In 2004, I made the decision that I would leave the corporate world and change the direction of my work life. My intent since that time has been to try to make a difference in some way for others regarding bullying of employees. With workplace violence on the increase in the United States, I feel strongly that it is time for someone to do something. Alarmingly, workplace violence/homicide is now the 3rd leading cause of on the job fatalities, according to the United States Department of Labor report for 2004.

Over the last 18 months I have been committed to and completed the writing of a very practical and workable method to help people who are working within a bullying environment. My “how to book” is designed for anyone in the work world, with a focus on students about to secure their first career, giving them the necessary knowledge to function effectively. They will understand what to look for and what to look out for in a new company, what are performance appraisals, etc. The book will also benefit persons looking at changing careers. The book will give them the tools necessary to combat this situation.

The last number of years has seen quite a bit of attention being given to the bullying of children, something that was long over due. I had always thought that once in the work world this would cease, but in actuality it is probably just as bad or even worse. Of course most time while on the job it is not direct threats of physical violence which occur. Most often it is the subtle threats which occur but these subtleties remain just as oppressive. The bullying will take many forms including constant additions of new responsibilities and outright threats of termination. These are just a few of the behaviors either I or others have experienced.

After conducting just over one hundred interviews, a very concerning statistic came to the forefront. Out of those people interviewed, ninety one stated that they encounter some form of bullying, harassment or intimidation while on the job.

Annually over 2 million U.S. workers are victims of workplace violence. As mentioned earlier, it has come to the point in the United States where certain employees feel they have no other choice than to respond with violence. With over 795 workplace homicides occurring in 2004, the most common response to this has been to offer employees anger management

courses and other forms of counseling. While I am sure that some employees do need counseling, it cannot just be the employees who are the problem. What needs to happen prior to counseling is the empowerment of the employee, to put them in the position to handle the bullying from the start. This is where I believe that what I have written will benefit others and equip them to put the bullies in their place before any form of violence occurs. The book/manual is called Workplace Bully

Busters as is my small company just registered and my website, www.workplacebullybusters.com. In my further attempt to help others at reducing the bullying leading to possible tragic events, I am currently in the final steps of completing a second book. The second book will be dealing with what employers can do to identify bullies in their midst by looking for common bullying behaviors demonstrated by managers. It identifies the need to evaluate business in-house policies which are causing issues leading to the departure of top employees and possible litigation by those departing employees. Numerous articles have been written as to the cost of losing top employees to other firms and after a number of years recruiting employees I can confirm that as well. Also included in the second book is a proactive approach that business owners or executives can initiate to establish/maintain a positive and self-motivating environment for their people. The overall desired result is to reduce or hopefully eliminate bullying and the chance of violence in the workplace from occurring.

It seems as though bullying in the work world has spun out of control. I am extremely anxious to “get the word out” to individuals/employees regarding the first book and eventually to employers regarding the second. With this issue becoming more and more prevalent in today’s work world, people are getting hurt, physically, mentally, financially and there has to be a way to stop it or at the very least reduce it.