The Foreign Service Journal, June 2012

T he United States Foreign Service is no place for wimps, wusses, whiners or dorks. We play in the big leagues. We play hardball. And if you can’t play hardball, you should not be on our team. For many FS members, particularly those of a certain age, that understanding is a key component of our culture. It derives fromthe fact that theworkwe do is important, demanding and visible. Our star “players” are senior executives of our nation’s government; our personnel system is highly competitive. The Service is no place for the weak or the timid or the lazy. And that can sometimes obscure a significant threat toForeignService morale. In themembership surveys I have overseen—and in griev- ances, complaints and requests for AFSA assistance — sig- nificant numbers of members complain about “toxic” boss- es, “aggressive” colleagues, “shouters,” “throwers” and other subspecies of Tyrannus locus operari, the commonworkplace bully. Typically, these people are managers but they could also be colleagues or subordinates. Also typically, they are nasty to every- one, though they could also have one or more carefully select- ed victims. They are more likely to bully women thanmen— even when the bully is female herself. They are likely to bully people different than themselves. And they are very likely to justify their bullying in the terms stated at the beginning of this article: this is a difficult business, and the victimof their aggres- sion is somehownot living up to the legitimate demands of the workplace. Some see their subordinates’ suffering as dues, which allmust pay on their way up the career ladder. Some see themselves in a developmental role, as the tough drill sergeant determined to whipaproblememployee into shape. And some are either obliv- ious of their own actions, or consider their curmudgeonly crusti- ness to be an integral part of their own lovable personalities. There is nothing lovable about bullies. Nor do they serve any laudable function for theorganization. Considerable research and evidence indicate that when people are bullied, their pro- ductivity drops and they lose their motivation to performwell. The stress of being bulliedhas physiological effects, reducing the victim’s ability to concentrate, communicate or remember task- ings. Bullying also reduces the victim’s energy level. Targets of bullying become less productive, less creative, less committed to theirwork, less loyal, less accommodating to clients or customers and less likely to assist other colleagues. They go out of their way to avoid their tormentor, sometimes choosing to stay at home to avoid their hostile work environment. And because they are stressed, they are more likely to become sick and remain sick for longer periods than their less-stressed col- leagues. Bullying can havemorale and productivity effects through- out an entire office — including for those who are not bullied themselves. At one small post, where the ambassadorwas alleged- ly a bully, AFSA assisted roughly a quarter of the post with cur- tailments; this not only reduced the effectiveness of themission, but cost the department time,money and energy. When a prob- lemreaches that level, it canaffect the ability to recruit, themorale of locally employed staff, the tenure of affected entry-level offi- cers and even the U.S. government’s image among local con- tacts and host country officials. AFSA is addressing the issue in a number of ways: •We areworkingwith the department to separateworkplace bullying fromother forms ofmalfeasance in an effort to increase the likelihood that bullies can be identified, disciplined or removed. •We helpeddevelop online training and guidance for super- visors. • We negotiated the core precepts to require all employees at all levels to avoid hostile work environments, reward those who report a hostile work environment and punish those who create it. •We are encouraging theOffice ofMedical Services and the Bureauof Diplomatic Security to guarantee that careers will not be harmed as a result of receiving counseling for stress. • We regularly help clients seek new positions or take other actions to separate or protect themselves from bullies. • We are urging the department to develop better ways to monitor bullying behavior by tracking such symptoms as a high rate of curtailment, similar grievances against specific supervi- sors and broader use of 360-degree evaluations. Still, much more remains to be done. I ask for your sug- gestions and insights to reduce the damage to morale and effi- ciency caused by bullying in the workplace. The Cost of Workplace Bullying V.P. VOICE: STATE BY DANIEL HIRSCH Views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the AFSA State VP. J UN E 2 0 1 2 / F OR E I GN S E R V I C E J OU R N A L 47 A F S A N E W S