职场恶霸是很划得来的。在一项相当令人沮丧的研究中,纽约州立大学布法罗管理学院(the University at Buffalo School of Management)的达伦•C.特雷德韦(Darren C. Treadway)领导的一个研究小组发现,尽管企业努力减少欺凌行为,但许多职场恶霸都得到了上司的正面评价,而且在事业上平步青云。
It can pay to be a bully.
研究人员试图研究职场欺凌与工作业绩之间的关系。他们收集了来自一家美国卫生保健企业的54名员工的行为与工作业绩数据,发现在职场欺凌、正面工作评价和社交与政治技能之间存在着很强的关联。
In a rather disheartening study, a team of researchers led by Darren C. Treadway, of the University at Buffalo School of Management, found that many workplace bullies receive
positive evaluations from their supervisors and
achieve high levels of
career success,
despite organizational efforts to
curtail bullying.
这项研究将职场欺凌定义为"一个人或一个群体对一人或多人进行的系统性侵害与暴力行为"。
The researchers sought to study the
relationship between workplace bullying and job performance. They collected behavioral and job-performance data from 54 employees of a U.S. health-care firm, and found a strong correlation between bullying,
positive job evaluations and social and political skill in the workplace.
研究人员发现,许多职场恶霸通过迷惑上司和操纵别人来帮助自己出人头地,即使他们与此同时正在欺凌同事。研究作者写道,由于许多职场恶霸可能"拥有高水平社交能力",因此他们"有能力讲究策略地欺凌同事,同时仍然获得上司的正面评价"。
The study defines workplace bullying as 'systematic aggression and
violence targeted towards one or more individuals by one individual or by a group.'
特雷德韦博士:"如果人们有政治手腕,就可以将坏事做得非常漂亮。"
The researchers found that many bullies
thrive by
charming their supervisors and manipulating others to help them get ahead, even while they abuse their co-workers. Because many bullies can 'possess high levels of social ability,' they are 'able to strategically abuse co-workers and yet be evaluated
positively by their supervisor,' the authors write.
(特雷德韦博士说,政治手腕是"在工作中有效理解他人并利用这种知识影响他人的行为,以促成个人目标和(或)组织目标的能力"。)
'If people are politically skilled, they can do bad things really well,' says Dr. Treadway.
这项研究指出,职场欺凌是很普遍的:根据过去的研究,所有美国员工中,约半数曾目睹职场欺凌,超过1/3的人曾是职场欺凌的对象。
(Political skill, Dr. Treadway says, is 'the
ability to
effectively understand others at work and to use such knowledge to influence others to act in ways that
enhance one's personal and/or organizational objectives.')
研究人员建议,企业应该将礼貌和友爱作为业绩的一部分进行评估,并帮助员工培养对付欺凌的技巧。
The study notes that workplace bullying is prevalent: About half of all U.S. employees have witnessed workplace bullying and more than a third have been the target of bullying, according to past research.
这项研究的论文发表在了今年早些时候的《管理心理学杂志》(Journal of Managerial Psychology)上。
The researchers suggest that firms assess
civility and camaraderie as part of
performance and help staff develop skills to manage bullies.