Val Lask winces when she recalls a former boss who she said used to make her cry.
At times the boss would be funny and good-natured, Lask said. But then he would get frustrated and take it out on his employees.
“He would just erupt. … You just never knew if he was going to be in a good mood or a bad mood,” said Lask, 33, of the Ukranian Village, who currently works in advertising.
Nicole Mrzena of McKinley Park faced a similar situation at one of her former jobs. The 18-year-old said a manager would throw temper tantrums and turn “fire red.” Once, she said, the manager threw a box at the wall, causing decorations to fall.
From malicious insults to cubicle destruction, aggression can rear its ugly head in the workplace. Nearly half of American workers have witnessed verbal and physical abuse in the office, according to a recent survey by the Employment Law Alliance.
And the worst part? CEOs may be to blame partly. “Employers love desk rage,” said Gary Namie, director of the Workplace Bullying Institute in Washington, D.C. “Most of these bullies have cultivated an executive sponsor … they get to do this with impunity.
“The message is, ‘Be aggressive. It will get you ahead.’ “
Namie said top leaders allow managers to use anger as a tool to scare employees into increasing their productivity. But in reality, he said, hostile work environments lead to turnover, absenteeism and, in extreme cases, lawsuits.
Tales like those from Lask and Mrzena show that desk rage can be a hot-under-the-collar issue.
When approached by RedEye, a number of Chicago-area workers declined to share their experiences for fear of employer retaliation.
One worker said his former boss would throw misdirected mail. Another said yelling was the norm.
Aaron Supita, a banker who lives in Wicker Park, said he would quit a job where the hostility got too uncomfortable. Otherwise, he would go through the chain-of-command to get the issue resolved.
“I would talk to the boss, see if something could be done about it,” said Supita, 28. He gave no indication rage is a problem in his workplace.
Victims of workplace jerks should speak up against the yeller so they are not perceived as weak, Namie said, adding that they should tread cautiously if confronting the aggressor.
“In the workplace, if the [bullier] is a high-enough-ranking person and the executive likes them, [employees] are told to tolerate it,” Namie said. “We are a bullying nation. We not only tolerate that kind of aggression, we reward it with promotion and protection.”
But Leonard Ingram, a Chicago anger management therapist, said he doubts CEOs would promote anger in the workplace because of the potential for litigation. Ingram said anger is becoming increasingly common in the workplace, but if it’s managed well, rage can serve useful functions, such as allowing employees to realize their limits — how far they can push, and how far they can be pushed.
“Anger is nature’s way of empowering us to ward off our perception of some kind of threat to our fundamental sense of well-being and happiness,” Ingram said. “The problem is not anger; the problem is the mismanagement of anger.”
Mismanaged workplace anger can lead to verbal abuse and even violence. Forty-five percent of American workers say they have experienced workplace abuse, according to the March poll by the Employment Law Alliance.
In the survey, forms of abuse ranged from making a sarcastic joke or a teasing remark about a co-worker to a boss physically threatening an employee.
Fifty-five percent of the 534 workers surveyed said they have witnessed a cross boss raise his or her voice to an employee, while 17 percent said they saw an employer make inappropriate physical contact with a subordinate.
Illinois does not have a law that specifically deals with office intimidation, Namie said. Other state legislatures have attempted to pass such bills to no avail.
In Chicago, employees accused of rage issues are routinely referred by human resource managers to The Anger Clinic, which runs an eight-week anger-management program.
Clinical Director Geraldine Katovich said the clinic has treated cases that range from a person who broke a window to workers casually mentioning they want to kill their bosses. Katovich noted that several of these cases were blown out of proportion.
But Ann-Marie Saputo of River North said employees who make even lighthearted threatening statements should be referred for help.
“I think it’s unprofessional to say something like that in the workplace,” Saputo, 29, a technology project manager said.
Stress and the pressure to succeed are common triggers for many outbursts, Katovich said.
Katovich advises employees feeling their anger rise to separate themselves from the situation, plan a time to work out the issue in private and turn the anger into something positive.
“You can’t make a good decision when you’re in the heat of anger,” she said.
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tswartz@tribune.com
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Let’s work it out
The University of Illinois at Chicago Center on Mental Health Services Research and Policy offers these tips on managing conflict in the workplace.
– Initiate and listen: Discuss the problem in a calm demeanor. Listen to concerns and respect differences.
– Don’t be a trigger: Use neutral language and don’t overreact. Be cautious with body language and focus on the issues.
– Set respectful limits: Don’t threaten or use violence. Take a break if the discussion becomes heated.
– Find win-win solutions: Make sure everyone gets something. Check back to see if the solution worked.
— Tracy Swartz, RedEye
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BY THE NUMBERS
Below are the percentages of workers in each age group who have encountered an abusive boss, based on a March survey of 534 American employees conducted by the Employment Law Alliance.
— Tracy Swartz, RedEye
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24% / 37% / 49% / 56%
18 to 24 / 25 to 34 / 35 to 44 / 55 to 64
48%
Midwestern workers
47%
Workers with a college background or degree
34%
Workers with only a high school education
Below are the percentages of workers who have experienced, witnessed or heard about selected types of abusive workplace behavior by employers or supervisors.
60%
Making a sarcastic joke or teasing remark
59%
Criticizing an employee’s performance in front of other co-workers
58%
Interrupting an employee in a rude manner
56%
Giving a dirty look
55%
Raising voice or yelling
54%
Ignoring or pretending an employee is invisible
50%
Personally insulting an employee
45%
Demeaning or embarrassing an employee in person or by e-mail
40%
Spreading rumors or inappropriately sharing confidential information
17%
Making inappropriate physical contact
11%
Physically threatening an employee
Raging bosses
Here are some of RedEye’s favorite angry TV bosses.
— Tracy Swartz, RedEye
Montgomery Burns
“The Simpsons”
Known for his nuclear meltdowns, the Grinch of Springfield frequently has his finger near the button to “release the hounds.” As physically weak as he is powerful, Burns calls on sidekick Smithers to help crush his employees like ants.
Janice Dickinson
“The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency”
Who hasn’t this modeling agency diva ticked off? Between calling her models too fat or too commercial, Dickinson’s acid tongue has sparked many an angry confrontation and has made for great reality TV.
Red Forman
“That ’70s Show”
Known for his crankiness, Red thought a kick in the behind was the solution to even workplace problems. He stooped to a low when he fired his own son, Eric, from his Price Mart job.
Ari Gold
“Entourage”
He slings racial slurs at his assistant, Lloyd, and needles co-workers with his constant sarcasm. The Hollywood agent’s power-hungry ways also cost him his star client.
Bob Kelso
“Scrubs”
The doctors at Sacred Heart hospital have no patience for the chief of medicine’s malice. He verbally abuses his staff and has been called “the most evil human being on the planet.”
Gordon Ramsay
“Hell’s Kitchen”
It’s impossible to escape the heat in this celebrity chef’s kitchen. His underlings whine about his fiery temper and sharp demands for perfection.
George Steinbrenner
“Seinfeld”
You couldn’t see his face, but you definitely knew his voice. The Boss talked non-stop and evoked fear in his employees, sometimes making them cry. He threatened to move his New York Yankees to New Jersey just to upset people.
Kerry Weaver
“ER”
She clashed bitterly with most of the other doctors as she climbed the ladder at County General. Her abrasive attitude amplified the stress in an already frenetic workplace.
