Bossing

1. International Erasmus Plus Project
2015-2018
I.I.S. A. Volta
Nicosia- Italy
Koper October 5 -12
WHAT IS BOSSING??

2. In May we had a meeting with Miss Francesca Scardino a very competent psychologist who explained the difference
between bossing and mobbing, that sort of emotional abuse which creates long-term hostile and humiliating relations at
work.

3. She explained that if the hostile and humiliating atmosphere is created by
a superior (misusing his/her position), we speak of “bossing”.

4. If the source of abuse is a co-worker the situation is
called “mobbing”.
The result is always injury, physical or mental distress
or illness, social misery, and often, but not always,
expulsion from the workplace. And sadly, the victims
did not have a reputation of not performing well or not
meeting organizational standards.

5. She also listed all the signs of bossing, such as: unjustified unequal treatment; imposing
arbitrary sanctions; tasks that the employee cannot realistically fulfil or humiliating
tasks; social isolation etc.

6. She suggested how to cope situations like these but unfortunately in Italy
we don’t have a specific legislation like in the other European countries.
These are her suggestions:
Make sure you are doing everything right
Find other sources of positive reinforcement for doing your job to the best
of your abilities.
Compile a list of bad boss behaviors
consider a meeting with your boss to discuss. Leave your emotions at the
door, but be prepared for your boss to have an emotional reaction.
Keep a journal of incidents
The third solution involves documenting each bad behavior of your boss in
a journal.

7. Find a mentor with the company
a mentor can be a good sounding board for you, someone
who has the power to do something about your bad boss.
Don’t sacrifice your health or self-esteem
The worst thing you can do is simply to do nothing, hoping
the problems will get resolved. No job, boss, or company
is worth losing your health, sanity, or self-esteem. If you
can’t find a way to resolve these issues and/or your boss
simply will never change his/her behavior, you should
immediately begin looking for a new job — within or
outside the organization.