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Setting the Workplace’s Emotional Tone to Prevent Bullying

Friday, February 19, 2016

Bullying doesn’t necessarily end with adolescence; it’s still a major problem in workplaces domestically and across the globe. Robyn Durling, a spokesperson for BullyFreeBC, a Canadian nonprofit agency working to end workplace harassment and bullying, says that most bullying problems in the workplace boil down to a worker’s attitude and the workplace atmosphere. “It’s centered around emotional intelligence, so people have to take responsibility for their moods and how they treat others, and that includes your colleagues as well as your customers,” said McDowell. “So, it’s really about self-awareness.” She adds that there are a number of things workers and managers alike can do to take care of themselves and create an atmosphere were bullying is less likely to occur, including exercise, sleep, and eat well. It’s particularly important that managers take care of themselves, because they set the emotional tone of the workplace. “Your moods are contagious, and particularly negative moods are more contagious, and people in the workplace are more sensitive to those,” she says. “If someone shows up to work and brings their bad energy with them, we all absorb that much more readily than we do happy [energy].”

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