
Workplace bullying and workplace mobbing are both forms of hostile behavior that occur in a professional setting, but they differ in their scope and intensity.
- Workplace Bullying:
- Workplace bullying involves repeated, targeted acts of aggression, intimidation, or harassment directed towards an individual by one or more colleagues.
- Bullying behaviors may include verbal abuse, exclusion, spreading rumors, sabotage of work tasks, or other forms of mistreatment.
- The bullying is typically focused on one individual and may be driven by personal animosity, jealousy, or a desire to exert power over the victim.
- While workplace bullying can have serious consequences for the victim’s mental health and job performance, it often remains confined to interactions between the bully and the target.
- Workplace Mobbing:
- Workplace mobbing, on the other hand, involves a group of individuals systematically targeting and harassing a single person within the organization.
- Mobbing behaviors are more organized and coordinated than bullying and may involve multiple colleagues ganging up on the victim.
- The harassment may be relentless and pervasive, with the goal of ostracizing, isolating, and ultimately driving the victim out of the workplace.
- Mobbing often escalates over time and may involve not only direct harassment but also efforts to undermine the victim’s reputation, credibility, and professional standing.
- Workplace mobbing can have severe and long-lasting effects on the victim’s well-being and may lead to psychological trauma, career derailment, and even forced resignation.
In summary, while both workplace bullying and mobbing involve harmful behavior towards individuals in a professional setting, workplace mobbing typically entails a more systematic and collective campaign of harassment orchestrated by a group of colleagues, whereas workplace bullying may involve more isolated incidents of mistreatment by one or more individuals.