Publishers: Reach beyond the resume when researching potential employees

What makes a former employer the "real word" on a former employee? I was fired from a small weekly newspaper for challenging the publisher's unethical tactics of blackmailing advertisers with threats of "bad ink" (which he DID do) in order to coerce them into advertising. All reference checks to my former employer have turned up slanderous and libelous references about me from him. In talking with other ethical journalists I've found this is fairly common among rural newspaper editors who put the dollar before ethics. I want to know why potential employers aren't asking potential employees about details of these so-called problems and, true to journalistic ethics - getting BOTH sides of the story.....

In response to Becky Blanton's post,
I'm not sure what state she's in, but
she should contact an attorney who
specializes in employment litigation. For instance, in California they have
a service where certified court reporters will call up and interview a former employer. The court reporter types up the entire interview, just like they would in a deposition. The attorney turns around and uses that against a former employer. Don't know what state you're in, but see if you can
get some help on this.

I'm the writer of this original post. I agree that hiring for character should be more critical than hiring for skills. Skills can be taught. Character can't. As I've moved along in my career since that last paper I've learned that being in management is no guarantee that a person has character. About the only evidence that a person has ethics, loyalty, character and the kind of "core soul" of a journalist is whether or not they are "bullied" or mobbed once they begin working for an organization. Apparently having the very skills papers want in an employee are the very skills that make them susceptible to those employees who don't have those qualities.

Studies show the very qualities employers say they want are the same qualities that make those persons targets of bullies. What makes bullying so insidious is that bullies are excellent liars. This is true on the playground as well as in the office. What kind of person is usually the target of office bullies? You may be surprised.

According to www.bullyonline.org:

1) How do bullies select their targets?

The bully selects their target using the following criteria:

* bullies are predatory and opportunistic - you just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time; this is always the main reason - investigation will reveal a string of predecessors, and you will have a string of successors
* being good at your job, often excelling
* being popular with people (colleagues, customers, clients, pupils, parents, patients, etc)
* more than anything else, the bully fears exposure of his/her inadequacy and incompetence; your presence, popularity and competence unknowingly and unwittingly fuel that fear
* being the expert and the person to whom others come for advice, either personal or professional (ie you get more attention than the bully)
* having a well-defined set of values which you are unwilling to compromise
* having a strong sense of integrity (bullies despise integrity, for they have none, and seem compelled to destroy anyone who has integrity)
* having at least one vulnerability that can be exploited
* being too old or too expensive (usually both)
* refusing to join an established clique
* showing independence of thought or deed
* refusing to become a corporate clone and drone

So, creative, innovative, dedicated employees are out there - but they're leaving your workplace because they're being bullied. And no one is talking about it.

) Personal qualities that bullies find irresistible

Targets of bullying usually have these qualities:

* popularity (this stimulates jealousy in the less-than-popular bully)
* competence (this stimulates envy in the less-than-competent bully)
* intelligence and intellect
* honesty and integrity (which bullies despise)
* you're trustworthy, trusting, conscientious, loyal and dependable
* a well-developed integrity which you're unwilling to compromise
* you're always willing to go that extra mile and expect others to do the same
* successful, tenacious, determined, courageous, having fortitude
* a sense of humour, including displays of quick-wittedness
* imaginative, creative, innovative
* idealistic, optimistic, always working for improvement and betterment of self, family, the employer, and the world
* ability to master new skills
* ability to think long term and to see the bigger picture
* sensitivity (this is a constellation of values to be cherished including empathy, concern for others, respect, tolerance etc)
* slow to anger
* helpful, always willing to share knowledge and experience
* giving and selfless
* difficulty saying no
* diligent, industrious
* tolerant
* strong sense of honour
* irrepressible, wanting to tackle and correct injustice wherever you see it
* an inability to value oneself whilst attributing greater importance and validity to other people's opinions of oneself (eg through tests, exams, appraisals, manager's feedback, etc)
* low propensity to violence (ie you prefer to resolve conflict through dialogue rather than through violence or legal action)
* a strong forgiving streak (which the bully exploits and manipulates to dissuade you from taking grievance and legal action)
* a desire to always think well of others
* being incorruptible, having high moral standards which you are unwilling to compromise
* being unwilling to lower standards
* a strong well-defined set of values which you are unwilling to compromise or abandon
* high expectations of those in authority and a dislike of incompetent people in positions of power who abuse power
* a tendency to self-deprecation, indecisiveness, deference and approval seeking
* low assertiveness
* a need to feel valued
* quick to apologise when accused, even if not guilty (this is a useful technique for defusing an aggressive customer or potential road rage incident)
* perfectionism
* higher-than-average levels of dependency, naivety and guilt
* a strong sense of fair play and a desire to always be reasonable
* high coping skills under stress, especially when the injury to health becomes apparent
* a tendency to internalise anger rather than express it

