Abstract:
Bullying no longer just exists in the playgrounds or in the academe. It has
conquered the workplace, as well, with much more serious schemes and more crucial
physical, mental, emotional, and social effect. Workplace bullying happens when the
victim or target experience being subjected to negative acts at work over a period of
time. It may take on several forms in different levels of frequency but only one thing is
constant—bullying produces a victim. The victims, of course, have found their way to
get through the bullying situation they have gotten themselves into. There are more than
one ways to adapt to any bullying event. Some prefer to brush off the issue while others
talk their way out of it.
The organization featured in this study is the Land Transportation Franchising &
Regulatory Board National Capital Region Division LTFRB-NCR Division. LTFRB is a
very busy government organization attending to a multitude of transportation issues.
Moreover, it has always been in the limelight and under the scrutiny of the local media
for the different controversies surrounding its operations. Because of its dynamic
environment, LTFRB may be susceptible to workplace bullying.
This study aims to answer the question: What is the dominant adaptive
mechanism of employees bullied by their superiors in LTFRB NCR Division? Its
objective is: (1) To identify the common forms of workplace bullying in LTFRB; (2) To
know the roles of communication in terms of pacifying and proliferating bullying; (3) To
know the effects of bullying in terms of organizational performance and; (4) To know which of the four typologies of responses is most commonly used by employees in
bullying event such as: exit, loyalty, voice, neglect.
To answer the study’s objectives, the researcher used a survey questionnaire to
gather data from the employees. Thirty-four rank and file employees from the six
divisions of LTFRB NCR were asked to participate since they are the focus of this study.
The researcher personally handed them the questionnaires which assess the following:
(1) whether or not they experience bullying; (2) seeks to identify the adaptive
mechanism they employ in a bullying event; (3) the effects of bullying to them; (4) and
the effects of bullying to the organization at large.
The study revealed that bullying is present in LTFRB though it is not rampant. On
other issues, communication helps pacify the bullying events by the employees being
open to discuss their condition to their co-workers and even to their superiors. The
employees’ performance is not greatly affected by the bullying events, meaning, the
bullying events do not affect the organization at large. The dominant type of adaptive
mechanism employed by the LTFRB employees is NEGLECT. NEGLECT is both
passive and destructive in nature. The bullying events in LTFRB are not yet widespread
so the organization has not yet been noticeably affected.
