Latest / Spending time with Dr. Christina / The Amazon Experience: Workplace Mobbing at Amazon

Transcript

The Amazon Experience: Workplace Mobbing at Amazon · Spending time with Dr. Christina

• 0:00
  Hello everyone and welcome back to my podcast
• 0:02
  spending time with dr. Christina. We're still
• 0:05
  in season 8 of the Amazon experience We're on
• 0:09
  episode 5 and we're talking about workplace mobbing
• 0:13
  now we're talking about workplace mobbing because
• 0:16
  as some of you may know who have listened to
• 0:19
  some of my Podcast messages on employment law.
• 0:22
  I covered this area. So for some of you also
• 0:26
  listening you may be thinking Does this exist
• 0:28
  at Amazon in the warehouse? Absolutely. It certainly
• 0:33
  does. So let's get into it and talk about it.
• 0:36
  And I can tell you in the words of one of my
• 0:38
  former managers who stated Amazon warehouse is
• 0:42
  much like a high school. It really is. It's like
• 0:46
  Amazon high. And I say that also and I repeat
• 0:50
  this also because this is the environment. It
• 0:53
  is much like a high school and I'm sure other
• 0:56
  people that work in warehouses may find it to
• 0:59
  be similar. I have heard this before and I think
• 1:04
  because you have such a variety of employees,
• 1:09
  very young to very old to in between, you are
• 1:14
  getting a lot of different outcomes, especially
• 1:17
  since Amazon has put into some of their key leadership
• 1:22
  roles a lot of people that aren't necessarily
• 1:27
  experienced as managers or trained very well
• 1:30
  in managers or even know how to manage. So when
• 1:34
  we think about workplace mobbing, an experienced
• 1:38
  manager would know how to stop it and nip it
• 1:41
  in the bud. But when you get a certain kind of
• 1:46
  personnel an employee rather and you put them
• 1:49
  into these key positions that you're managing
• 1:52
  employees you're managing not just their productivity
• 1:56
  but you're managing policies you're managing
• 1:59
  if they're following these policies you're going
• 2:02
  to find that there's going to be a lot of issues
• 2:06
  and they're not necessarily ones that they can
• 2:10
  deal with because they're not skilled or experienced
• 2:12
  to deal with it. So let's talk a little bit more
• 2:14
  about that Tonight's episode is about workplace
• 2:18
  mobbing and essentially workplace mobbing is
• 2:21
  it's bullying and It's everywhere. It's not just
• 2:26
  on social media or in schools with kids. It actually
• 2:29
  happens in the workplace And it is a type of
• 2:34
  bullying or targeting of, say, a coworker or
• 2:37
  a manager or just really systematically isolating
• 2:42
  people. And this does happen. I do remember a
• 2:47
  case where there was a person that identified
• 2:51
  as a transgender person and they felt like they
• 2:54
  were being bullied. I also remember a case where
• 2:59
  there was a young lady, thankfully her mother
• 3:01
  worked there too and took up for her, but she
• 3:04
  was being bullied by some peers that were just
• 3:07
  really jealous of her. And you know, bullying,
• 3:11
  it's the same as any place as in elementary or
• 3:14
  what have you. What is behind it? Jealousy, anger,
• 3:19
  frustration from the other party, and they're
• 3:23
  targeting and they're isolating a person. And
• 3:27
  a lot of times they are ridiculing this person
• 3:31
  to a point where they're trying to push them
• 3:35
  to either quit or to start something in the workplace
• 3:41
  such as maybe a fight or something, something
• 3:44
  that would lead to termination. But bullying
• 3:47
  definitely does exist at the warehouse and just
• 3:51
  like in any organization. However, I did see
• 3:54
  it. in an abundance at the Amazon warehouse.
