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\nHaving an infuriated high school basketball coach launch a chair at you, or a restaurant supervisor who manages through intimidation and shame can have life-altering consequences.
\nThose behaviors are part of what influenced two professors in Clemson\u2019s College of Business to better understand what prompts abusive behavior by those in positions of authority, and they\u2019ve spent a good part of their careers looking for answers.
\nKristin Scott and Tom Zagenczyk, associate professors\u00a0in the business school\u2019s Department of Management,\u00a0say disruptive, gossipy, retaliatory and bullying behaviors often associated with adolescents are all too common in the workplace, and they exact a heavy toll on businesses and their employees.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\u201cYou\u2019d like to think in the 21st century people have evolved and learned to work side-by-side in a civil manner, but that frequently isn\u2019t the case,\u201d says Scott. \u201cThat kind of disruptive behavior is more prevalent than most people realize, and it exacts a toll on business productivity and employees\u2019 emotional well-being.\u201d
\nScott and Zagenczyk are Clemson\u2019s resident experts on workplace dysfunction. Whether it\u2019s a boss who bullies, employees who retaliate, work-family conflict issues or snubbed co-workers, these two have collaborated on extensive organizational behavior research and its impact on workers and their employers.
\nIn the last decade, their research surveyed several thousand employed adults through online questionnaires and other means. Most of the research involved field studies within organizations where employees were surveyed across multiple points in time, usually over three- to four-month periods.
\nThe two researchers have seen and heard it all about strained relationships between employees, or with their bosses, through their academic endeavors and corporate experiences.
\n\u201cThere are many dynamics that make it difficult for some to play nice in the workplace sand box,\u201d says Zagenczyk. \u201cBut there is usually an underlying influence that\u2019s causing behavior problems with the bad boss or disruptive employee. It\u2019s often a function of what\u2019s going on at home, and the fallout hits them.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>
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\u201cBeing in corporate human resources for a number of years, I was often subjected to people who exhibited bad behavior. It actually drove me to want to further understand why adults, many of them professionals, resorted to that kind of behavior in the workplace.”
\n\u2014 Kristin Scott
\nAssociate Professor of Management<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div>
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\nMotivated by Experience<\/h3>\n
Zagenczyk and Scott credit their own personal experiences for their involvement in researching workplace issues.
\n\u201cBeing in corporate human resources for a number of years, I was often subjected to people who exhibited bad behavior,\u201d Scott says. \u201cIt actually drove me to want to further understand why adults, many of them professionals, resorted to that kind of behavior in the workplace. Those kinds of issues often fell on my lap and, as an HR professional, I not only had to sort through them but was also left cleaning up the mess. In a way, it sort of inspired me to want to figure out how to prevent it from happening.\u201d
\nA catalyst for Zagenczyk\u2019s desire to better understand petulant behavior by adults occurred at an earlier age.
\n\u201cBasketball was my sport as an adolescent,\u201d he says. \u201cI was on our high school basketball team in Pennsylvania and had a coach who attended Bob Knight basketball camps to learn coaching strategies. At one of our first practices, he challenged our mental toughness and in the process went on a profanity-laced tirade, then threw a basketball that broke a ball rack, and threw a chair through a window.<\/p>\n\n\u201cIn a way, it fascinated me how a grown man could exhibit such poor leadership and behavior that he would lash out at a bunch of teenagers by swearing and throwing things at them. Though he didn\u2019t motivate me as a basketball player, it did provoke me to better understand that kind of behavior.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>
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\nA Costly Epidemic<\/h3>\n
Scott and Zagenczyk will be the first to tell you that the prevalence of discord in the workplace comes with a price tag.
\nThe Workplace Bullying Institute calls abuse among employees \u201can American epidemic.\u201d In a national survey conducted in 2014, the institute found:<\/p>\n
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<\/a>Do you have a story of a dysfunctional workplace or a bad boss to share? Share it below in the “Leave a reply” section.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\t<\/div><\/div>