如何遏制职场暴力

    你内心深处是否产生过一种恐惧感？比如在小学时，或者在新学年开始之前？或者，这种恐惧感会出现在每周一早上，你准备上班之前？

    对于有些人来说，这种恐惧感每天都存在。缺乏身体上的或者情感上的，或两方面的安全感，会阻碍创造力。但这种情况在许多公司内却普遍存在。

    关于当今职场人身暴力的统计数字可能会令你大吃一惊。据美国职业安全与健康管理局（U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration，OSHA）报告：“凶杀是造成工作场所中女性死亡的主要原因。”OSHA称，许多工作场所暴力案件并未被报道，但“每年约有200万美国工作者报告，自己遭受到工作场所暴力。”许多大公司纷纷采取安检措施，以防止武器进入工作场所，但许多公司非常容易受到大范围攻击或有针对性的攻击。

    关于去年十二月发生在纽敦市的惨案，湾区非暴力沟通（Bay Area Nonviolent Communication）联合创始人米基•卡斯坦曾发表过专文，充分阐述了预防暴力的重要性。她说，如果我们能表现出对其他人的同情，帮助其他人感受到自身的重要性，就可以带来巨大的变化。

    当然，使用有形的暴力只是如今公司内敌对问题的一部分。《围攻》（Mobbing）一书的联合作者莫琳•达夫认为，无形的虐待也非常普遍。这种侵犯通常针对与众不同的人，可能造成严重的生理和心理创伤；但达夫认为，这种侵犯的后果往往却遭到公司的忽视。

    公司就是一个社区。笔者每年会接触来自数百家公司的人。有的工作场所非常友好；而有的则充满敌意。（顺便说一下，公司电话录音里关于企业使命的陈词滥调与内部员工友好相处之间没有任何直接关系。）有的同事非常友善，有的却不太友好。

    Ever get a feeling of dread in the pit of your stomach? The kind you might remember from grade school, maybe when you started a new academic year. Or perhaps it comes on Monday mornings as you dress for work.

    For some, that feeling is daily routine. That lack of feeling safe -- either physically, emotionally, or both -- takes its toll on creativity. And it is pervasive in too many corporate workplaces.

    The statistics on physical violence in today's workplaces may surprise you. "Homicide is the leading cause of death for women in the workplace," the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration reports. OSHA says that many cases of workplace violence go unreported, but that "nearly 2 million American workers report having been victims of workplace violence each year." While some large companies have screening to keep weapons out of the workplace, many businesses are completely vulnerable to mass or pointed attacks.

    Miki Kashtan, co-founder of Bay Area Nonviolent Communication, writing about December's Newtown tragedy, eloquently described the importance of violence prevention. Our capacity to exhibit compassion and help others feel like they matter can make a huge difference, she says.

    The use of physical force is, of course, just one part of the hostility problem at corporations today. Non-physical cruelty is prevalent, argues Maureen Duffy, co-author of the book Mobbing. This type of aggression, which is commonly targeted at those who are different, can lead to significant physical and psychological trauma; consequences that corporations too often ignore, Duffy says.

    Companies are communities. I speak with people at hundreds of firms every year. Some workplaces are friendly; others are not. (Platitudes about corporate mission on a company's telephone hold muzak don't correlate directly with courtesy, by the way.) And some people are friendly, and others aren't.