• 3:57
  And it's something that should have been nipped
• 3:59
  in the bud. But again, as I hinted at earlier,
• 4:03
  if you're putting in place managers, or even
• 4:06
  from the previous episode where I mentioned HR,
• 4:08
  if you're putting in managers or HR members,
• 4:11
  team members that are not skilled at being able
• 4:16
  to mediate or resolve differences, this will
• 4:20
  go. on and on and on and this is what i found
• 4:23
  in amazon they let things go on and on and on
• 4:27
  until it reaches ahead because no one knows how
• 4:31
  to nip it in the bud they're not trained they're
• 4:34
  not trained they're not experienced and a lot
• 4:37
  of times not even educated in how to deal with
• 4:41
  issues that are personnel issues that are that
• 4:43
  are common to human resources and common to management
• 4:47
  so When I think about the workplace bullying
• 4:51
  that was happening a lot of times it did not
• 4:54
  have to go that far I Think at the time I heard
• 5:00
  an explanation from Human Resources that they
• 5:02
  were short -handed They didn't have a team, but
• 5:06
  I saw a very large team Two types of teams actually
• 5:12
  you have a team that sits and asks questions
• 5:16
  that's pretty much available And then you have
• 5:20
  a team that's in like an executive suite. So
• 5:23
  you have two places in person that you can go.
• 5:27
  You also have a number you can call and report
• 5:30
  situations. But if you want in -person help,
• 5:34
  there really were two places you could go. And
• 5:37
  staff seemed to be available. Now, when we think
• 5:42
  about workplace bullying in general, I want to
• 5:46
  talk about what do you do about it? How do you
• 5:49
  handle it? Let's talk about this again because
• 5:52
  it was very common that I would witness certain
• 5:58
  groups get together and isolate others. In fact,
• 6:03
  when I spoke about the hierarchy the other day
• 6:05
  in the other episode, again, we have groups,
• 6:11
  ethnic groups getting together and isolating
• 6:15
  people. And when this happens, and people become
• 6:21
  targeted in this way, whether it's for advancement
• 6:25
  or for any other kind of harm, maybe elimination,
• 6:30
  elimination of their position. These are things
• 6:33
  that you readily want to deal with, especially
• 6:36
  if you're an organization that is pro -DEI, pro
• 6:41
  -human rights, pro -democracy, but pro -fairness.
• 6:46
  How about that? When we think about workplace
• 6:52
  bullying, anybody that's experiencing it, whether
• 6:55
  you're at the warehouse or not, you want to start
• 6:58
  to document. This is one of the things that I
• 7:01
  always did in the workplace. When you notice
• 7:04
  something that's awry, document it. If it goes
• 7:07
  against policy, if it goes against the law, if
• 7:11
  it goes against your own conscience, document
• 7:16
  it. And what you want to do is look at the severity
• 7:21
  of it. Is this something that is keeping you
• 7:25
  from doing your job? Is this something that's
• 7:27
  affecting you doing your job? Is this something
• 7:31
  that can harm you? For example, when the young
• 7:34
  lady was being bullied by her peers. These are
• 7:39
  things that must be reported. reported right
• 7:44
  away to not just the management team but to HR
• 7:47
  and especially if you feel like the manager doesn't
• 7:51
  know how to handle the situation or is not doing
• 7:54
  enough in the situation you certainly want to
• 7:57
  report it to HR and you want to find a person
• 8:01
  that you know is equipped to handle it and I
• 8:04
  know that a lot of young people think wow how
• 8:07
  do I tell this well The first thing that you
• 8:12
  want to do, and I say young people because a
• 8:14
  lot of times they come into the workforce, they
• 8:16
  don't know where to turn when they start to have
• 8:18
  issues and they want to keep their jobs. Well,
• 8:20
  you find someone in human resources that you
• 8:23
  know is responsive and they hear you, right?
• 8:27
  They're listening to you. They're taking notes.
• 8:30
  They're not brushing you off. Now if it just
• 8:33
  so happens that this is an older person, maybe
• 8:36
  you're part of this vulnerable population that
• 8:38
  I mentioned also the other day in another segment.
• 8:41
  Document. Document and take it to the person
• 8:47
  you think is listening and is acting on it. I
• 8:51
  know a lot of times they have You know, again,
• 8:54
  this whiteboard at Amazon and you can post issues
• 8:56
  and talk about things. Put it there. Get it before
• 9:00
  senior management so they can start to look at
• 9:03
  whatever you're facing, especially if it's bullying.
• 9:07
  And I'm not going to negate talking to an employment
• 9:12
  lawyer. If you find that you're at a particular
• 9:15
  warehouse and you're in an environment where
• 9:18
  no one is listening to you and you feel like
• 9:21
  HR is not there for you, management's not there
• 9:25
  for you, take it to an employment lawyer. Get
• 9:30
  a free consultation and talk about the issue.
