UNMASKING AND ADDRESSING THE IMPACT OF WORKPLACE BULLYING ON THE EMOTIONAL STABILITY OF EMPLOYEES IN THE BANKING SECTOR IN CAMEROON

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

The Workplace Bullying Institute (WBI, 2018) provided a formal definition of workplace bullying as "repeated, health-harming mistreatment of one or more persons (the targets) by one or more perpetrators." However, this definition is not widely accepted. Accoring to Williams (2019), workplace bullying is a form of abusive behaviour that involves verbal abuse, sabotage, interference with work, threats, and humiliation." Beyond that, a wide range of definitions of bullying practices were previously provided by authors such as Einarsen (2018), Field (2019), Zapf & Einarsen (2023). These definitions included phrases like "social isolation," "verbal aggression," "spreading rumours," and even "attacking attitudes" and "physical violence," which are rare but still possible. In the same manner, Einarsen (2018) asserted that bullying is primarily psychological in character rather than physical. However, there are two primary categories of workplace bullying, according to Einarsen, Raknes, Matthiesen, & Hellesøy (2018) and Hutchinson, Jackson, Wilkes, & Vickers (2019). The first type of workplace bullying, which refers to undesired, persistent acts and behaviours aimed at one or more employees, is one of these kinds. However, it could be embarrassing or upsetting, which could affect emotional stability, production and lead to a bad work atmosphere.  Workplace bullying can take many forms, such as tasks that are impossible to complete, impossibly tight deadlines, excessive workloads, tasks that are pointless or provide confusing information, threats regarding security, etc. (Hutchinson et al., 2018). The second type of bullying is person-related bullying, which is thought to be a stressor that can harm workers' health and may result in psychophysical symptoms, mental health issues like anxiety-depression disorder, chronic adjustment disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and emotional instability. According to Ramsey, Troth, and Branch (2020), person-related bullying practices include yelling, invading privacy, spreading rumours or gossip, insulting, and ignoring the victim in the business environment. Furthermore, businesses perform a range of tasks; some provide services, like banks, while others, like manufacturing firms, produce goods. All companies, though, have the desire to do better than other businesses in their sector. However, previous research has demonstrated that employees regardless of their sizes, shapes, or forms have frequently been described as the most valuable asset available to most organizations, and as such, they play a vital part in the performance dynamics of those organizations. The most valuable asset composition of these sectors is their knowledgeable and dedicated workforce, which plays a major role in determining how these companies' goals will be realized (Popescu, Georgescu, & Grapă, 2019). Similarly, Ebuka, Ngozi, Obianuju, and Peace (2022) believe that human capital is the most important resource that any type of organization may possess in order to bolster this claim. Therefore, it is imperative that  managers of banking sectors have a comprehensive understanding of the factors that impact and influence these workers' performance (Phina, Patrick, & Nwabuike, 2022). Additionally, the issue of workplace bullying has gained significant attention in organizational discourse due to its potential to negatively impact a firm's operations. It is now a prevalent problem that employess in the banking sector deals with on a daily basis (Bulut & Hihi, 2021). According to Nazim Ali, Ihsan, and Ahmad (2021),bullying in this sector is perceived as a situation in which the workers are often mistreated, taunted, and given unfavourable tasks. Nevertheless, it's important to remember that bullying cannot be an isolated incident; it is ongoing. Therefore, a survey will be conducted in order to unveil and address the impact of workplace bullying on the emotional stability of employees in the banking sector in Cameroon