The typical sequence of events is:

* the target is selected using the criteria above, then bullied for months, perhaps years
* eventually, the target asserts their right not to be bullied, perhaps by filing a complaint with personnel
* personnel interview the bully, who uses their Jekyll and Hyde nature, compulsive lying, and charm to tell the opposite story (charm has a motive - deception)
* it's one word against another with no witnesses and no evidence, so personnel take the word of the senior employee - serial bullies excel at deception and evasion of accountability
* the personnel department are hoodwinked by the bully into getting rid of the target - serial bullies are adept at encouraging conflict between people who might otherwise pool negative information about them
* once the target is gone, there's a period of between 2-14 days, then a new target is selected and the process starts again (bullying is an obsessive compulsive behaviour and serial bullies seem unable to survive without a target on to whom they can project their inadequacy and incompetence whilst blaming them for the bully's own failings)
* even if the employer realises that they might have sided with the wrong person in the past, they are unlikely to admit that because to do so may incur liability
* if legal action is taken, employers go to increasingly greater lengths to keep targets quiet, usually by offering a small out-of-court settlement with a comprehensive gagging clause
* employers are often more frightened of the bully than the target and will go to enormous lengths to avoid having to deal with bully (promotion for the bully is the most common outcome)

Why should you care? Because it's costing you, the employer.

Tangible Costs

# Turnover costs: downtime (lost efficiency); recruitment; hiring bonuses; time to proficiency of replacement (reduced efficiency)

# Litigation costs: attorney fees; settlement costs; jury awards; appeal costs

# Stress-related payments for Workers' Comp awards and Disability Benefits

# Accidents increase as staff are more fatigued (from sleep loss from bullying-induced stress and anxiety)

# Talent Flight of best and brightest as they seek non-hostile workplaces -- dummies and political operatives are all that remain -- lost capacity to innovate

Intangible Costs

# On-the-street smeared reputation as a place that promotes cutthroat cruelty

# Reputation as a factory that grinds up its people for short-run productivity

# Bad public relations from high-profile litigation, naming employer as supporting offensive harassers

# Sabotage by fearful employees who know no alternatives when management fails to purge or punish the tyrant

# Staff resistance to initiatives launched by management that can't be trusted to look after employees' interests
It makes no sense to incur these preventable costs in this competitive market for good employees!! By not stopping the bullying, employers are missing an excellent recruitment and retention edge.

What can you or your human resource department do? Educate yourself about bullying or "mobbing" as it is often called. Learn to recognize the signs. Do you have an employee who is always criticizing co-workers or gossiping? There's a bully in the making if they aren't already. Create an anti-bullying policy and enforce it.

If won't happen overnight. Bullies are entrenched in our society at all levels. Those most talented, most creative, most loyal and innovative employees want to work at their best - but can't - not when this is going on around them. If you truly want the high production workplace you say you do - get educated. Read this website page about bullying myths: http://www.bullyonline.org/workbully/myths.htm

Really read it. Then be honest with yourself. Is this happening at your paper? Could it? If it did would you know what to do about it? You'd better. It's costing you immense talent, turnover and money.