In 1996 Canadians Lesley Wright and Marti Smye wrote a book called Civilizing the Worklace. The book is about corporate abuse and the authors paint an interesting picture of abusive workplace cultures which they describe as..soul destroying!
According to Wright and Smye corporate abuse has “many faces” with the following abuses being the most obvious:
- discrimination
- overwork
- harassment
- systematic humiliation
- arbitrary manipulation
- demotion without cause
- withholding of resources
Of course there are many less obvious forms of abuse which are just as damaging to the organization and to the individual.
Wright and Smye hightlight some of the more SUBTLE forms of corporate abuse as well:
- lack of support
- penny-pinching
- micromanagement
- constant miscommunication
- hidden agendas
- surveillance
What is interesting is that they define corporate abuse as “anything that kills good ideas and innovation”.
This may seem like an unusual definition for corporate abuse but I agree that organizations which allow abuse to continue unchecked DESTROY creativity and innovation.
What I find interesting is that one of the biggest concerns of organizations in recent years is about productivity or lack of productivity by workers. I think the equation goes something like this…increased productivity = increased growth = increased profits.
In a nutshell, that which gives organizations (not for profit and for profit) the competitive advantage is their ability to generate new ideas and innovations.
I also find it interesting the Wright and Smye wrote Civilizing the Workplace in 1996 during a time when
JOBS WERE SO SCARCE THAT PEOPLE FELT LUCKY TO BE DRAWING A SALARY!
It was for this very reason that organizations were able to abuse people and “get away with it”.
One of the reasons for this is that abusive cultures thrive in uncertainty (you’ll find details in the book) by generating fear and dependency in people.
Sadly, corporate abuse makes itself felt in individual lives before it appears on the bottom line. People suffer health problems such as…
- stress
- headaches
- ulcers
- exhaustion
- insomnia
- anxiety
- burnout
- heart attacks
- panic attacks
- nervous breakdowns
AND, if this is not enough there are longer term negative effects on relationships, families and individual self-esteem.
Are things any better today? Yes and no.
In a recent edition of the Vancouver Sun newspaper Donna Jacobs wrote an article called “Mental Illness: No end in sight”. Part of her article relates to workplace stress and its damaging effects on people’s lives…one of the experts she interviews states…
Despite all that we’ve learned in the past 10 years…chronic job stress is on the rise!
I’ll have more to say about this later on in the week!
Cheers,
Lesley
