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David Kent

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25.01.2022 In a survey of staff working for the Australian Federal Government during the period 2011/12, it was found that 17% of staff had experienced some form of bullying in previous 12 months. The information was published in the "State of the Service Report 2011/2012". This is a relatively large figure. How significant is it? The sample size of the survey was maybe less than 10% of public service employees, and it was only based on Australian Government employees. I wonder what percentage of State based public servants have also been bullied, or have a perception of being bullied. These figures I hope to find out soon.

23.01.2022 Hi All, Feeling tired at work, on a Monday, may not be due to an overactive weekend. The stress and strain, of overcoming internal conflicts within oneself on Sunday night about going to work the next day, is a prime actor in the part of being tired when going to work the next day.... In effect, going to work on Monday, brings with it, the notion that really it was not Monday, and that next Friday can't come soon enough. This dislike and mental tiredness is very wearing on the mind and soul of the worker, along with the fear of being blamed for the incompetence of others. Once you get on the bad side of the boss or others, then it is difficult to make matters better, as work is about having the support and confidence of others. A bad boss can muddy your waters for you without you really knowing what's going on, and a boss with an anti-social behavioral psychology will poison the waters around you in a way that you will never know it has happened, until it is too late. It is what you don't know that will ultimately make your workplace intolerable for you. David Kent Consulting works at identifying the problems and exposing the hidden agendas, and creating working liveable and enterprising workplaces. Call or contact David Kent thru this FB page as soon as possible, and let the consultant get to work.

22.01.2022 I AM LOOKING FOR A PSYCHOLOGIST TO WORK WITH ME TO GET MY ANTI BULLYING BUSINESS OFF THE GROUND It seems to me that in the many years since formulating my ideas and writing my business plan for a business to remove bullies from the workplace, that not much has changed out there in the real workplace environment. I have not posted on this site for a long time, however this morning I heard Jeff Kennett was on the radio talking about how a KPI should be incorporated in the KPI's... for CEO's that includes the mental health of the staff and organisation beneath them. This strikes me as a good idea, however, while the method of measurement is subjective, it might still hide many bad things within the organisation unless the measurement process is fully transparent, and that the public can see the results as well. The Kennett news item has prompted me to have another go at getting my business running. In order to do so, I need the help of a psychologist, who lives in Australia, preferably in Canberra or Sydney, who has counselling experience, and who has experience dealing with sociopaths and Type A managers. The purpose of my business is to create workplace environments where people are productive and self motivated, and where they are not subjected to bullying or harrassment of any kind. A place where management provides leadership and support to its staff, and the staff, in turn, trust management as leaders and as people. If you are interested in getting involved and are happy to work with me in getting this business running, contact me through this Facebook page. If you think you know someone who might be interested, please share this post with them. Thanks David

21.01.2022 Going to work, and working at work can be pleasant when you work with people that you like and you go out for drinks and have dinner with work mates who can call friends. Maybe some of the people at work are more than acquaintances, and you have good friendships that are more than just friends with someone I know at work. You might have common interests with other people at work, you might like shopping, playing sport, going to the movies, drinking, watching films in groups, ...or just as a group of two or three. But this is not always the situation. There might be someone at work who does not treat you well...someone that only tells you part of the story, and when you need to see the boss, you find out that there was some information you should have had, and so in the bosses eyes, you have not done the work properly!!! What can you do? How were you so let down? How can you redeem the situation? People come in sorts of personalities, they have different behaviour patterns when they are around different people, which is somewhat chameleon like. That person you are having drinks with may learn things about you, that they may use against you sometime in the future to demean your position. Of course, you don't know this until something bad happens. NOT HAPPY AT WORK:(((( The person who you seem to be able to trust may have an anti social personality disorder, they may exhibit sociopathic tendencies, but of course you don't this until it is too late. Luckily sociopaths only make a small percentage of the workforce... The other type of personality to watch out for is the type A personality. They live to work, in fact work is all they can think about. If they are a colleague, then work is all they do, their social life is based on who they believe can best get them a promotion. They are good are playing the games at work. Management see as them being good for promotion, but when they get promoted, they then become micro managers, and they can make your life very difficult!! NOT HAPPY AT WORK:(((( In both situations, you must ask the question, what will my organisation to help me find relief from these problems, or is my only solution to resign. I hope you work for an organisation that cares about your happiness!!

