Workplace bullying & Top Gear

... and what Jeremy Clarkson has got to do with it?

Jeremy Clarkson is in the middle of yet another media storm, but workplace bullying can happen everywhere.
Picture: Tony Harrison

Is there a Jeremy Clarkson in every workplace - and how to deal with them?

When the famous BBC Top Gear presenter, Jeremy Clarkson, took the headlines starting a violent episode with his colleague and producer, the media slightly missed the point of the whole chain of events that followed.

The real question in many people’s minds was how can an institution like the BBC not stand up against bullying? And if they can’t, is there a company in this country that will stand up in this situations?

The remarks of Clarkson’s recent undertakings can effectively be seen as a form of intimidation. But in many workplaces the bullying don’t usually take such violent form, but may cause different kind of scars.   

“Bullying is behaviour that leaves the victim feeling threatened, intimidated or offended,” says Dr Emily Griffiths, Clinical Psychologist at City Psychology Group.

“It can take a variety of forms and there are endless tactics that bullies use to cause harm to the victim. There is often an imbalance of power as the bully attempts to undermine the victim’s position, worth and value,” she continues. 

According to Dr. Emily, bullies may use verbal insults and intimidating threats often when the victim is in front of others, to belittle and humiliate.

“Psychological intimidation may show up as requests to complete meaningless tasks, rumour spreading, withholding information, exclusion from opportunities and being ignored. 

“Sexual harassment may take the form of unwelcome comments, inappropriate touching or sexual advances. Bullies may also resort to threats of physical violence or outright attacks,” she says. 

Dr. Emily’s advice for people in these situations is clear: “Share your concerns with someone you trust and if possible talk to your manager. Keep a record of any incidents, including what exactly happened, what was said and any documents that might provide evidence of bullying, such as emails.” 

Sense of hopelessness when career path is blocked

An Independent Career Coach, Kate Mansfield, who launched her own career coaching practice after a career in recruitment, works with women returning to the workplace after having children. Often that is a challenging time for women.

“I think women still often struggle to reconcile the competing demands of work and home life and in certain industry sectors, such as investment banking. I think women feel a lot of pressure and feel torn between family and having worked so hard and long for their careers,” Kate says.

“I work with a lot of women from multiple sectors such as banking, legal, technology and management consulting, who are all considering alternative career paths after having children because they don't see their former work lives as compatible with families and they no longer wish to work long hours and have long commutes.”

Especially in the capital, women can feel isolated when returning to their careers after starting a family, but that can also result them to feeling that their career path has taken a step back. 

Bullying, as well as this sense of hopelessness in their career, can result to depressive feelings. Especially if these women think that their future is not improving and they feel unsupported.  

“People experiencing feelings of anxiety and depression may find that they withdraw from work or other activities, isolate themselves from others, notice changes to their eating and sleeping patterns, difficulties concentrating and focussing on tasks, and have physiological sensations such as heart palpitations, muscle tension and tiredness,” says Dr Emily. 

Kate Mansfield advises women who feel hopeless about their professional future

Find out more about Kate and her practice from her website, here.

Visit The City Psychology website for more information about Dr. Emily Griffiths, here.

Are you unsure if you are being bullied at work? If that is the case, here are Dr. Emily's advice on how to find out. Ask yourself the following questions:



On 25th of March, BBC has reported that Top Gear presenter Clarkson has been dropped from Top Gear due to his 'unprovoked attack' on the shows producer. If you want to know the full story so far, open this Prezi:

Have your say. Let's see how Dolce Vita readers react in the world of car presenting. What do you think? Should he be fired?

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey , the world's leading questionnaire tool.