@work
with Kenneth Harris, IU Southeast
Do you feel mistreated by your boss? Does he or she criticize you in a public setting? The problem may not be with you, but your boss. Kenneth Harris, associate professor of management at IU Southeast, studies work environments; including boss-employee interrelationships in what is called "abusive supervision."
In his latest article for The Leadership Quarterly, he examined abusive supervision by studying a sample to investigate their hypothesis of the meaning an employee gained from work moderated his job performance relationship.
Kenneth Harris talks to IU Home Pages about reasons for abusive supervision, his latest article and tips on how to survive a bullying boss.
Ken Harris
What qualifies as abusive supervision or dysfunctional workplace behavior? Could you give us a few examples?
Abusive supervision is non-physical, negative behavior by supervisors. Formally defined, abusive supervision "refers to subordinates' perceptions of the extent to which supervisors engage in the sustained display of hostile verbal and nonverbal behaviors, excluding physical contact" (Tepper, 2000, p. 178). Examples of abusive supervisory behaviors include public criticism, rudeness, breaking promises, inconsiderate actions and the silent treatment.
Can you tell us about how common 'abusive supervision' is in a corporate environment?
Abusive supervision is relatively common in the workplace, and survey results have shown that the large majority of workers have either experienced abusive supervision directly, or have seen or heard about it happening to others.
Are there any particular types of jobs that experience 'workplace bullying' more often than others?
In certain jobs, abusive supervision (a form of workplace bullying) is the norm. You expect to get abused by your supervisor in these environments. However, other environments where stress levels are high, deadlines are frequent and/or where supervisors often lack training are more likely to be associated with abusive supervision.
What about such behavior in educational institutions?
Little is known about abusive supervision in educational institutions. To my knowledge, there haven't been any studies directly on the topic for this work setting. With that being said, though, I think a considerable number of educators would probably say they have seen, heard about or directly experienced supervisors (or others in power positions) giving those below them the silent treatment, being rude, being inconsiderate, publicly criticizing others, etc.
Have you come across any particular catalyst for this kind of behavior at workplace?
Absolutely. Supervisors who have been abused by their supervisors, who have conflicts with their co-workers, and/or who have certain personality characteristics (high negative affectivity or low self-esteem) are more likely to abuse their subordinates. Also, as mentioned in a previous answer, there are workplace characteristics that can be catalysts. Some of these include a stressful environment, deadlines, a lack of negative consequences for negative behavior and an organizational culture that focuses exclusively on results and performance (potentially at the expense of people's feelings and morale).
You have conducted many surveys, do you recall any surprising replies?
Yes, some of the surprising results are just how bad the effects from abusive supervision are. There are a large number of studies that show the #1 reason people leave their jobs is bad supervisors/management, and the results support this idea. Additionally, even though abusive supervision may not happen all too often (not every day or even every week), even low base rates of these behaviors have considerable negative consequences. One reason is that when physical (bad) behaviors happen in the workplace, they are dealt with immediately.
Another key finding is just how powerful abusive supervision is. People can be abused by their co-workers, get bad benefits, bad roles, an unsupportive or caring organization, etc., but in most cases where abusive supervision has been compared to these variables, the findings have shown that abusive supervision had the biggest negative impact on desired variables (motivation, performance, low stress, low turnover intentions, etc.)
Could you list some of the key findings from your latest article "An investigation of abusive supervision as a predictor of performance and the-- meaning of work as a moderator of the relationship," which was recently published in the Leadership Quarterly?
We found that abusive supervision was negatively related to self-rated performance, performance ratings from formal performance appraisals, and manager-rated performance. Additionally, we found that for employees who found more meaning in their work (think someone really committed who extra enjoys their work), abusive supervision actually had a stronger negative impact on them.
What's next in your research?
There are constantly new and interesting questions related to abusive supervision. Some include examining intermediary mechanisms that actually explain how abusive supervision leads to negative outcomes. Also, we're examining other outcomes from abusive supervision, including: Do abused subordinates engage in more deviant behavior, abuse others, engage in unethical behaviors, expend less effort, help others less often, etc.? Finally, another next step might include examining how relative abusive supervision (If I get abused a little bit is that a lot worse if my co-workers don't get abused at all compared to if my coworkers get abused a lot?) at the co-worker level effects later outcomes.
How can an employee avoid abusive supervision? Also, do you have any advice for students who are gearing up for a professional workplace after their graduation?
A few ways. Try to find a workplace situation where (a) it seems like the supervisors don't abuse their subordinates and (b) these kinds of behaviors would not be acceptable. If someone finds themselves working for an abusive supervisor, often times less interactions is better. Also, making sure to meet deadlines and not do anything to "set off" a supervisor will help to minimize the abusive behaviors they are subject to.
Some other strategies that employees can use to defuse uncomfortable employee-supervisor situations are making sure you know HR policies and following them, documenting any negative supervisor-subordinate interactions, making sure to keep any heated communications related to business and not personalities or personal issues, having colleagues or other coworkers come with you when interacting with supervisors, and potentially communicating over email (as it creates a paper trail and supervisors are often less abusive) when an employee perceives there may be issues.
