Dealing With Workplace Hostility - Part 1

A work environment is supposed to be a place of relative comfort, of safety, a place of confidence, and ultimately a friendly environment for all employees. However, there are several cases of hostility in many workplaces. These hostilities breed envy, fear, lack of concentration, low productivity, inferiority complex, and so on.

These hostilities may come from employers, other employees, or even from regular clients. In the case of micro business or SME workplaces, even the family members or friends of the employer may be the sources or causes of workplace hostility for employees.

A hostile work environment is a workplace in which unwelcome comments or conduct based on gender, race, nationality, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, or other legally protected characteristics unreasonably interfere with an employee’s work performance or create an intimidating or offensive work environment for the employee who is being harassed. - [The Balance Careers]

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Some of the characteristics of a hostile workplace include offensive jokes, insults, slurs and name-calling, physical assaults, and threats, use of sexually explicit languages, interference with work performance, intimidation, ridicule, and mockery, just to mention a few.

Many employees are victims of workplace hostility, but they'd rather stay in that workplace than go back to job hunting. As a matter of fact, it is not only the target of harassment that is a victim of hostility, but even all other employees that hear the words, or see the actions being shown to the target person. Those others are likely to see that place as being potentially hostile to all.

These workplace hostilities are responsible for several employees quitting their jobs, as well as it is responsible for many job losses, as the affected persons become much less productive than they should be when the environment is healthy for them. In all these, retaliation is not an option. However, the first step that a victim of hostility can take is to instruct the offender to stop.

However, in case the hostility is as a result of the victim's previous offense, a sincere apology (which may also require mediation) might be needed to quash the hostility. In case there was no previous infringement from the victim against the hostile party, the victim should report the case to a superior at work, where there is one.

Where applicable, a victim of office hostility can request for a posting out of the region of hostility to a new environment. In case the hostility is unbearable and there seems to be no solution, it is advisable that you quit the job. It is better to be in the right frame of mind, as well as avoid provocation that might lead to physical attack as a result of the continuous harassment.

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There are also laws that protect employees from workplace hostility, as well as help seek redress in case an employee is experiencing hostility. This will be discussed next time.

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