20.01.2022 Imagine a community of people working in an office, they have no uncertainties about anyone they work with, they share information, they give each credit for work they do. They work at a heightened pace because they believe that everything they do is important to the organisation they work for. Compare this with most offices and places to work, the workers are under constant pressure from the boss to produce work by set time frames, and the boss is constantly visibly watching... the work everyone in the office does. Like Sherlock Holmes with the magnifying glass, every piece of work is scrutinised by the boss. The boss wants the work done his/her way, and no mistake will be tolerated. The boss is a somewhat perfectionist. When it comes to the work of staff, it has to be exactly right, however the boss him/her self never does work as well as the staff, and therefore relies on the staff to create the perfection that they themselves cannot. In an office where people are trusted to produce their best work, and given autonomy to do so, and are given the trust to produce work, even according to strict timetables, they will do so, because their intellect is trusted, and they are delegated responsibility according to skill. The boss will ensure that staff are trained properly, and that they are capable of doing the desired work. Bad bosses will not allow staff to be trained properly and then blame them for improperly done work. The end result is that staff become unduly stressed by the boss and the environment, and eventually take much time off work as a result of work stress. This means for them, ultimately high anxiety, psychological conditions, and a huge loss of self esteem. David Kent Consulting devises workplace strategies that ensure that the stress conditions are not allowed to develop, and where staff anxiety is stopped in its tracks. Creating such a workplace is not impossible, however it does take a while to achieve. The time spent in establishing this environment may take a few weeks to initiate the change strategy, however embedding the systems to become natural can be seen in terms of months and lots of one on one work to build and maintain staff confidence. David Kent Consulting will also be working with the bad boss in one on one situations, this is also a slow process, and is complemented by regular testing of the way the boss can handle a crisis or crises. Bad bosses have a lot to learn and I do mean learn.

19.01.2022 Merry Christmas to all my friends and everyone::)) 2012 is nearly over, and 2013 is just around the corner....hooray... If you are having fun at work and the people you work with are interesting, friendly and invigorating to your health then that is brilliant and wonderful and may it continue in 2013 and into the future::)))... To those who intend to move jobs then good luck in your future position, may you find happiness there::))) For those in work situations where you do not enjoy work because you are being bullied by people who don't understand you, or people in the office don't like you, and you don't know why, a dn also presuming that you have a good work ethic, and you do really try. Also that you are not alone in the office in the sense that others are feeling the strain too, then...Don't despair...enjoy the break...and then tell me what the situation is...Let me analyse the situation and come up with a solution or two. Meanwhile,,,enjoy Christmas, enjoy New Years Eve...and keep me in the loop. MERRY CHRISTMAS from David Kent Consulting Xmas 2012

18.01.2022 What kind of questions can we ask that allows us to ask whether the boss is a bastard or not? Here's one. Does the boss take credit for the work of his/her staff, or do they give credit where it's due?... ANS: If the boss takes credit for staff's work, then this is not a good boss.

17.01.2022 Now here is a fascinating and very relevant read on bullying, from a Norwegian perspective. It's underlying thought are in line with my strategies for fixing the problems.

