"Mobbing transforms the workplace into a hunting ground. What begins as one person's vendetta becomes a collective assault, as the narcissist recruits allies, poisons perceptions, and isolates the target. The victim faces not just one abuser but an entire system turned against them—while those who could intervene look away."
What is Workplace Mobbing?
Workplace mobbing is a form of collective psychological aggression in which a group of people—colleagues, supervisors, or a combination—coordinate to harass, isolate, undermine, and ultimately force out a targeted employee. Unlike individual bullying, mobbing involves multiple perpetrators and often becomes embedded in the organizational culture.
The term “mobbing” was introduced by Swedish psychologist Heinz Leymann, who studied the phenomenon extensively. He found that mobbing causes severe psychological damage comparable to other forms of trauma.
The Anatomy of Mobbing
Phase 1: The Trigger
Mobbing often begins with a conflict or perceived threat:
- The target challenges a narcissistic leader
- The target is a whistleblower or truth-teller
- The target is perceived as threatening (too competent, too different)
- Organizational dysfunction needs a scapegoat
- Someone simply decides the target doesn’t belong
Phase 2: The Campaign Begins
An aggressor (often narcissistic) begins the attack:
- Spreading rumors and negative perceptions
- Criticizing work that was previously acceptable
- Excluding from informal networks
- Subtle sabotage
- Recruiting allies against the target
Phase 3: Escalation and Recruitment
Others join the mobbing through:
- Active Participation: Joining attacks, spreading rumors, excluding the target
- Passive Enabling: Looking away, not defending the target, avoiding association
- Institutional Complicity: HR dismissing complaints, management siding with aggressors
Phase 4: Isolation and Destruction
The target becomes:
- Professionally isolated (excluded from opportunities, information)
- Socially isolated (colleagues avoid them)
- Psychologically destabilized (constant criticism, gaslighting)
- Set up to fail (impossible tasks, withheld resources)
Phase 5: Elimination
The mobbing typically ends with the target:
- Resigning (most common)
- Being fired (often using manufactured reasons)
- Transferring to escape
- Becoming too ill to work
- In rare cases, taking legal action
Narcissism and Mobbing
Narcissistic individuals often initiate or orchestrate mobbing:
Why Narcissists Mob
- The target threatened their ego or image
- The target saw through the facade
- The target represented competition
- The target refused to provide supply or submission
- Eliminating the target provides supply (power, winning)
How Narcissists Orchestrate
- Flying Monkeys: Recruiting others to do their bidding
- Smear Campaigns: Poisoning perceptions before the target can defend
- Gaslighting: Making the target (and observers) doubt the target’s reality
- DARVO: Positioning themselves as victims of the target
- Institutional Manipulation: Using formal systems against the target
Organizational Narcissism
Sometimes mobbing reflects an entire organizational culture:
- Group identity defended through scapegoating
- Conformity enforced through exclusion of difference
- Power maintained through examples of what happens to dissenters
The Tactics of Mobbing
Communication Attacks
- Exclusion from meetings and email chains
- Information withheld then punished for not knowing
- Being talked over or ignored in meetings
- Rumors and gossip spread systematically
Reputation Destruction
- Character assassination
- Questioning competence and motives
- Magnifying small errors
- Reframing neutral behavior negatively
Work Sabotage
- Impossible deadlines
- Withheld resources
- Credit stolen
- Work undermined or destroyed
- Set up to fail
Social Isolation
- Colleagues instructed or pressured to avoid target
- Exclusion from social activities
- Visible shunning
- Loss of allies and supporters
Institutional Weapons
- Performance management weaponized
- Documentation of minor issues
- HR complaints against the target
- Formal processes used abusively
The Effects
Psychological
- PTSD symptoms: intrusive thoughts, hypervigilance, avoidance
- Depression and anxiety
- Loss of confidence and identity
- Difficulty trusting
- Cognitive difficulties
Physical
- Sleep disturbances
- Stress-related illness
- Cardiovascular effects
- Weakened immune system
Professional
- Career damage or destruction
- Loss of professional identity
- Financial harm
- Difficulty in future employment (references, gaps)
Social
- Relationship strain
- Social withdrawal
- Loss of work-based friendships
- Family stress
Why Mobbing Continues
Organizational Factors
- Power protects perpetrators
- HR protects the organization, not targets
- Witnesses fear becoming targets
- Short-term thinking ignores costs
- Lack of accountability systems
Group Psychology
- Conformity pressure to join or enable
- Just-world beliefs (“they must have done something”)
- Diffusion of responsibility
- Fear of association with the target
- Pack mentality
Target Silencing
- Economic dependence on the job
- Gaslighting creates self-doubt
- Isolation prevents comparison of experiences
- Power imbalance prevents effective complaint
- Exit means loss (proving you couldn’t handle it)
What Can Targets Do?
Document Everything
- Dates, times, witnesses, exact words
- Keep copies outside work systems
- Screenshot communications
- Save performance reviews showing previous competence
Build External Support
- Therapist who understands workplace trauma
- Friends and family outside work
- Professional networks
- Legal consultation (know your rights)
Protect Your Health
- Recognize the toll and get support
- Don’t sacrifice health for job
- Understand this is not about your worth
- Consider medical leave if needed
Assess the Situation Realistically
- Can the system be fixed from your position? (Often not)
- Is anyone with power willing to help?
- What is the cost of staying vs. leaving?
- What are your realistic options?
Make Strategic Decisions
- Sometimes leaving is the healthiest choice
- Negotiate exit terms if possible
- Preserve references where you can
- Don’t let them define your narrative
For Survivors
If you’ve experienced workplace mobbing:
- The mobbing was not your fault
- Your perceptions were likely accurate
- The psychological effects are real and comparable to other trauma
- Recovery is possible
- Many others have experienced this—you’re not alone
- Your worth is not determined by what a dysfunctional system decided about you
Mobbing is a form of abuse. Like other forms, it says everything about the perpetrators and the system, and nothing about your fundamental value.
Frequently Asked Questions
Workplace mobbing is collective psychological aggression against a targeted employee, involving multiple people who coordinate to harass, isolate, and undermine the target. It often begins with one person (frequently narcissistic) and spreads as others join the attack or enable it through inaction.
Bullying typically involves one perpetrator targeting one victim. Mobbing involves multiple perpetrators or a group dynamic targeting one person. It's collective, often orchestrated, and involves the organizational system turning against the target. The group dynamic makes it especially damaging and difficult to address.
Signs include: exclusion from meetings and communications; spreading rumors or lies; constant criticism regardless of performance; being set up to fail; having work sabotaged; social isolation by colleagues; documentation of minor infractions; gaslighting about events; and feeling that the entire workplace has turned against you.
Common triggers include: threatening a narcissistic leader's ego; being a whistleblower or truth-teller; being different (new, successful, minority); organizational dysfunction that needs a scapegoat; restructuring or competition for positions; and simply being in the wrong place when someone needs a target.
Document everything meticulously. Build support outside the workplace. Understand that you likely cannot win within the system. Consider legal consultation. Prioritize your mental and physical health. Often, leaving is the healthiest choice—not because you're wrong, but because the system is too broken to fix from your position.
Effects include: symptoms similar to PTSD, depression, anxiety, physical health problems, career damage, financial harm, relationship strain, and loss of professional identity. Mobbing is recognized as a serious occupational hazard in some countries. The effects can be long-lasting.
