Cyberbullying in the Workplace part. AND

Technology is present in almost every aspect of work today — from communication to task management. However, its development can favor new forms of violence, such as mobbing. What are the consequences of this?

Modern times bring many technological conveniences — also at work we increasingly use information and communication technologies (ICT) Information and communication technologies). On the one hand, they speed up many processes and increase the flexibility of work, but on the other hand they carry the risk of abuse. Communication via email, text, voice, audio and visual messages, lack of rigid time frames (facilitated by round-the-clock access to instant messengers and being constantly “online”), social media or instant messengers — all this affects the quality of our communication, but can also become another tool of violence and control. In short: the better access to technology, the greater the potential for abuse. A particular danger is that as a result of the development of technology, we are often constantly present at work — we wrote about this, among others, in the article Employees: the right to be offline as well as a series of articles about mobbing: Mobbing at work: a new definition in the law, Mobbing at work: causes and effects, Mobbing at work: countermeasures and help tools.

Definition of Phenomenon

Cyberbullying (Eng. cyberbullying, cybermobbing) is a phenomenon that can cause damage on a much larger scale than traditional mobbing. Why? Thanks to the availability of instant messengers, the perpetrator can attack more often, faster and with greater intensity.

It is worth noting the significant differences between traditional mobbing and cyberbullying. In the classical model, perpetrators are usually not anonymous — their identity is known, and the violence often takes place in front of others. The presence of witnesses can increase the chance of a reaction from the environment or reporting abuse. This is also important for the victim, who, if he decides to notify the relevant institutions or departments at work, can indicate people who confirm his version of events. In this case, the assessment of the situation becomes more reliable. In the case of cybermobbing, the perpetrator often acts anonymously — hiding behind a nickname, a fake account or an unknown number. The attack can be direct and personal, but at the same time completely hidden from the environment. The victim is left alone with this, cut off from support, and the increasing attacks can aggravate her feeling of loneliness and powerlessness. Moreover, cyberbullying can transcend the boundaries of time and place of work — the perpetrator has access to the victim even after hours, thanks to a constant online presence. This makes the field of attack much wider and the victim more vulnerable.

Of course, any form of mobbing — both traditional and cyberbullying — is a serious phenomenon that requires response and counteraction.

What forms can cyberbullying take?

On the website of the Council of Europe you can find a short note explaining what falls within the scope of this concept — despite the fact that there is still a lack of uniform language for describing the phenomenon.

In practice, cyberviolence can take many forms, from harassment and invasion of privacy, to sexual abuse and crimes motivated by prejudice against specific social groups or communities.

It can also include direct threats, physical violence, as well as various types of cybercrime. Currently, there is a lack of a uniform vocabulary and an established typology of actions that are considered cyberbullying. Many of its forms are penetrating, superimposed or are a combination of different acts of violence.

What is and what is not violence in the workplace?

In the CIOP-PIB guide we find a very valid distinction between behaviors that qualify or do not qualify for violence/cyberbullying. This distinction allows us to refine the definition. Behaviors that we classify as cyberbullying:

Intentionally ignoring emails, telephones or other forms of electronic communication initiated by the employee;
Transfer the content of the employee's message to third parties in order to harm his reputation;
Public expression of criticism of the results of the employee's work with the use of digital tools;
Hiding relevant information, emails or documents, which makes it difficult or impossible for the employee to perform his duties;
Spreading rumors or false information about the employee by electronic means;
Insulting, intimidating or threatening an employee using information and communication tools;
Formulating offensive comments about the origin, appearance, beliefs or private life of the employee through digital media;
Unauthorized acquisition of information about the employee's private life (so-called hacking) and using it to ridicule or discredit him.

Behaviors that We do not qualify as cyberbullying, are usually those that - although they may be difficult and perceived as problematic - actually fall within the framework of standard professional activities.

Setting the employee specific goals and realistic deadlines for the implementation of tasks;
Conducting honest and constructive conversations with the employee about the unsatisfactory results of his work;
Deciding not to grant a promotion for substantive reasons and related to the duties performed;
The application of disciplinary measures or termination of cooperation with the employee on the basis of real, justified reasons.

Data

The prevalence of cyberbullying is on the rise, according to global data, including the 2018 EU-OSHA Foresight survey [11], which found that cyberbullying was already prevalent in many workplaces across different sectors and is on the rise. The study authors suggested that pursuing career goals using the Internet and social media can increase cyberbullying from competitors, peers, stakeholders, or cybertrolls. Loss of communication skills has also been added to subsequent threats in the report; conversation swapping face to face to a virtual conversation blurs the emotional boundary and can favor a negative tone of communication and hostile language.

