How Does Feeling Alone at Work Can Affect Your Job?

What are your thoughts when you think of Ostracism in the workplace? It scares you. Right?

When we try to understand ostracism, in the least complex words, the meaning of ostracism can be expressed as the prohibition from a gathering or an organization or society. Man is a social creature. No matter how independent he might be, he needs to rely upon society for his needs.

Many times we are in a position that doesn’t let us with the opportunity to communicate with our co-workers which ends up in making us feel disappointed for not getting a chance to share our thoughts and emotions. Lack of social interaction can likewise be an aftereffect of taking more pride in your accomplishments or flaunting more than a certain limit. This can make your co-workers feel hesitant or believe that you are arrogant.

This thought limits communication. And while one feels hesitant to communicate they start feeling left out and unwanted. Ostracism is very common in almost every other organization.

The Problem of Ostracism in the Workplace.

Feeling left out at work is as disturbing as harassment. Ostracism can now and then lead to harassing which is one of the real issues in any work environment. This can put an employee under an expanded burden of work and also bring a load to build up a social circle. This sort of circumstance can graduate in a more severe issue particularly when the working environment needs great channels for settling problems of diminished social interaction. Employees are less inclined to perform great because there is a decreased sense of belonging.

How Is Office Ostracism More Harmful than Harassment?

Being neglected, rejected, or ignored at work causes more damage to our physical and mental health than does being harassed. Adam from Marketing enters the workplace and turns to the new member to welcome him with a cheerful tap on the back. Erica from accounts, along with her enthusiasm for sports, doesn’t get welcomed to the dream hockey league. Michael discovers Andrew so unbearable that he completely disregards the person. Everything appears to be sufficiently harmless; these are the nature of some everyday office communications. In any case, while the victim quietly suffers this sort of exclusion, an emotional and physical effect builds inside.

The researchers surveyed 1,300 employees, requesting that they rate the intensity to which they had felt certain types of treatment, going from being neglected to being bullied by non-ethical means or violence. The members likewise rated their feeling of having a place, individual well-being, and different attitudes in their working environment. As they anticipated, ostracism was a more common problem than harassment. Over 70% of respondents said they had encountered some avoidance in the first six months of joining the organization, while just 48% reported being bullied or harassed in that time period.

The researchers likewise took an employment overview by a Canadian college that included input on sentiments of office exclusion and harassment and compared it to the next three years turnover when the survey was conducted. They found that, in contrast to the victims of bullying and harassment, individuals who complaint feeling ostracized were fundamentally bound to have endured medical issues and to have at last quit their jobs.

How Does Ostracism at Work Can Affect Your Job?

The unfortunate effect of ostracism on an employee is that their morale goes down, as they perceive their low value and importance to the company, and ultimately their productivity drops. A left out employee doesn’t have a sense of belongingness and stops considering the work at office important. The employee is mostly surrounded by feelings like sadness, loneliness, shame, and anger and becomes paranoid, wondering who’s against him/her.

At worst, feeling left out affects the health of an employee. The employee may stop caring about the appearance, and gives less attention to grooming and nutrition. The victim stops exercising and become sleepless. Being rejected for an extended period can prompt decreased immune response and expanded danger of early death through a wide variety of diseases caused by pressure. Moreover, all these ignorances at work can easily lead to depression, aggression, or violence. Being left out is a situation of dishonor for any employee.

Thus, the following are the worst effects of ostracism.

1. Being rejected can decrease, a sense of control, self-esteem, and a sense of having a significant presence.

2. Obtaining a sense of social belonging is a critical psychological need, which goes missing if ostracized.

3. Feeling left out makes an employee less productive and doesn’t interest him/her to make extra efforts at work.

4. It makes individuals feel sad and angry and might lead to depression.

Share your thoughts if you’re a prey or have ever been subjected to loneliness at work…

Written By Saumya Kaushik for The Growup Group