Bullying is something that people typically associate with elementary and high school situations, however, this is not always the case. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs depicts five different levels of needs that all humans demand: Physiological, safety, social, esteem, and self-actualization. I want to focus in on the social needs of humans – which consist of affection, belongingness, acceptance, and friendship – as they play a large role in workplace environments.

In elementary school it was quite obvious how bullying was occurring – a student would blatantly make fun of another’s shirt colour or tell them they couldn’t come on the playground – but this process becomes much more complicated as people grow older. Workplaces can be vicious, but it is no longer as easy to detect. Employees don’t go crying to their teacher saying that another student was being mean them anymore, instead they internalize the way they are being treated at their place of work and begin to undergo absenteeism as their job satisfaction diminishes.

Acceptance is important to the psychological well-being of any human, but it is not nearly emphasized enough as it should be within workplaces. When everyone works under one company, they are all a team and need to be supportive and accepting of one another in order to emerge as successful as possible. When this need is not met, employees may experience social anxiety, depression, and an array of other mental health issues that can be triggered by the way they are treated by fellow employees.

In order to provide a safe workplace that employees can feel comfortable in, employers must implement guidelines for the ways that employees must treat each other. Ensuring these basic social needs are met will not only benefit individual employees who may have been negatively impacted by bullying or related interactions, it will also improve the atmosphere of the workplace and increase the success of the company as employees will be able to work together in a more efficient and effective manner.

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