A hands-off manager may not realise that his failure to provide direction or feedback makes him a bad boss. He may be think he’s empowering his staff. A manager who provides too much direction may feel insecure about his own job. He may not realise that his direction is insulting to a competent, secure member of staff. Or maybe he lacks training and is so overwhelmed by his own job requirements, he can’t provide the necessary support. In these days of downsizing, responsibilities are often shared by fewer staff than ever before.
Doing everything right
So what can you do if you are working for a bad boss? Make sure you are doing everything right. Honestly analyse your actions and behaviours. How have you been handling yourself in your job? As you are human it’s likely that your bosses behaviour has affected your performance, so try ignoring all distractions and focus on your work to see if it makes a difference. Try to find other sources of positive reinforcement for doing your job better.
Make a list of bad behaviours. This could be quite a cathartic experience. Make a list of all the things he/she does that drive you mad. Sit on the list for a couple of days then review it, adding or deleting actions as applicable. Next, rate the list from the most to the least annoying. Take the top two or three and write down suggestions to how your boss could act differently. Edit to remove emotion/sarcasm, then show to a trusted colleague who has no vested interest. Edit again. Once you are happy with your suggestions, diary a meeting with your boss. It is possible that your boss is unaware of his/her actions and the meeting could be very positive.However it’s also possible that the meeting could end badly.
Keep a record. Document all bad behaviour. Don’t judge or write emotional reactions – simply document the facts and how the incident impacted on your performance as well as others. This may be a good stress-relieving device itself, however at some point, perhaps when you are changing jobs, you may consider talking to human resources or even a mentor within the company.
Find a mentor. If you love the company but hate the boss, try developing a mentoring relationship with a boss/supervisor in another part of the company. Mentoring is a fantastic strategy even if you have a good boss because a mentor can help you out in many ways, from offering advice to being a good sounding board.
Last resort
As a last resort, go to your boss’s manager and ask for assistance, or to someone in human resources. You may never hear what they did to solve your managers behaviour but do allow sometime to pass for the actions to have their desired impact.
If you decide that your boss can’t or won’t change, ask for a transfer – this presumes that you like your employer and your work. If a transfer is unavailable begin your search for a new job. Quitting is always an option and under the circumstances it may be time for you to go.
Jo Allam is director of Ecruit Ltd