The ESENER study conducted by EU-OSHA in 2019 shows: Nearly 60% of companies identified violence as a significant risk factor in the workplace, up from 54% in 2014. However, it is not known exactly to what extent progressive digitalization or specific cases of cyberbullying are responsible for this increase.

The 2022 OSH Pulse study, which included 27,000 employees from EU countries, noted that some forms of digital technology can increase the risk of experiencing violence and harassment. People who used desktop computers were more likely to report such experiences than those who did not use them (64% vs 59%). However, it is not clear to what extent this increase is directly related to cyberbullying.

Another European study involving social partners from sectors such as health, education, public administration, trade and protection asked about the scale of cyberbullying at work. 11% of respondents identified cyberbullying as the main form of workplace violence — as much as sexual harassment but less than verbal harassment (15%), psychological and physical violence (13% each).

Who is exposed?

ILO Convention 190 (Articles 2 and 4) states that protection against violence and harassment, including cyberbullying in the workplace, should cover not only workers, but also jobseekers, executives, employers and third parties such as patients, customers or petitioners. However, taking into account the characteristics of the phenomenon of mobbing and the available statistical data, it is worth remembering that it most often occurs in the relationship between superior-subordinate. It is this arrangement that favors the abuse of power and the exploitation of the advantage of influence, although of course this does not exclude the occurrence of mobbing in other configurations of professional relations.

We can also look at data relating to specific professions and professional areas. A review of the literature also indicates a significant scale of cyberbullying in various professions: It affects between 14% and 20% of university workers in the UK, 22% of teachers in the Czech Republic, 22% of journalists in Sweden and 72% of public administration workers in Australia.

Unfortunately, as is often the case, we are again faced with the problem of intersectionality, that is, the overlap of different social categories that reinforce the mechanisms of discrimination against groups and individuals. In the case of research on cyberbullying, women turn out to be a particularly vulnerable group. A global survey conducted in 2021 by the UN Generation Equality Action Coalition on Technology and Innovation found that 38% of women have experienced violence in the digital space.

Young women in the workplace are most at risk — especially when it comes to sexual harassment, threats and other forms of online aggression. When we additionally take into account the profession or social role played, as in the case of female journalists, it is clear how these categories intersect, reinforcing the risk of violence.

Research from the same year highlights that cyberbullying of female journalists is particularly aggravated when they cover topics related to politics, law, the economy, sports, women's rights or feminism. Violence against them is often more severe than that of journalists and can include threats of rape, comments of a sexual or offensive nature, as well as threats directed against their loved ones.

Data on the prevalence of mobbing in Poland

According to the report of UCE RESEARCH and the epsycholodzy.pl platform, published on the website of the PAP Local Government Service, in the second half of 2023, as many as 41.4% of working Poles experienced mobbing behavior in the workplace.

The most commonly reported forms of mobbing included:

Assignment of meaningless tasks (10.3%)
gossip and gossip (9.8%)
issuing conflicting orders (9.6%),
comments indicating jealousy or envy (9%)
shouts, curses and name-calling (8.4%).

In previous years, most often The most commonly reported form of mobbing was shouting and swearing - their percentage decreased by 4.6 percentage points compared to the previous year. What comes up more often? Assignment of tasks below the qualifications and competencies of the employee - an increase of 2.6 percentage points year-on-year was recorded here.

We can see from analyzing the above data that workplace mobbing takes different forms, both in the superior-subordinate relationship and between colleagues.

Impact on employees and the entire organization

A report by the International Labour Organization (ILO) [2] underlines that a full understanding of the modern world of work is crucial to effectively countering cyberbullying, which, due to its specificity, can occur anywhere and at any time.

According to Safe Work Australia and the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work:

Behaviors such as violence, aggression, mobbing and sexual harassment can have significant short-term and long-term effects on a person's physical and mental health, including when carried out online or through digital technologies.

The increasing effects of cyberbullying can lead to severe stress, anxiety and deteriorating mental health. Negative consequences include: decreased self-esteem, the appearance of suicidal thoughts, feelings of anger and frustration, as well as the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

From the perspective of organizations, cybermobbing results in more frequent absenteeism of employees, a decrease in motivation, productivity and efficiency. This translates into real costs — especially if victims decide to leave work, which involves the need to recruit and deploy new people. In addition, relationships at work deteriorate, this also affects the reputation of the company and its entire functioning. Moreover, for the team, this often means the loss of a valuable and committed colleague.

summary

In order to effectively take care of organizational culture, it is worth following and understanding new phenomena, which — with the development of technology — have an increasingly strong impact on the labor market, the functioning of the organization and the well-being of its members. Cyberbullying can have serious consequences both at the individual level and at the level of the company as a whole. In the next article we will show you how it can be counteracted in the workplace by using the right tools.

Sources

Cyberbullying in the Workplace part. AND

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