How to – Stop Workplace Bullying In an ideal world, a bully may be a childhood rite of passage that we deal with as we learn how to become adults. In reality, they exist in the workplace and drain of us of energy and focus needed to do the job. They are present at ALL organizational levels, in all industries, and in all functions.

Bullying behaviors in the workplace involve a lack of regard for others and include observable behaviors such as:
• Verbal intimidation
• Harassment
• Incivility
• Teasing
• Gossiping
• Physical intimidation
• Withholding business information
• Overruling decisions without a rationale
• Sabotaging team efforts
• Demeaning others

Suggestions to regain control of the situation and diffuse the impact of a bully include:

Get out of the Crowd
Address them by name in a calm, low voice and suggest that the conversation be moved to a more private area.

Turn down the Volume
If they are yelling or the volume begins to escalate, remember to keep your voice calm and speak in a normal tone. Many people cannot sustain a shouting match if they are the only ones doing it.

Slow Things Down
Tell them you need to think about what they’ve said. Give yourself some space to think about things by walking away.

Is This Business as Usual?
Determine if this person often exhibits over the top behavior or if something unusual has happened to set them off.

YOU are in Charge of You
It is your responsibility to take care of yourself, not theirs. If your rights are not being respected, you may have to refuse the request.

Keep it Short
Be brief in your response. Forget about explaining why you are unable to comply with their demand. You don’t want to get into a negotiation.

Let Them Know Their Impact
It can be very powerful to simply state: “I don’t know if you are aware of this, but your behavior (screaming) is really scaring me right now.”

Déjà Vu
A bully doesn’t like it when they don’t get what they want and may want to get involved in “Round #2.” Simply repeat your stand using the same concise phrases.

Disengage
Without an audience or a target, a bully has nothing to do! Agree to disagree and depart.

While you may not be able to eliminate a bully and their boss may not be able to manage their behavior, you can reduce the impact they have on you.  8:34 AM •  0 Comments •

How to – Ask the Right Questions When Interviewing Candidates When job candidates tell me some of the questions they are asked during their job interviews, I cringe.

• “What are your three biggest strengths?”
• “What are your three biggest weaknesses?”
• “Tell me about yourself.”
• “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?”

If you are asking these questions, consider yourself among the lazy hiring managers who deserve exactly what they get: a poor fit for the job, the department and the organization.

There are many things that go into a good, targeted job interview; and questions that probe weaknesses and validate strengths are essential. The next time you find yourself sitting across from a potential employee, ask questions that will get you some useful information to help you make a better hiring decision:

How much can you learn about them to determine if they will be a good fit?

What did you think of our website?

How do you think we compare with our competition?

What unique attributes, skills or talents could you bring to our team?

How do they deal with stress?

Can you tell me about an ongoing and stressful part of you last job and how you dealt with it?

What makes you the best fit for this position compared to the others I’m interviewing?

What type of person is the most challenging for you to deal with as a co-worker and how do you address that?

Can they do the job?

When you worked at ABC Financial, what was the most challenging part of learning their system?

When you ran the HR department at XYZ Systems, what were the steps you took to create your senior team?

I see you were in charge of a system conversion at 123 Bancorp. How did you transfer data and maintain field integrity?  9:36 AM •  1 Comments •