereotypically, women who part their hair on the right are considered more feminine and gentle-natured (read docile).

People who do not part their hair (even if it's because they are bald) are considered to have balanced personalities. (Note: both Obama and McCain do not part their hair). People who vary their parts (think Oprah) are considered to have personalities that are multifaceted.

The Walkers believe the hairstyle that makes the best impression for a man is the so-called “Anchorman”-do, a super-short cut requiring some use of styling products to make it look good, that is favored by CEOs, politicians (George W. and Bill C.), and media personalities.

Indeed.com

If you're at the point in your job search that you're actively looking for positions, visit www.indeed.com. It seems to have the least clutter (think of NOT wading through 400 work-at-home scams) and easy search parameters. I just fill in all of the zip codes I'm looking for that day, and hit submit. If I want email alerts, I fill in the zip codes and click.

If you're looking for jobs around Grand Forks, remember to use all of the zip codes.

The thing I haven't liked is that the search engine can't seem to tell the difference between Michigan, ND, and the state of Michigan, but I don't have a lot of clients from either, so it's not tough.

Also, the National Guard loads up one of the zips (I think 58202) with their openings, and that doesn't usually fit with my purposes, but if you're looking for them, you'll find them.

Jeri

Good Morning America segment about bullying

Watch a segment of Good Morning America in which Dr. Gary Namie of Workplace Bullying Institute talks about the subject, a woman who was bullied for two years.