????正如某些物種和環境一樣，有的人在有害的氛圍內會比其他人更容易受到傷害。心理學家、作家伊萊恩?阿倫曾描寫過高度敏感的人群。他們可以給職場帶來巨大的好處，但對于職場中的卑鄙行徑或超負荷感受來說，他們的承受力卻非常低。

????許多公司的董事會已經清醒地意識到了公司文化的重要性（有的董事會將公司文化作為監管職責的首要任務之一），但也有許多公司從來沒有考慮過這個問題——或者只是偶爾在他們的腦海中閃現，比如在進行并購之前和并購過程中，需要對兩家公司文化進行融合時。

????職場欺凌通常被視為一對一事件。而達夫認為，將職場欺凌的責任歸因于個人所產生的問題在于，公司或其管理團隊和董事會可以逃脫責任。

????管理者們對于職場欺凌的說法可能非常熟悉，但對于達夫及其合著者倫恩?斯伯里創造的“圍攻”這個詞，人們卻知之甚少。達夫說：“職場圍攻是一個群體對某一名同事不分性別的騷擾。”圍攻的目的是將一個人趕出某個部門或更大的組織，而所采取的方式通常是迫使其被解雇、休病假或辭職。不論圍攻的目的是否達成，“這種通常情況下持續時間較長的、極具創傷性的經歷”會使被圍攻者蒙受屈辱，遭到棄用，“并會在經濟、職業、健康和社會心理等方面造成巨大損失，”達夫說道。

????雖然職場圍攻極少被人提及，但這種現象卻非常普遍。你或許親身見證或經歷過一些最常見的圍攻：過度批評、人身攻擊或貶低；傳播未能得到糾正的虛假信息；來自一個交流圈的孤立或排擠等。

????《今日秀》（Today）節目主持安?克莉的遭遇便是一個典型的職場圍攻案例——而這種事件能進入公眾視野實屬罕見。據《紐約時報》（New York Times）報道，“片場普遍存在的卑劣行徑”，“搭檔馬特?勞爾的日益冷淡”，無禮的同事，羞辱性的滑稽動作，以及執行制片人吉姆?貝爾的惡毒言語，都是造成克莉創傷性經歷的罪魁禍首。“克莉感覺，那些男人們在《今日秀》幕后形成的俱樂部般的氛圍，從一開始就在傷害著她。她曾對自己的朋友們說，最后幾個月簡直是在用‘專業的’手法對我進行折磨。”

????達夫認為：“職場圍攻非常具有破壞性，因為很少有比社會排斥或排擠更嚴重的傷害。人們做出這種行為時，通常都以圍攻對象不需要知道為借口，所以看起來一切都很正常。”然而事實卻恰恰相反。遭到圍攻的對象正在被團隊拋棄。

????更嚴重的是，其他同事雖然并未與作惡者同流合污，但為了避免自己成為下一個目標，他們也可能會對被圍攻對象敬而遠之。（在裁員狀況下，被裁撤的員工也可能經歷這樣的狀況。）而這只會進一步加劇被圍攻對象孤立無援的困境。

????Just as with certain species and the environment, some people are more vulnerable to toxic atmospheres than others. Pyschologist and author Elaine Aron has written powerfully about highly sensitive people, who can provide huge benefits to a workplace but have extra-low tolerance for meanness or sensory overload.

????While some boards of directors are acutely aware of the importance of corporate culture (some rank it in the top few categories of their oversight responsibility), some never consider the issue at all -- or only sporadically, like before and during a merger when two company cultures combine.

????Bullying in workplaces is often viewed as a one-on-one event. But the problem with placing the blame on just one individual is it that it lets organizations, their management teams, and boards off the hook, says Duffy.

????While managers are familiar with the idea of bullying, the concept of "mobbing," a term coined by Duffy and her co-author Len Sperry, is less understood. "Workplace mobbing," Duffy says, is "nonsexual harassment of a coworker by a group." The purpose is to remove the individual from a particular unit or from the larger organization, which may occur through termination, medical leave, or quitting. Whether or not the group is successful in removing the individual, "this typically protracted traumatizing experience" often results in humiliation and degradation "with significant financial, career, health, and psychosocial losses," Duffy says.

????Although it's not often discussed, workplace mobbing is common. You've probably witnessed or experienced some of the common attributes of mobbing yourself: excessive criticism, personal attacks, or devaluing; the spreading of false information that doesn't get corrected; isolation or removal from communication loops.

????What happened to Ann Curry at the Today show is a classic case of mobbing -- and it's rare to have such a public view. "General meanness on the set," "the growing indifference of her co-host Matt Lauer," disrespectful co-workers, humiliating antics, and the cruelty of Jim Bell, her executive producer, who himself has since been booted to another role, all contributed to Curry's traumatic experience, the New York Times reported. "Curry felt that the boys' club atmosphere behind the scenes at Today undermined her from the start, and she told friends that her final months were a form of professional torture."

????"Mobbing is devastating," Duffy says, because there are "few more basic injuries than social exclusion or ostracism. The behaviors are often done under the pretense the individual doesn't need to know, so it looks like business as usual." But the opposite is the case. The individual is being shunned.

????To add insult to injury, other coworkers who may be distinct from the perpetrators may also distance themselves because they don't want to be the next target. (This can also happen in layoff situations to individuals who are being let go.) This just adds to the level of isolation targeted individuals feel.