Hazing and bullying at work

It was his first day at work. He was eager to make the very best impression. He had waited for so long to get this job that he wanted his first day on the job to go very well. He wanted to leave a very good impression on his colleagues and superiors. Therefore, when he was told by his new workmates that he was to join them for a fire drill at the car park, he did not hesitate. After getting directions to the location, he got there only to realise that there was no one there.

After standing around for about half an hour, he went back to the office to find out if he had gotten the time or location wrong. The laughter that greeted his presence as he returned to the office was enough to tell him that the whole fire drill thing was a prank and the joke was on him. That was not how he had envisaged his first day on the job to go.

Incidents like the one above might seem like just colleagues playing a harmless prank on the new guy. However, it seems there is nothing harmless about such acts. In fact, that so-called harmless prank is classified as Workplace Hazing. Apparently, hazing is not only the preserve of overhyped, testosterone-filled college students, who end up maiming, injuring, or even sometimes killing new students. Hazing also happens in the workplace—among adults, one would have expected to know better. Examples of workplace hazing range from jokes told at the expense of the newbie to more serious and harmful practices. Stories of hazing practices in the military, for example, are not for the fainthearted. Initiation practices where blood is drawn cannot be described as anything but harmful.

In my experience, one common practice in corporate Ghana that would fall into the definition of workplace hazing is “asking” (read: pressuring) new staff to buy food (or some gift) for all team members. This is said to be a way of welcoming the one into the team. However, by its, definition, hazing captures such acts as well, especially when the new employee might not have that money.

By some definitions, hazing is a form of bullying, seen by some as an organised form of bullying. Although both hazing and bullying fall under workplace abuse, there is a marked difference between the two. It has been known that bullying is a way by which individuals are excluded from the activities of the bully or the group engaging in the bullying. Hazing, on the other hand, is done as a way of welcoming individuals into a group. It is akin to a rite of passage into a group. Hazing is meant to serve as a way of building collective identity. The fact that all members of the group have gone through the same experience is expected to bring all members together.

Although the intention might be noble—to make the hazed a strong and committed member of the group—that intention does not take away from the abuse the individual suffers. Hazing like the one in the opening vignette can be quite traumatising.

If hazing is meant to get a new colleague to bond well with colleagues, bullying does not have any such “noble” intentions. Bullying at work has been defined as “repetitive, systematic, and chronic acts of harassment, offense, social exclusion, or bad impact on an employee’s performance in the workplace.” Workplace bullying has been known to range from unpleasant acts to very violent acts.

Whatever the reason for these acts, it is clear that hazing and bullying can have devastating effects on the sufferers. When these acts happen at the workplace, the consequences go beyond just what the abused individual suffers. The entire organisation ends up suffering.

In a study of employees of 4-star and 5-star hotels in Pakistan, it came to light that indeed hazing at work led to an increase in the turnover intentions of employees. The results of that study were published in the April 2024 edition of the Service Industries Journal. The piece was titled, “Workplace Hazing and Employee Turnover Intention in the Hospitality Industry: A Person-Environment Fit Perspective”. No one enjoys being embarrassed. It is not fun to be dehumanised by others. It is to be expected therefore that hazed employees would have plans of leaving the employ of that organisation.

Another study, carried out earlier in Nepal, also found that workplace bullying led to emotional exhaustion, which in turn, led to turnover intentions of the bullied. The results of that study were published in the February 2024 edition of the Cogent Business & Management journal. The title of that study was “Workplace Bullying and Employees’ Turnover Intention in Hospitality Industry: Evidence of Nepal”. Much like the Pakistani study, the Nepalese study also involved employees of both 5-star and non-5-star hotels.

The results of both studies were in line with an earlier study carried out among employees of the police department in Larkana City, Pakistan. The results of this particular study were published in the October 2022 edition of the KASBIT Business Journal. The title of that study is “Workplace Hazing and Employee Turnover Intention: Understanding the Mediating Effect of Emotional Exhaustion”. The key finding of this study was that employees begin to think of resigning from an organisation when they become victims of hazing-based activities like verbal abuse and mental stress.

I found the results of this particular Pakistani study quite interesting because of the subjects of the study—police officers. One would have thought that the average police officer would be someone with the tenacity to withstand any form of abuse, be it hazing or bullying. But apparently, even the hardy ones among us are not immune to the effects of workplace abuse.

Of the many consequences of hazing and bullying at the workplace, the effect on customer service and customer experience is among the most critical. As can be seen from the above-mentioned studies, abuse in the workplace leads to emotional exhaustion of the abused. An emotionally-abused front-line employee will not be in the best position to deliver great customer service. This, in effect, will affect the quality of the customer’s experience.

It is important to understand that customer service is an exchange of emotions. When customers, especially customers of service organisations, pay for an experience, they are paying for the service as well as the emotions of those offering the service. Therefore, if the customer is being served by someone who is emotionally exhausted, it will not be a great service and this will eventually show.

Emotionally-exhausted individuals will exhibit, among other traits, an irritability that would affect the exchange the individual has with customers. Some will even become a lot more taciturn and morose.  The abused, emotionally-exhausted professional will have very little to give, no matter how hard the one tries.

Also, the studies showed that the abused worker would feel like resigning from the employ of the organisation. It should be expected that someone who has decided to leave a company would not give off their very best. The one would not even be too bothered by the fortunes of the business. Some might even resort to antisocial behaviours at work as a way of getting back at the orgainsation for allowing them to be hazed or bullied. Bullying in the workplace has been known to result in mental health-related stress.

All these lead to a drop in the work output of the abused individual. This drop in the productivity of that single professional affects the productivity of the entire organisation. In other words, those who involve themselves in workplace hazing and bullying are the real enemies of the organisation. They are those who cause financial loss to the business.

If the abused decide to take legal action against the organisation, then the consequences could be direr. The reputational damage that would occur might even be more damaging than any costs that might be incurred in the event of the business losing the case against the abused employee.

In recent years in Ghana, there have been reports of incidents of workplace abuse, which have gone viral on traditional and social media. Calls for boycotts of the businesses in question are proof that when there is abuse in the workplace, it is more than the abused that suffers. The organisation suffers. In effect, everyone suffers. This is why it should be the responsibility of everyone within the organisation to ensure that workplace abuse, be it hazing or bullying, is curbed.

The role of managers in tackling workplace hazing and bullying cannot be overstated. In the opening vignette, the newbie said what surprised him most about the embarrassment he experienced that afternoon on his first day at work was that it seemed all the managers in the office were on to the joke. The truth is that workplace hazing can be so ingrained in the organisation that managers would see it happen and just look the other way.

It is important for new team members in every organisation to be properly assimilated. However, every business must find a way of doing so without abusing the new employee in any way, shape, or form. There are ways of on-boarding new employees that do not involve them being embarrassed or even harmed.

In a time when competition is so intense, any small disadvantage can have devastating effect on the fortunes of any business. Evidently, hazing and bullying have negative effects on those whose job it is to interface with customers. These effects are passed on to customers. This eventually leads to a negative effect on the business. In the end, everyone suffers—both the abused and the abuser.