Today on My Reading Tutor, my post is about something I can speak from personal experience, as can many of your reading this. It's not happy, funny, or encouraging. It's about workplace bullying and it's becoming all too coming in today's workplace. Read on.The Sunday AJC Jobs section H lead article, for 1/25/15, was about predictions for 2015 workplace issues. Yes, job hopping is there as is social media training (much needed in my opinion). The one emerging issue that is destined to become the top workplace concern this year is ... drumroll please... Workplace Bullying. Cindy Goodman of the Miami Herald, explains in her article that Cyberbullying is given a run for the money by workplace bullying emerging as the top complaint among workers this year. Why? Goodman argues, "With less leadership training for managers, employees are complaining that team leaders lack social skills and have turned to abusive conduct to get the job done." Goodman further points out that a CareerBuilder poll found that 28% of workers feel they have been bullied at work and 19% and left because of it. My intuition tells me that there's a lot more of this that's not reported, I never officially reported my experiences with bullying, but eventually did what the 19% in the poll did - I left. Bullying is becoming a big issue for several reasons. Here are my thoughts. First, as Cyberbullying increases, these cowards become more emboldened and take the bullying face to face at work. Easy targets such as myself were not hard to find because we have more maturity and self-control. Second, our smartphone obsessed culture has created an environment where people just don't know how to behave around each other and be civilized. What ever happened to the Golden Rule? Buh-bye. Third, as the workplace becomes more diverse and varieties of generations work together, it becomes clear that parenting has changed throughout the last several generations. Young people are not benefitting from parents that took or had time to teach manners and etiquette at home. Family dinnertime? Right, after Dad gets home, the older one gets done with soccer practice and the younger one gets picked up from dance or gymnastics or other after-school activity. Our busy work schedules and the effort just to keep up with bill paying prevent many from a cohesive weeknight schedule.What is the solution? Parents - start young and use every teachable moment to give your child(ren) the gift of learning about manners. This goes beyond saying Please and thank you, but it's a start. Teach them the Golden Rule. Be your own best advocate and practice what you preach - in other words, set a good example. Yes, that means biting your tongue when the BMW just cut you off at the light. Finally, those of us who are certified etiquette consultants have the training and experience to partner with you no matter what age your children are to help. From first grade all the way through high school graduation and beyond, we have the resources and skills to give your child the edge they need to become successful once they begin their careers. Read my graphics I found. Have you been the victim of a workplace bully? Were you the workplace bully? Share your thoughts and experiences and let's turn this into a learning environment where we can benefit from each other's stories. How did you overcome - did you leave like I did? What caused you to stop bullying? Until we begin a dialogue together nothing will change. I'm not willing to accept that. What about you?