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Bullying frequently entails the misuse or abuse of authority. This  behaviour erodes a person's right to dignity at work and makes the target feel helpless and unfair, which can lower morale, impair performance, and ultimately cause a person to quit. Employees who had experienced bullying reported significantly lower levels of job satisfaction, higher levels of anxiety and depression, and a predisposition to quit their job. Nonetheless, the detrimental effects of workplace bullying on individuals and companies have made it imperative to take action to stop bullying. In order to address this issue at the organizational level, managerial involvement at all levels is crucial (Tehrani, 2021). They are to review the current communication environment, identify opportunities for improvement, and implement changes, further steps may need the involvement of all levels of management (Keashly & Neuman, 2019). Additionally, creating specific anti-bullying rules is something that banking institution may want to do (Richards & Daley, 2018). In addition, the management of banking institution should think about providing emotional intelligent training to staff members so they can identify bullying behaviours and also safeguard individuals who report bullying incidents (Keashly & Neuman, 2023). However, keeping employee emotionally stable is crucial to keeping them on board and providing the kind of effective, high-quality service that patrons have come to expect from the banking sector (Cheng, 2019). Thus, it is in the light of this, the study seeks to unveil and address the impact of workplace bullying on the emotional stability of employees in the banking sector in Cameroon

1.3  Objectives of the Study

The main purpose of this study is to unveil and address the impact of workplace bullying on the emotional stability of employees in the banking sector in Cameroon. Specifically, the study will;

Determine the effects of workplace bullying on emotional stability of employees in the banking sector in Cameroon. 

Determine the underlying factors contributing to workplace bullying iin the banking sector in Cameroon.

Determine the mechanisms utilized by employees to deal with workplace bullying in the banking sector in Cameroon.

1.4 Research Questions 

The following questions have been prepared for the study:

What are the effects of workplace bullying on emotional stability of employees in the banking sector in Cameroon?

What are the underlying factors contributing to workplace bullying in the banking sector in Cameroon?

What mechanisms do employees utilize to deal with workplace bullying in the banking sector in Cameroon?

1.5 Research Hypotheses

H0: There is no significant impact of workplace bullying on the emotional stability of employees in the banking sector in Cameroon

Ha: There is a significant impact of workplace bullying on the emotional stability of employees in the banking sector in Cameroon

1.6 Significance of the Study

Bullying significantly affects an organization's culture, resulting in diminished teamwork, mistrust, and employee morale. However, the study will help to clarify the wider cultural implications in the banking sector and direct initiatives to create a friendly and upbeat work atmosphere. Moreover, it is going to be used as a literature review by other scholars. As a result, this work will be available as literature that can be critically reviewed for use by other students who may choose to perform research in this field. Invariably, the result of the study contributes immensely to the body of academic knowledge with regards to unveiling and addressing the impact of workplace bullying on the emotional stability of employees in the banking sector in Cameroon.

1.7 Scope of the study

The scope of this study is boarded on unveiling and addressing the impact of workplace bullying on the emotional stability of employees in the banking sector in Cameroon. Empirically, this study will determine the effects of workplace bullying on emotional stability of employees in the banking sector in Cameroon, the underlying factors contributing to workplace bullying in the banking sector in Cameroon and the mechanisms utilized by employees to deal with workplace bullying in the banking sector in Cameroon.

Geographically, the study will be delimited to employees of Afriland bank, Cameroon.

1.8 Limitation of the study

In the course of carrying out this study, the researcher experienced some constraints, which included time constraints, financial constraints, language barriers, and the attitude of the respondents.In addition, there was the element of researcher bias. Here, the researcher possessed some biases that may have been reflected in the way the data was collected, the type of people interviewed or sampled, and how the data gathered was interpreted thereafter. The potential for all this to influence the findings and conclusions could not be downplayed. 

More so, the findings of this study are limited to the sample population in the study area, hence they may not be suitable for use in comparison to other schools, local governments, states, and other countries in the world.

1.9 Definition of Terms

Workplace bullying: is defined as repeated, persistent, and inappropriate behavior directed at an individual or group in a professional setting, which causes physical, emotional, or psychological harm (Einarsen et al., 2019).

Employees: are people who are employed by a company to carry out particular duties or responsibilities in exchange for pay.

Emotional stability: an individual's ability to maintain a consistent and balanced emotional state, even when faced with challenging or stressful situations (Costa & McCrae, 2018).

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