Introduction
As Singapore embarks on a journey to establish itself as a regional hub for the events sector in the years to come, it has meant that many of the locally-based event organizers and firms are working doubly hard to take on more projects to play their part in growing the industry.
However, this surge in productivity and performance has come at a price – stretching limited resources and overworking employees to meet the various deadlines imposed. The event industry is like an exponential curve; it starts slowly and gradually as the events near, the workload builds leading to the event itself. Burnouts happen frequently if it is not managed properly. As a result, there is a loss of human touch and staff welfare across the industry, with supervisors and managers in some companies pushing their team to the limits in exchange for results and performance.
Problem Statement
While it is heartening to know that the phenomenon does not occur in every workplace, there is a need to recognize that a more pressing issue exists on hand – workplace bullying. Einarsen, Hoel, Zapf, & Cooper (2011) defined this as “harassing, offending, socially excluding someone or negatively affecting someone’s work tasks repeatedly and regularly, over a period of time”.
It has been reported by The Straits Times, a local newspaper, that many employees have seen themselves fall victim to workplace bullying – with 24 percent of local employees indicating so in an online survey conducted by JobsCentral in 2012 (Goh, 2014). Employees reportedly experienced bullying in various manners, and these can be classified as being either clear-cut or subtle.
Problem Definition
Workplace bullying that is considered clear-cut would include physical abuse – such as being slapped and pinched, and verbal abuse – in the form of hurling vulgarities, or insults. Subtle manners of workplace abuse are harder to identify, and would include things such as sexual harassment – making degrading remarks, molest, and being ostracized at work by colleagues.
Though it may be easy to cast a blind eye to such incidents at work, it is an issue that should not be ignored, as the repercussions can be severe for the targets of bullying. A few studies have shown that some targets may consider suicide as a solution to their problems. Mental well-being can also be affected, where targets may suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). A study on 199 participants (who experienced bullying) has shown that 84 percent of them have PTSD symptoms attributed to workplace bullying by their superiors. Moreover, workplace bullying can affect an individual self-esteem, leading to a sense of hopelessness and lower self-worth and even depression (Einarsen, Hoel, Zapf, & Cooper, 2011).
This problem may also affect work productivity of the company. Research has also shown that victims of workplace bullying are more likely to have sleep difficulties. As sleep is one of the important factor for maintaining health and well-being, the lack of sleep may lead to poorer health which can result in a lower level of productivity from the employee. Additionally, there is a co-relation between bullying and sickness absenteeism (Einarsen, Hoel, Zapf, & Cooper, 2011). As such, this means that victims of bullying are more likely to be absent from work, affecting the overall productivity of the company.
Objective of the Study
Hence, the aim of the study is to explore the concept of workplace bullying – specifically in the areas of verbal abuse and being ostracized at work – as these are the most likely scenarios to occur in the events industry.
Through this study, the team hopes to achieve several key objectives. Firstly, the team aims to raise awareness of workplace bullying in Singapore, and inform the public that such situations do exist within the country. Secondly, the study will list the various signs and symptoms of workplace bullying, which will help employees to identify such incidents in the workplace. Lastly, it aims to educate readers on the various platforms to seek help from.
Research Methodology
In order to better understand the extent and impact of workplace bullying within the various workplaces in local events firms, a series of in-depth interviews will be conducted with several employees who have witnessed such incidents first-hand within their companies. However, pseudonyms will be used to protect these individuals, as they have agreed to the interview on the condition that their identities will be kept confidential. In addition, academic papers will be referenced from multiple sources to further strengthen the findings, and provide alternative viewpoints on the topic of workplace bullying as a whole.
Proposed Solutions
To address the problem of workplace bullying, the team will look to produce a short five-minute educational video on the abovementioned topic. In this video, the team will first address the signs and symptoms of workplace bullying by playing out a scenario. After which, the effects on the victims will be shown – to illustrate the sufferings and impacts that bullying causes. Lastly, methods to resolve the situation or avenues to seek help from, will be highlighted and mentioned at the end to close off the video.
The team firmly believes that the education video produced will be able to aid in raising awareness about the real extent of workplace abuse in a typical workplace within the industry. Also, it serves as an educational tool for both the employers and the employees, in learning about how to identify workplace bullying, and knowing how to handle such situations within the workplace environment.
Concluding Thoughts
Workplace bullying is a pressing issue that is not commonly highlighted, but yet is an ongoing phenomenon that has to be addressed due to the consequences that is attached to it. The team is keen to provide our solutions to address this issue and is fully confident that the proposed solution will be effective in resolving the problem of workplace bullying.
Written By: Han Tong, Joey, Leon
Leon's Wall of Writings 