Hi and welcome to my Personal Blog.

On this site I would like to keep posting the most relevant personal and business information to keep you as informed as possible about my passion, improving things in the workplace.

What that means is, by understanding the in’s and out’s of workplace etiquette, we can prevent all kinds of workplace intimidation such as verbal abuse, bullying and mobbing just to name a few.

Before I go into too much detail of workplace issues though, I’d like to tell you a little bit about myself and how I came to be so passionate about the subject.

I was born in Boston, grew up in upstate New York and on the west coast of Florida on a small island. My husband and I have lived most of our lives in  both Southern California and presently in the northern part of the state.

The reason that I am so involved with issues in the workplace is because early in my own career I was forced to leave my job because of what is now known as workplace mobbing.

Being forced out of a job because of being a high risk with health conditions caused me to suffer 7 years of intense anxiety, depression and other psychological problems before I realized what was actually happening and why it was happening.

Now on to the present and to how my knowledge of this subject of  workplace abuse and the solutions to bullying, mobbing and general workplace harassment can help you to overcome your own toxic workplace situations.

As of the date of this post, we are finding ourselves in the middle of a huge economic global slowdown. What and how this affects the average workplace is a question that I’ve made a priority of researching and reporting on. Read on.

It’s the economy, stupid! At least that’s what the politicians would have us believe.

Does our receding economy have anything to do with a rise in workplace intimidation? As the workforce starts to become more and more competitive with hundreds of thousands of layoffs every month, are workers willing to put up with abuse  to try not to be the next victim of job cutbacks?

Although there are no statistics to prove that this is happening in this sluggish economy, I would be extremely surprised if this wasn’t the case.

In fact, I would actually be willing to wager that workers are “taking it on the chin” so to speak,  just to keep their present position in the company they work for. After all, if they are laid off, there won’t be much of a chance of finding another job anytime soon. The demand just isn’t there right now.

As our economy slows, managers and company owners are more uptight than ever trying to squeeze more production from fewer employees, causing the workers to become more competitive to retain their jobs. this competition creates all kinds of problems including, but not limited to, mobbing tactics, outright bullying and even consistent verbal abuse between co-workers.

There also emerges a certain type of worker that will do anything to retain their position in the company. This is the type of person that self-promotes their position in the workplace to gain the upper hand over his fellow workers.

This is the one type of workplace bully that could care less about his fellow workers but constantly pumps himself up with upper management in order to maintain the best job security possible for them selves.

If and when upper management ever recognizes this type of bullying behavior is anyone’s guess. You must be of the mindset of taking control of your particular situation and getting it resolved before it becomes so unmanageable that it leads to serious mental and, or health problems.

Ask anyone who has experienced being bullied or having extreme stress in the workplace and they will tell you how it’s affected their health and ability to cope. From migraine headaches, ulcers, anxiety, depression and in more extreme cases it’s been proven to have caused diabetes and cancer.

Micki says, “ I can attribute having breast cancer twice to two jobs where I was bullied.” Stress is not always a bad thing. Stress gets the adrenaline going and helps you to be more creative. But bad stress is where you don’t have enough hours in the days to complete your work, or you experience the pressures of unreasonable requests made on you daily.

Having a balanced lifestyle with work and family is imperative. Take the time to take care of your mental and physical health. When you do, you’ll find your work and life is much more pleasant.

Does Being a Highly Sensitive Person Make You a Target for Bullies in the Workplace?

Being a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) merely means you have special traits that others don’t possess. You may be sensitive to things like bright lights, loud noises, or crowds. You may also process information more deeply than your co-workers which may appear that you are “slow.”

To find out more about what it means to be a highly sensitive person go to www.hsperson.com. Bullies seem to be able to sense when someone is highly sensitive and zoom in on that and use it to their benefit. A bully will use any mechanism they can find in order to get rid of you, or to make your life miserable. To find out more go to: www.barrisplace.wordpress.com.

Management Tips:

Department meetings not getting you the results you expected? Try starting the meeting with this sentence. “The purpose of this meeting is for me to find out from you what your feelings are as to each of your departments. What do you feel the breakdowns are and what do you need from me to improve these situations?”

Once that is said, be quiet. Let each person talk and as they talk, remain quiet and take notes. You may want to nod your head once in a while to let them know you are paying attention. You will learn more from your team by not trying to “run” the meeting and by just listening.

Here are a few ways to utilize Judith’s advice and guidance on workplace issues.

*Email Judith with your questions at judith_munson@yahoo.com

*Inquire about one-on-one coaching with Judith.

*Bring Judith to your next conference as a keynote speaker.

Or just call us at 530-873-6159 to see how we might be able to be of assistance to you or your company.