Criticism or negative feedback is sometimes necessary to improve a worker’s job performance. Supervisors and coworkers can educate professionals about more efficient strategies or company standards through constructive criticism.
For many workers, receiving negative feedback can be a difficult, even painful experience. In some cases, negative feedback crosses the line from professional and acceptable criticism to outright verbal abuse. Some professionals, including those who are more emotionally sensitive, may struggle to understand when professional criticism crosses the line to become verbal abuse.
What differentiates appropriate but negative feedback from abusive speech?
Criticism aims to facilitate improvement
The point of providing a worker with negative feedback or criticism is to help them improve their job performance. In theory, a worker who becomes aware that they have not conformed to company expectations or best practices can adjust their conduct in the workplace.
Verbal abuse is different. The goal isn’t to educate a worker and help them achieve more. The goal is to denigrate them and break them down. In many cases, the language used is harsh and possibly offensive. The focus is on the worker’s failures, both professionally and personally, rather than on the opportunity for improvement.
Particularly when people make criticism into a personal attack or when they provide negative feedback in front of an audience in an attempt to humiliate a worker, criticism could constitute inappropriate verbal abuse. Those experiencing abusive conduct may need help communicating with their employers or holding them accountable.
In cases where such abuse affects numerous workers, it may be possible to pursue a class action lawsuit. Individual targeted workers can also fight back. Discussing abusive workplace conduct with an attorney can help frustrated professionals learn about their options.