A dedicated employee
Isha was a 35-year-old woman who was one of the three product managers in a leading corporate. She had excellent qualifications and was experienced enough to justify her role as a product manager. However, it was a difficult time for her in the company since she had become the manager. Isha was getting a lot of personal attacks from one of her superiors Anamika. It has been a year now that she was being bullied by her senior.
Her encounter with Harassment
In their meetings together with other officials, Anamika would bash Isha about her communication and writing skills and would comment on her organizational skills. Isha tried hard to be all there for her organization but nothing would change Anamika’s approach towards her.
Anamika was a 53-year-old senior manager in the same company. She took pride in the precision of her work and her authoritarian style of managing. She and her sister worked in the same company. The reason Anamika didn’t like Isha was that she wanted her sister to be the product manager instead of her. Her goal was to remove Isha from her position and give her sister the chance. Given this, she always highlighted Isha’s shortcomings.
A try to overcome it
Isha kept figuring out what made Anamika hate her so much. She already had a difficult personal life and dealing with the office stress was becoming tedious for her. Isha was a mother of a handicapped child who required special care and attention. Due to this, it was difficult for her to make it on the usual office time. She had requested her seniors to allow her a delay of an hour to attend to her child’s need, but Anamika made sure to put down her request. As a result, Isha would always get late. And Anamika left no chance of humiliating her in front of the entire colleagues.
Facing the consequences
Isha had just achieved a milestone in her career by managing a major project. All her colleagues and seniors were happy with her performance. She was also given, an employee of the month tag for it. Two days post that, Anamika assigned a project to Isha. Isha thought that maybe she is finally happy with her performance. The deadline was of two days. There was a lot to do and so Isha started prepping for it. The presentation was due in four days. However, Anamika called up all the fellow workers for Isha’s presentation two days before.
Failing to stand up
This time Isha was caught off guard. She hadn’t prepared anything. And Anamika took this as an opportunity to belittle her. She asked Isha to start her presentation. Isha had no option but to stand still. The moment Isha was about to say that today wasn’t the day of her presentation, Anamika started bashing her. “The entire team is disappointed with you. You are responsible for the failure of this project. You better get your acts together or we will have to expel you.
Isha broke into tears the moment everyone left the conference room. She felt miserable. It wasn’t that she had under-performed. By this time she had enough of Anamika and she wanted to prove to her that she was good with her work. The next day onwards, Isha did everything possible to impress Anamika. However little did she know that it was never going to happen.
Putting wrong efforts
For the next days, Isha worked overtime. She was the first one to reach the office and the last one to leave. She left no stone unturned to excel at her work. Isha worked on several projects simultaneously and immersed herself in the work. She tried hard to impress Anamika but nothing worked. Her extended hours at work caused severe problems at home Her family started to complain about not having enough of her. Her husband was fed up with her new routine. Both, Isha and her husband started ending up in fights due to her new regime.
Messed up personal and professional life
Days passed by. Isha continued to take up more work while her personal life suffered majorly. Anamika continued to harass her at work. As a result of all this, Isha became prey to anxiety. It seemed as if nothing was in her control. She refrained from going to the office and paid no attention to her personal life. Seeing her in this difficult zone, Isha’s husband urged her to take up counseling. Isha knew that she needed help and so, she agreed to undergo counseling.
Dealing with harassment at Z-Edge
When Isha first came to Z-Edge, she was in a miserable state. It was shocking to see how such a talented woman fell prey to something like anxiety. She had no control over her life and was disinterested in bringing any positive change. In the first few sessions, she refused to even tell what her problem was. However, with the right type of questions and guidance by Renu ma’am, she could finally talk about what was wrong.
Understanding the root of the problem
Renu ma’am understood that the root of all her problems was Isha’s boss Anamika. Isha had undergone extreme bullying and harassment at her workplace. She had lost the confidence to lead her life properly and required deep conditioning of thoughts. In her sessions, first Renu ma’am aimed at building her confidence and self-esteem. She wanted Isha to believe in her own strengths and fight back for her own good.
Thus the initial sessions involved guidance, techniques, and tips to instill self-confidence. Renu ma’am made her understand that nobody but you alone is responsible to stand up for yourself. It took a while, but soon Isha understood that she herself has to take care of herself. Within a few weeks, there was a remarkable change in the way Isha perceived things.
Taking the right action
Post this, Renu ma’am made her believe that she still had in her to take the helm of her life in her own hands. Renu ma’am made her understand that it was Anamika who was wrong and that she should not underestimate herself because of her. Renu ma’am suggested her to take up a new company and thrive at both personal and professional level.
A fresh perspective
Today Isha is placed in one of the best multinational companies in India. She is managing both her private and professional life well and is very happy with herself. When asked to share her experience with Z-Edge, she says, “ I came here when I believed that I could do nothing in life. I had left all the hope and couldn’t see anything positive. Z-Edge and Renu ma’am showed me the path when I couldn’t trust myself. Today I have everything I ever wanted. All of this couldn’t be possible if I didn’t ask for help at the right time.”
