Bullies carefully conceal negative employment histories and unwanted personality traits
There are three things managers most need to know about psychological warfare in the workplace — its symptoms; how it affects their employees, their departments and the organization; and what they can do about it.
Many managers find this a difficult issue to address. It is made more difficult by “he said, she said” situations, employees’ silence and inability or refusal to discuss the issue, by the shame felt by those being targeted and by the cleverness of workplace harassers.
Sometimes managers can be targeted by more senior managers or by those who report to them. There are a number of steps that can be taken during the hiring process to ensure bullies don’t make it in the door.
It starts with hiring
One way harassers and bullies make their way into workplaces is by carefully concealing negative employment histories and unwanted personality traits. Those who forge their credentials, or embellish their abilities, can sometimes slip things by in one interview, especially if references are not carefully checked.
Harassers often rely on their “gift of the gab” to make friends with interviewers, coming across as likeable and affable, easy going and competent when, in fact, they are anything but. Even the best and most experienced interviewers can be fooled.
Psychopathic bullies pride themselves on their ability to confuse and mislead interviewers — taking advantage of other people is part of their lifestyle. Busy managers who do not take the time to carefully check not only someone’s credentials, but their claimed accomplishments, and how well they would fit in, will sometimes pay the price in having hired a bully who later makes their lives miserable.
Hiring mistakes can be costly. The more invested up front in the hiring process, the less likely a manager will be sorry later for having made a dreadful mistake.
Avoid hiring by single interview
A single interview is generally not the best way to hire staff. It is also dangerous to assume any one manager knows best when making hiring decisions. Multiple interviews are often necessary so more opinions can be sought.
Team interviews or tasks as part of the interviewing process are vital. Setting up a practice work situation involving a team, and then seeking their opinions afterwards about whether or not they can work with the person, would be helpful. Mixed feelings or negative feedback from trusted team members should be carefully considered, and checked out in second or even third interviews. Goodness of fit may, in some cases, be more important than a person’s qualifications and experience.
Interview checklist
In conducting interviews be sure to:
• ask the candidate why he is leaving or has left his current position;
• get specifics concerning the applicant’s experience and academic qualifications — if you’re unsure of what the applicant means, ask him for more detail and check for avoidance behaviour;
• test out the person’s skills by asking him a few skill-testing questions;
• check out the applicant’s credibility by asking him who can confirm or may have more direct knowledge of his stated accomplishments;
• ask some questions that test the individual’s deductive reasoning ability (the candidate’s ability to apply recognized facts to new situations to reach a conclusion, or the ability to use logic in thinking through a problem);
• provide a test of an individual’s written communication skills;
• ask the candidate to comment on the main points of something you ask them to read, to test for reading comprehension;
• check the individual’s general literacy by asking him something about what he enjoys reading, then ask the person to comment on what they enjoyed about it;
• ask “how, what, which, when, and who” questions to solicit details;
• ask compare-and-contrast questions such as, “Tell us about a time you feel that you performed well and contrast that with a time you feel that you did not, and discuss a bit about the differences between the two”;
• check the person’s ability to explore options by asking him an “options” question, such as providing a case scenario and asking about what options the person feels he may have in this situation;
• ask a question where the person may be required to explore a differing viewpoint such as, “Tell me about a time when you disagreed with a colleague. Why do you believe she took the position that she did?”; and
• at some point during the interview, provide constructive but negative feedback to see how well the person can accept criticism.
Perhaps most importantly, do not rely only on your impression of a candidate in a formal interview. Try to establish a less formal interview at a later date, say a luncheon, or off-site coffee meeting with at least one other person present.
Hiring senior managers
When hiring senior managers, it may be necessary to use a special psychological test, or at the very least “personality profiling” to screen for possible psychopathy or other negative character traits.
Recent events in the corporate world where formerly successful businesspeople have found themselves behind bars for grossly unethical and criminal conduct that in some cases led to the collapse of their companies, underscores the need to be extremely careful in hiring very senior managers. Enron, Worldcom, Hollinger, and OneTel all come to mind as examples where managers who had no qualms about fraudulent practices or outright theft functioned with impunity to the severe detriment of their companies and those who invested in them.
Patricia Spindel is a Toronto-based professor teaching at both the University of Guelph-Humber in Toronto and in the social services program at the Humber Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning. The above text is an edited excerpt from her book Psychological Warfare at Work, which is available on Amazon.com.