16.01.2022 At Your Workplace - Do you ask yourself these questions? 1. What does it mean to work in an environment that is stable and pleasant? 2. What does it mean to feel happy to go to work?...Continue reading

14.01.2022 Bullying is in the news thanks to a proposed bit of Federal Government Legislation will make bullying an identifiable offence, that will be quickly fixed. Wouldn't that be great if bullies could be sent to jail for bullying. However bullying is not such an easy thing to identify and correctly fix. Bullying is a perception that an individual has, that someone has not been nice to them at work. There are therefore some issues as to whether someone has been bullied, or just been... told to work harder, or to do something differently. However where a serial bully is operating, there will be one or more people who are suffering as a result of this behaviour. As a result they will be under-performing at work, and will probably be taking time off work, due to stress. Of course this creates a vicious cycle, the manager (who is the bully in this case) blames the staff member for being lazy, and berates them for taking the day off, and then for under-performing. This critical manager will also not recognise when the staff member is doing the work properly either and berate them for small things they are doing wrong. Eventually the system will create in the staff member or members a real sense of dread for going to work. This translates into, what the bully manager sees as poor performance issues, as his section is hit by productivity issues. The bully managers response is, lets sack them all, and start again. This manager has lost the trust of their staff, and when they get new staff on board, then all the corporate knowledge is gone, and it is only a matter of time before the whole process is repeated. From the perspective of the staff who have lost their jobs, they now suffer from a number of psychological conditions including depression, high anxiety, lack of self esteem, obsessive compulsive disorder, and a host of other psychological conditions that may make it difficult for them to return to work. The bully manager of course remains untouched by the situation. Legislation is good because it defines a set of conditions that are definable, and if provable give a set of outcomes that are benficial to the workplace, in that the bully protagonist is gone from the workplace. However, the secret of good management, is that the manager is trained in the people and management skills necessary to run a workplace, and that such training is kept up, and the performance of the manager is measures and tested. The good manager has a myriad of skills in communications, diplomacy, leadership, negotiation, empathy, and many other areas that make them trustworthy to their staff. The good manager does not let power to go their head. David Kent Consulting is about creating such managers. The process is slow, and the starting point has to be well defined. All workplace operate better, where the manager understands what management means, and is given the tools to start the learning process of what management means. A

12.01.2022 Did you know when the Australian Cricket team was active in the field of bullying? They called it "sledging", and it was supported by team management, and many others. "Sledging" was used to intimidate the opposition into making a mistake and getting out. There were some ugly confrontations in cricket matches as a result of "sledging". "Sledging" is used in other sports, such as football (all codes), basketball, hockey. "Sledging" is nearly only reported when it is racial in... nature, then it is called vilification. If you are "sledged" at the workplace, it is and should be called "intimidation" and should be reported, no matter how trivial, because it is your dignity and self esteem that is being impacted upon. "BEWARE OF THE SLEDGER"!!

06.01.2022 To add some clarification to the process of creating a work environment where people do not feel stressed by their surroundings, and the people they work with treat them with dignity and respect, and where they are abused by management faces a big hurdle at its onset. The hurdle is that the people who would employ my services may also be the ones who the process itself would focus on. For example, when given the situation of having to analyse a work place where there is deep ...distress and dissatisfaction amongst the staff and the manager is the cause of the problems, then it is the manager that should undergo counselling and re-training, as this is the basis on which my business would operate. However, the issue, as was raised by some friends is that these same managers are the ones who would object most strongly to having to undergo such a process of change. I cannot disagree with this view, however, every new idea and different viewpoint requires a large shift in thinking, especially on the part of those on the management side. They must recognise that in order for productivity to improve willingly on the part of their staff, then they themselves must change their behaviour. This is not an easy ask from them, yet this notion lays at the heart of my approach to creating workplace environments that are stress and bully free. The same issue of who pays my bills, that is, the manager, or owner of the business, may consider themselves to be good at motivating staff, based on their perception of what good management is, and what good management means to them. The real challenge is getting to put my system into operation where the manager knows they are the source of the problems, and yet has no idea how to fix the problems, and so calls me in to solve the problems, and in doing so, also realises that my processes will inevitably find that they, the person who hired my services, is also the main protagonist of the problems their business has, and that they themselves agree that they need to be trained or retrained in the management arts. This iconoclastic approach to the performance of this service is carried out by some consultancies who like to work with difficult people, or to work with this aspect of management training. There is a company in New Zealand which is called the "Boss Whisperer", that is they hold copyright over the name. They work to modify the behaviour of bad managers, and yes, they are employed by these managers to change their behaviour. My approach is more holistic than this, in that I look at the nature of the relationships between individuals, and that I work with individuals in nearly all situations except for one, which I will discuss in a later post. David Kent Consulting cares about the individual worker, and it is only in looking at the individual in the context of, and in concert with the rest of the staff that a stable and trusting workplace can be created, and maintained.

