Page 26 - COMENIUS MANAGEMENT REVIEW

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 Extensive information for leading managers, superordinates and colleagues about causes
and consequences of mobbing
 Creation of organisational structure, which enables successful conflict control or does not
block solving such conflicts or even leads to the conflicts (for instance creation of co-
operative, fearless and fair leadership culture, self-organisation, personality development,
communication that goes beyond hierarchy, regular conversation with colleagues)
 Signing company or business agreements, that ensure creation of such environment in a
company, which makes mobbing-offenders expect sanctions.
The position of the company board of the union as far as regards possible action in mobbing
cases is rather complicated. Where higher-ranked functions commit offenses by mistreating their
subordinates, there is a clear profile to follow. In such cases the company board of the union acts
simply as an advocate of the interests of the employees involved against the “opposite party",
meaning the employer. Yet the situation turns somewhat different if there are reports of bullying
among peers, which is the case in nearly half of the instances recorded. The sensitive point about
such situations being that the board by its own commitment is expected to protect the rights of each
and every employee in an equal and unbiased way. The boards fear to become trapped between the
fronts should they interfere. On the other hand the same problem emerges if they actually step in to
act as arbitrators. The fear not to be elected again in the wake of helping a mobbing victim prevents
in some cases to fully identify oneself with the arbitration function. It is of course by no means an
easy task to interfere with such conflicts. The personal and professional stresses to which board
members are subjected may be minimized by appropriate training in dealing with sensitive conflict
situations, in which the future arbitrators receive helpful information and develop perceiving skills.
The tasks of the company board of the union on site as regards mobbing can be basically structured
into the following steps:
1. Informing all company employees about the mobbing phenomenon and about possible
preventive action which every person may implement in his/her own immediate
environment. It is the preventive efforts on site in which the company board of the union
is potentially most efficient. Members of the board are intimate with both the formal
scheme as well as the many fine details of the informal workings on site. Where company
boards of the union are actually analyzing the issues and evaluating training proposals
delivered e.g. by the union, the most effective course of preventive action can be expected.
For example by means of internal training schemes initiated by members of the company
board of the union, abilities of employees to handle daily conflict situations may be
improved substantially.