Many managers find this a difficult issue to address. It is made more difficult by “he said, she said” situations, employees’ silence and inability or refusal to discuss the issue, by the shame felt by those being targeted and by the cleverness of workplace harassers.
Sometimes managers can be targeted by more senior managers or by those who report to them. There are a number of steps that can be taken during the hiring process to ensure bullies don’t make it in the door.
It starts with hiring
One way harassers and bullies make their way into workplaces is by carefully concealing negative employment histories and unwanted personality traits. Those who forge their credentials, or embellish their abilities, can sometimes slip things by in one interview, especially if references are not carefully checked.
Harassers often rely on their “gift of the gab” to make friends with interviewers, coming across as likeable and affable, easy going and competent when, in fact, they are anything but. Even the best and most experienced interviewers can be fooled.
Psychopathic bullies pride themselves on their ability to confuse and mislead interviewers — taking advantage of other people is part of their lifestyle. Busy managers who do not take the time to carefully check not only someone’s credentials, but their claimed accomplishments, and how well they would fit in, will sometimes pay the price in having hired a bully who later makes their lives miserable.
Hiring mistakes can be costly. The more invested up front in the hiring process, the less likely a manager will be sorry later for having made a dreadful mistake.
Avoid hiring by single interview
A single interview is generally not the best way to hire staff. It is also dangerous to assume any one manager knows best when making hiring decisions. Multiple interviews are often necessary so more opinions can be sought.
Team interviews or tasks as part of the interviewing process are vital. Setting up a practice work situation involving a team, and then seeking their opinions afterwards about whether or not they can work with the person, would be helpful. Mixed feelings or negative feedback from trusted team members should be carefully considered, and checked out in second or even third interviews. Goodness of fit may, in some cases, be more important than a person’s qualifications and experience.
Interview checklist
In conducting interviews be sure to:
• ask the candidate why he is leaving or has left his current position;
• get specifics concerning the applicant’s experience and academic qualifications — if you’re unsure of what the applicant means, ask him for more detail and check for avoidance behaviour;
• test out the person’s skills by asking him a few skill-testing questions;
• check out the applicant’s credibility by asking him who can confirm or may have more direct knowledge of his stated accomplishments;
• ask some questions that test the individual’s deductive reasoning ability (the candidate’s ability to apply recognized facts to new situations to reach a conclusion, or the ability to use logic in thinking through a problem);
• provide a test of an individual’s written communication skills;
• ask the candidate to comment on the main points of something you ask them to read, to test for reading comprehension;
• check the individual’s general literacy by asking him something about what he enjoys reading, then ask the person to comment on what they enjoyed about it;
• ask “how, what, which, when, and who” questions to solicit details;
• ask compare-and-contrast questions such as, “Tell us about a time you feel that you performed well and contrast that with a time you feel that you did not, and discuss a bit about the differences between the two”;
• check the person’s ability to explore options by asking him an “options” question, such as providing a case scenario and asking about what options the person feels he may have in this situation;
• ask a question where the person may be required to explore a differing viewpoint such as, “Tell me about a time when you disagreed with a colleague. Why do you believe she took the position that she did?”; and
• at some point during the interview, provide constructive but negative feedback to see how well the person can accept criticism.
Perhaps most importantly, do not rely only on your impression of a candidate in a formal interview. Try to establish a less formal interview at a later date, say a luncheon, or off-site coffee meeting with at least one other person present.
Hiring senior managers
When hiring senior managers, it may be necessary to use a special psychological test, or at the very least “personality profiling” to screen for possible psychopathy or other negative character traits.
Recent events in the corporate world where formerly successful businesspeople have found themselves behind bars for grossly unethical and criminal conduct that in some cases led to the collapse of their companies, underscores the need to be extremely careful in hiring very senior managers. Enron, Worldcom, Hollinger, and OneTel all come to mind as examples where managers who had no qualms about fraudulent practices or outright theft functioned with impunity to the severe detriment of their companies and those who invested in them.
Patricia Spindel is a Toronto-based professor teaching at both the University of Guelph-Humber in Toronto and in the social services program at the Humber Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning. The above text is an edited excerpt from her book Psychological Warfare at Work, which is available on Amazon.com.