06.01.2022 Happiness at work isn't some ideal that is impossible to achieve, but what is it, actually? One might ask whether happiness is even the right word to describe what it means to go to work and feel satisfied at being there. When the word happiness is used, and in some of the contexts which other management consultancies take with respect to creating work environments, they take happiness to mean the distraction caused by having "clowns" come into the workplace and make people h...appy that way, or have someone act as a kind of entertainment officer to create an abstraction distraction that takes the mind of the staff off the things that cause them unhappiness. Yet, in my mind, this is like putting a short term band aid on the problem. It does not make the problem go away, and after the "laughing stops" the stresses return. It is said that laughing helps stop pain, and helps people recover from pain, however, pain caused by stress is not so easily cured. Pain caused by stress at work is transferred to home, and then its back to work again, and more pain, and more gloss on the problem at work, and so the circle goes on and on, and the pain cuts deeper and deeper, until you can't take it anymore. What happens then?? Superficial solutions to work problems do not relieve the stress, they merely hide it for a while, yet inside the stressed individual the pain persists. So, if the cover up method doesn't work, well, what does? What does it mean to be in a workplace where an individual's rights are nurtured, where they can feel both content and challenged at the same time? A workplace where the work an individual does is valued and their opinions listened to, and management cares!! David Kent Consulting knows how to create work environments where staff is valued and their work trusted.

06.01.2022 Here is a list of the skills that I believe a manager should have: Listening Skills: The ability to listen to what is being said and to let the speaker know they are understood; Empathy Skills: The ability to understand the emotional state of the person they are talking with; Negotiating Skills: The ability to reach a compromise state that satisfies both parties; ... Management Skills: The ability to make a decision based on a reasonable understanding of the problem and the relationship between people and to guide and inspire outcomes; Team leadership Skills: The ability to guide staff and other managers and ensure that a group of staff have the same goals and direction; People Skills: The ability to get on with people and to make sure people are comfortable around them; Communication Skills: The clear, concise and directed use of messages that convey an exact meaning to staff and other managers; Critical Thinking Skills: The ability to question their role and the role of the staff they manage; Diplomacy Skills: The ability to know when and when not to speak, and what to say; the ability to understand various viewpoints at once; Patience Skills: The ability to be initially non-judgemental, and to examine the actions of staff over a reasonable period of time; Speaking Skills: The ability and associated knowledge of enunciating words and messages clearly and the correct body language and the use of eye contact to show sincerity; How many of these does your manager have?

06.01.2022 If you are being bullied at work, please put your stories here, so that other people can see! You are not alone. Share your experience. If you know of anyone who is being bullied, please tell them about this site. You can always send me a message and we can talk about your experience, I may be able to help you recognise a solution!

04.01.2022 Here's a quick one for you! Went to a fascinating talk last night at the Australian National University. The Talk was by author, Oliver Burkeman, the book is called "The Antidote - Happiness for people who can't stand positive thinking". He has a refreshing point of view that positive thinking is not all that it is made up to be, and that the better way of making successful progress is to a negative attitude and consider the worst case scenario first, and essentially do not d...o ra ra positive thinking and take a single minded approach to progress no matter what, as the outcomes can be deadly, or extremely disastrous. Anyway it got me thinking about what happiness is, Oliver Burkeman said to me later that he did not like defining happiness, as there were too many possibilities...fair enough I said. So with respect to working in an office, the happiness is not the right word to describe the feeling a person would feel when they are not stressed or bullied at work. They must therefore attain some kind of sense of satisfaction from being in the environment where they have dignity and have self respect and have the respect and trust of those around them. Bullying and stress from workmates produces, anxiety, depression and loss of self esteem and unhappiness at not wanting to be at work. Having no stress and no bullying then, would allow for clear thinking and clarity, and therefore progress in projects. This is one of the outcomes for all staff in a stress free bully free workplace. David Kent Consulting is set up for producing this kind of workplace. Would you like to work there?