• 9:33
  And if it's severe enough and if you don't even
• 9:37
  think that you have the resources for an employment
• 9:40
  lawyer, you can't find one, start at the very
• 9:43
  bottom. Go to the Department of Human Rights
• 9:46
  in any state, make a complaint, or go to the
• 9:50
  EEOC and make a complaint. This is where you
• 9:54
  start. And from there, they'll navigate you through
• 9:58
  the process. But for anyone that's experiencing
• 10:01
  workplace bullying, Maybe you're not this young
• 10:04
  person. Maybe you're an older person. Maybe you're
• 10:07
  being targeted by managers who are trying to
• 10:09
  keep you from promotion. Maybe you're being targeted
• 10:13
  by your peers, the work team that you depend
• 10:17
  on to get certain things done. Make a case and
• 10:22
  get it to the right people. This is really important
• 10:28
  because I can't tell you how many times I've
• 10:30
  seen this play out Where people don't know what
• 10:34
  to do or where to go and it's keeping them from
• 10:37
  performing and performing well so When we think
• 10:42
  about workplace bullying at Amazon it does indeed
• 10:47
  happen just like in any organization But where
• 10:51
  do you go? again If it's a manager that's giving
• 10:56
  you this issue, maybe it's a level 3 PA. Maybe
• 10:59
  these PAs are getting together. Process assistance,
• 11:02
  that's what it stands for. Maybe they're getting
• 11:04
  together. Maybe they're isolating you. Maybe
• 11:07
  they're creating issues for you. Maybe you have
• 11:10
  a team of specialized workers, and I've seen
• 11:15
  this at Amazon. Maybe they are teaming up, making
• 11:19
  false complaints about you. Whatever it is start
• 11:23
  with the documentation and look at your resources
• 11:26
  Who can you go to that will listen? Can you go
• 11:29
  to human resources or can you go to? the senior
• 11:34
  management team But start to document and look
• 11:38
  at what you're facing and how it's affecting
• 11:40
  you Now some of you may be thinking hey, did
• 11:44
  you face? Workplace bullying at Amazon sure I
• 11:48
  did not at the delivery station I found that
• 11:52
  to be pleasant. But when you get into the fulfillment
• 11:55
  center, people are threatened by you. People
• 11:58
  are jealous of you. You know, people are, they
• 12:03
  want to promote their friends. You know, this
• 12:06
  is all the usual stuff that you would find, you
• 12:11
  know, in the workplace sometimes when it's not
• 12:13
  nipped in the bud, right? But what I did again,
• 12:17
  I documented. I navigated it. I knew where to
• 12:20
  go and where to take these issues because no
• 12:24
  one should ever keep you from doing your job
• 12:27
  and no one should ever be in a position to harm
• 12:33
  your reputation at work. And what I mean by that
• 12:36
  is that if you have a good work ethic and people
• 12:40
  are upset about it or jealous of it and you know
• 12:44
  trying to you know harm this reputation that
• 12:49
  you have, sort of like with this other young
• 12:51
  lady where her mother was there at the organization
• 12:53
  and took up for her. You deal with it. You document
• 12:58
  it. You take it to the proper people. The hierarchy
• 13:03
  of leadership that you find to be reliable. If
• 13:07
  you don't know anyone, ask a trusted friend.
• 13:11
  and you get it nipped in the bud the best way
• 13:15
  possible. I've known people that have handled
• 13:17
  this by transferring to another department, transferring
• 13:21
  to another shift, transferring to another location.
• 13:25
  If it comes to that, however, it may not come
• 13:28
  to that, but these are things to consider when
• 13:31
  you find that something is getting... in your
• 13:35
  way of doing your job, performing good, or anything
• 13:40
  related to that. And let me just add, not every
• 13:43
  situation do you need to respond to. Think about
• 13:48
  it. Not everything needs to have waves made out
• 13:52
  of it. But if you find this to be something that
• 13:58
  you can see that it is harmful to you, report
• 14:03
  it. Well, I'm hoping that many of you listening
• 14:06
  don't have to go through anything like that at
• 14:09
  the Amazon warehouse or anywhere else However,
• 14:12
  again if you do document and report it in The
• 14:17
  meanwhile, this is the end of this week's episode
• 14:20
  I thank you all for joining me and I wish you
• 14:23
  all a very good week