The work violence It is more than just insults and blows, it is normalized and, in extreme cases, triggers the death of the victim. According to specialists, those are part of the conclusions of the case of a Heb branch in TorreónCoahuila, where a cleaning worker lost his life for an alleged “joke” of his teammates.
Carlos Gurrola, popularly known as Papayitadied when ingesting a drink, apparently contaminated with degreaser. It was, according to the version of his family, a joke of their coworkersone more of the many he suffered.
The labor violence are not always screaminginsults or blows. “We have normalized behaviors that hurt. Social exclusion is also a violent behaviorthe jokes that are often made up with phrases such as ‘is that your generation is of glass’ equal is violence, ”says Ivonne Borden, founder of the consulting adding value.
He Case of Carlos Gurrola and Heb It has been viralized, how many more is there without public lens? Kelly’s latest work environment trends report, evidence that 49% of workers have experienced workplace harassment at some point in his professional career.
“That is why it is so important to have mechanisms and training, and a deep training, it is useless to have a very beautiful protocol with diagrams, if there are no constant trainingstarting with the leadership team, ”says Ivonne Borden.
According to Kelly’s research, the most common behaviors of mobbing In Mexico are:
- Be taken into account
- Hostility actions
- Rumors and gossip
- Verbal or psychological aggression
- Humiliation
- Isolation
- Threats
- Teasing
“Labor violence is brutal and it is still common for some organizations to be perceived as lack of character. We have to break the chain, we come from entire generations of violence. It is necessary to mitigate it because the probability of recidivism is high and there must be an exemplary message, not in the sense of punishment, but of protection, because people who go through a similar situation, what hope do they have? ”, Says Yunue Cárdenas, CEO and founder of Menthalising.
The study of psychosocial risks in Mexican companies, of Mercer Marsh benefits, indicates that 10% of people experience labor violence at a high and very high level In their organizations. This psychosocial risk factor is more common in generation workers Baby Boomer.
“Of the international psychosocial evaluations, the NOM-035 from Mexico It is one of the few that includes violence as a psychosocial risk and the violence it contemplates, is precisely the violence of denigrant treatment Because it is a point where there is less structure and standard 035 responds to that part. Evaluating is not a foolishness of consultants or psychologists, this allows us to identify violent behaviors, ”explains Yunue Cárdenas.
The specialists consulted agree that the case of Heb in Torreón is a sign that the inaction of organizations in the Care of violence at work It can trigger in the death of the victim, there is even a history of Suicide of people They have experienced mobbing.
In other words, beyond Impacts on employer brand or legal, is the life of people that is at risk when actions are not taken to stop the mobbing.
Work violence, it is urgent to speak more
Specialists also point out the importance of companies generating conversation spaces for Talk about violence at workthen there is still resistance to these dialogues for the false belief that “if it is not mentioned, it does not happen.”
“It is still A taboo theme. But making it visible is what really opens the doors of prevention, of the complaint, suddenly you are afraid of these issues, there is fear that people speak, but that is good and it is much better to speak to the interior of the work center, ”says Ivonne Borden.
From the perspective of Yunue Cárdenas, the lack of this type of conversation generates a perception that the problem does not exist or is not an issue of the company. However, “If you don’t take part, you become complicit”.
In addition to this, specialists coincide, they need effective denunciation channels; That is, they follow up on the complaints that people share.
Heb’s case, they agree, is a reflection that in Mexico there is still a way to go in the construction of favorable labor environments.
