Mobbing (Workplace Harassment)

The strategy of organizational attrition

Mobbing or harassment at work is defined as a form of psychological violence exercised systematically and recurrently on an employee by superiors (known as bossing), colleagues or even subordinates.

Unlike a one-off conflict or a professional discrepancy, Mobbing is a planned campaign of destruction whose ultimate goal is to psychologically annihilate the victim in order to force him or her to leave the organization, often to avoid paying compensation for unfair dismissal.

It is a "trickle-down strategy": it is not a single blow, but an accumulation of daily hostilities aimed at wearing down the employee's emotional resistance until he or she collapses.

The phases of stigmatization

The process usually follows a staged evolution. It begins with a "Conflict Phase" derived from friction, professional envy or differences of opinion.

If unresolved, it evolves into the "Stigmatization Phase", where the victim is negatively labeled before the group ("she is conflictive", "she is crazy", "she does not perform").

At this stage, isolation and sabotage tactics are deployed: the "Law of Ice" is applied, vital information for the performance of their duties is withheld or they are assigned humiliating tasks far below their qualifications (or, on the contrary, impossible objectives to justify their incompetence).

The work environment becomes a trap where any movement of the victim is used against him or her to confirm the imposed label.

Institutional betrayal and life impact

The final phase, or "Intervention Phase", is characterized by organizational inaction or complicity.

Far from protecting the employee, departments such as Human Resources or management tend to blame the victim, assuming that he or she "must have done something" to deserve such treatment or accusing him or her of not knowing how to integrate into the team.

The impact of this betrayal is devastating, as it simultaneously attacks the individual's professional identity and economic survival.

Spending a large part of the day in this toxic environment, the deterioration of mental health is very rapid, developing severe anxiety, depression and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Recovery usually requires legal counsel to defend fundamental rights and, almost invariably, exit from the harmful e