03.01.2022 New marketing is: Improve your organisation's productivity, and improvements in profitability will flow almost immediately.

03.01.2022 How little do things change. When I set up this page to help people who are being bullied, little did I suspect that a bully would be installed in the White House, or that the face of bullying would become so obvious within the Liberal Party. Yet bullying and power still go together! The more obvious are the bullies who are bad communicators, and fail to get there message across. These bullies like to coerce, instead of negotiate, or convince people that others should believe... them. "If you don't believe what I say, I will make you do what I want!!" The victim is always treated unfairly. The victim is denied natural justice because the bully is driven by a belief that they are always correct, even if other people must suffer, which is something they do not see or acknowledge. Does the bully lack empathy? A good manager, or leader, must always have empathy. They must acknowledge the results of their actions! During wartime, a leader, may make a decision that results in people be killed, and they will justify the decision by saying that it was for the "greater good". Is the workplace a war zone? Perhaps it is! The victims are the people who are stressed by managers driven by selfish ideals, or by a belief that they know what is best for their staff. The victims are systematically metaphorically disemboweled of their self belief. Ultimately leaving the work because of stress related illness, Is life a war zone? Perhaps it is! The victims are those less able to defend themselves. These people too become stressed by life, and feel that life is no longer worth living. The bullies in their lives feel no remorse, because they are not aware of the damage they cause, or they are just malicious people, who enjoy the power of power itself to cause hurt and pain, and to feel justified in having removed an impediment to their existence.

02.01.2022 What are your feelings when you go to work. Do you feel ill and don't want to go? Do you resent the looks from the particular people because they make you feel uncomfortable? Do you feel that someone is using you at work to protect their not so good efforts? Is the work boring for you, and you feel you should be doing more? Do you feel that the boss is always picking on you, for no reason at all? Do you feel that people like to make you look inefficient? If any of these sound familiar to you, then you should asking questions about the way your work is organised, and you should be asking questions about the type of management your business has. While this situation may have existed since you started working there, it is not the way life at work should be. Be sure that it CAN BE BETTER!!

01.01.2022 I am currently focused on completing the work for Cert IV in Training and Assessment. Then I will get back to adding insights...but perhaps one just crossed my mind!!

01.01.2022 Sometimes you must wonder at why one particular person gets promoted over someone else!!??? It is a very good thing to wonder about. Being good at the job doesn't mean that you deserve to get promoted, and often this is not the reason why promotion occurs. So what factors influence who gets promoted in an organisation. Sometimes quite simply it is the person that the boss likes or that management likes, and it is based on a perception that the particular person is a hard work...er, and that they go to the trouble of getting to know the boss/manager in person. They go to bbqs the boss puts on. They do things they know the boss will like. They say nice things to the boss and about the boss, so that the boss hears. It's called "playing the game". Not everybody plays the game, and those that do, do so, knowing that it is what they do best, while not being good at the job at all. These are also the same people who might take credit for other people's work. The boss/manager is not aware of all the fine detail of what happens within their organisation, so when it comes to promotion time, those people who have created a perception of being hard workers, and have a positive image in the mind of the boss, and get interviewed for promotion will often get promoted. Remember I said earlier that these people might not be good at their jobs, well they may even have less knowledge in terms of people skills, so when they get promoted, it is the power that they get that now runs their skill set, and so for eveyone below them...LIFE AT WORK BECOMES AWFULL...as the boss only understands the concept of bully. If this sounds like a familiar story, let me know of your experience... See more