By Katrina Wilson
Sponsored by SBR Workplace Leadership Services
Dr. Sabrina B. Ricks, the founder of SBR Workplace Leadership Services, has a new book that details the bullying she experienced. It’s a tool for readers to navigate their work experience to see if they encountered workplace bullying or if they were the bully.
The book
Ricks’ book, Bullied At Work…A Journey of Growth & Perseverance, shows her passion, her story and the connection she has to workplace bullying.
In it, she discusses how she endured workplace bullying for ten years at three different companies that were not related.
The bullying started in 2005, and by 2015, enough was enough. Ricks wanted to help others. By this point, she knew she had the experience and credibility to be listened to,upon completing her doctorate and a dissertation on workplace bullying.
“I wrote the book because I was wondering how I can keep others from enduring this,” Ricks said. “Let me put the puzzle pieces together to show what I was feeling all those years and peel back the onion on workplace bullying.”
The book has a journal and assessment section. These portions are included in the book because she feels it allows individuals to use the journal section to write their reflections or solutions on workplace bullying. The assessments allow individuals to assess whether they are a target at work or a bully.
Ricks has spoken to a number of people across the country who have noticed her passion for preventing harassment in the workplace providing her opportunities for speaking engagements and the like.
Illumination
“When you’ve personally experienced something, it’s hard not to be passionate,” she said. “When making change, it pours off you, your energy can be felt in the room. I hope I am illuminating that energy when I walk into any organization.”
She said it is important to her because everyone needs positivity, fairness and equality at work.
Ricks said employees need to feel valued and included in order to be satisfied and appreciated in the workplace and perform their best. She said without that, employees will experience poor performance and it may lead to a decrease in revenue overall for an organization.
“Organizations need to keep a temperature of how they’re doing,” she said. “Employees can perform at their best in a place where they feel safe.”
While this is idealistic, she knows a lot of organizations do not have the mindset that this is how it should be. She said organizations have the mindset of “This is how it’s always been done” and companies are complacent or slow to make the change – even positive change.
Upper Levels of Management
Ricks said, regrettably, unless the upper echelon of an organization leads change, it will not stick, nor will they have the support or encouragement from management as well as other employees.
“You need the top to be on board to pull everybody else along to changes made by the organization,” she said.
She said with most organizations, there is someone in the organization that the president/CEO trusts. It could be the operations manager or vice president.
“If that person realizes they are the trusted one, they can go to upper management and say, ‘This is being said on the department floor about leadership. I think you should be made aware and consider making changes so we can continue to change, improve and grow in our organization.’”
For more information on the business, view SBR’s website. Dr. Ricks is offering a discount on the book for PWL readers. The promo code is PWL and will expire after Dec. 31, 2021.
Katrina Wilson says writing is her outlet. Follow her on Twitter @KatrinaMWilson_.
