Being treated poorly at work is one of life’s worst experiences. Many individuals go through things like bullying, micromanagement, humiliation, and outright hostility. Unfortunately, these events are more common than most people realize. As an individual, you might think that you’re being singled out, but this is a story that’s being replayed millions of times across the country. What strategies can you use for coping when being treated poorly at work? That’s what we explore in this post:
Protect your mental health first
The first step is to protect your mental health and do what you can to preserve it. Poor treatment often reflects the other person’s insecurities, so it’s often worth reminding yourself that it’s not about you, it’s about them. If you can reframe the negative things that they’re saying about you objectively, then you can create some distance between yourself and their actions.
If you can take lunch breaks away from the main work environment or say no to unpaid overtime, that’s also a good approach. Laws protect you against exploitation from individuals looking to take advantage of you. Make sure that you leave plenty of time in your life for things like sleep, health, and exercise.
Document what happens.
It’s also a very good idea to document everything that happens to you, keeping detailed facts, including dates, times, and what was said. This is especially useful if you go to a workers’ comp appeal or tribunal.
Documentation is seen by courts as contemporaneous evidence. This means that it has a high status because you recorded the information at the time, so it’s more likely to be accurate. It also gives judges, juries, and other members of the tribunal something they can really work with. They can get their teeth into it.
Address it directly
If you’re being treated poorly at work, you should look to see if you can address it directly. One of the best ways to do this is to talk to the person treating you poorly privately and explain how their behavior is impacting your work. Usually, most people will respond the way you want if you lay out the issues they are causing for you. Violent pushback is unlikely. Sometimes a gentle chat is all that’s needed to put somebody on the right track.
Don’t get into gossip or arguments, and don’t get pulled into drama. If you see this happening, go to a superior that you can trust.
Use internal resources
Finally, you might want to use internal resources to cope with poor treatment at work. Speaking to your manager or the HR team is a great way to correct any systemic or individual behavior that you don’t want, like bullying, harassment, or disrespectful workplace conduct. Reputable organizations always have an employee handbook that sets out the way that people should treat each other in the organization. If anybody has violated this, then it’s a reason for intervention.
So there you have it, some of the strategies you can use for coping when treated poorly at work.
