On the surface, the culture of bullying is apparent through the high turnover and constant restructuring that the teams face regularly, as well as lack of trust and unification among teams. Unfortunately upper executive leadership and HR does not see, or is simply chooses to ignore, the situation.
Unfortunately, it was not made clear to me that the team at Nordstrom I was hired to manage had previous issues that were virtually irreparable. I was the third manager the team had in less than one year, each expressing pride in taking part towards those managers leaving.
Each member of the team made it clear that they did not feel my hiring was necessary. Two of them were in my role previously and demoted without a reduction in pay. Each had stated that they could do a better job, in addition to expressing that the VP had asked them to manage the team prior to my hiring (or wished to be in the role), but had chose not to. It became apparent very quickly that I was inserted into a very hostile environment and difficult situation. All of which was not communicated up-front by management, and with little to no support in dealing with the difficult team once I was on-boarded.
During the course of the time in which I managed the team I was subjected and witness to:
- Violent outbursts by the team towards each other, towards other teams, and towards myself.
- Sexual innuendos made by the team towards myself of which I played off when others were present and discussed with each one on one of the inappropriateness.
- Uncomfortable conversations and stories that included violence, drugs and sexual escapades.
- Upper management of an opposite sex invited me to "drinks" after hours - when brought to my manager I was simply told that "it happens".
- Repeatedly bullied by the team in the form of isolation, false criticism, lying, taking credit for work, undermining, demeaning, intimidation, projection of blame, threats and campaigning. I had talked with my manager on several occasions about the bullying, spoke to the team one on one, and discussed with HR. Unfortunately there was no resolution and little support by suggesting I not use the word "bullying".
- Limited communication with management leaving me to deal with the difficulties on my own. VP cancelled meetings often and direct manager was difficult to schedule touch bases with, was non-responsive to emails, and snapped often when approached directly.
- Other teams repeatedly communicated issues with my team. I expressed concerns of bullying with specific examples in private, followed up with written emails, then worked with my manager to resolve with little support from HR.
- One team member retaliated with anger towards me immediately following a performance review (at the request of Management). I left the room calmly expressing that I could not continue the discussion at that time. Management and HR did nothing to provide guidance for discipline. I worked with the employee to course correct.
The stress from the position in managing the difficult team had caused physical pain through severe headaches and illness that lead to an outburst which was outside of my character.
The company, as a whole, appears to breed a culture of bullying through the policy of "nice" without full realization of the ramifications. Individuals are taking credit for others work, isolating, falsely criticizing, undermining, demeaning, intimidating, projecting blame, and campaigning. Employees affected by the bullying are showing signs by snapping at one another, increased absenteeism, lack of motivation and job/career satisfaction.
