Dealing With a Bad Boss: Strategies for Coping

Maybe you have a boss who is sexist or racist. Or perhaps a boss who takes all the credit for himself. Maybe your boss thinks you have no life outside work and makes you stay late everyday. Or perhaps a boss who gives out too many tasks with impossible to meet deadlines (or constantly changing deadlines). Maybe your boss is a pathological liar. Or perhaps the boss plays favorites.

 

Bad bosses whether ogres, control freaks, jerks, micromanagers, or bumbling fools can be found in all organizations. Pop culture loves to make fun of bad bosses, from the pointy-haired boss in the Dilbert comic strip, to the completely insipid boss from the British import "The Office," to the anal-compulsive and mean boss of the movie Office Space.. but bad bosses are no laughing matter when you have to face him or her every working day. And, unfortunately, with the rightsizing of the last several years, there are probably more overworked and under-trained bosses than ever. It's also possible, though, that bad bossing is just part of the organization's corporate culture.

 

One study found that almost 80 percent of the employees surveyed identified their boss as a lousy manager. And almost 70 percent in that study conducted by Delta Road stated that their immediate superior had "no clue" what to do to become a good manager. Author Harvey Hornstein, Ph.D., estimates that 90 percent of the U.S. work force has been subjected to abusive behavior at some time. He bases his conclusions on a survey of nearly 1,000 workers over eight years.

 

So, what can you do if you are working for a bad boss? This article will provide you with the tools you need to manage the situation as best you can, but remember that sometimes the only solution is transferring to a different part of the company -- or switching employers.

 

Make sure you are doing everything right
The first solution is an honest analysis of your actions and behavior. How have you been handling yourself in your job? Have you always taken the high road, or have you resorted to occasional backstabbing, gossiping, or underperforming? If you're human, it's likely your bad boss has affected your performance, so try ignoring all these distractions and focus on your work to see if that changes anything. Find other sources of positive reinforcement for doing your job to the best of your abilities.

 

Compile a list of bad boss behaviors
The second solution is a bit more involved, but should be a cathartic experience for you. Make a list of all the things that your boss does that drive you nuts. Let the list sit for a few days and then review it again, adding or deleting activities upon further reflection. Next, rank the list from most annoying to least annoying. Pick the top two or three worst offenses and develop some suggestions for how your boss could act differently in those situations. Edit the suggestions to remove sarcasm or anger. Show the suggestions to a trusted friend who has no vested interest in the situation. Edit the suggestions again.

Once you feel comfortable that your suggestions are positive and helpful, consider scheduling a meeting with your boss to discuss. Perhaps suggest meeting outside the office for breakfast or lunch. Leave your emotions at the door, but be prepared for your boss to have an emotional reaction. It's possible that your boss is unaware of his/her actions, and this meeting could be very positive for all involved; however, it's also possible that the meeting will end badly.

 

Keep a journal of incidents
The third solution involves documenting each bad behavior of your boss in a journal. Don't judge or write emotional reactions; simply document the facts of the situation and how the bad behavior impacted your performance -- as well as others in the department. Again, this process may be enough to relieve you of the stress so that you can cope. However, at some point in the future -- perhaps as you are leaving for a new job you might consider taking the journal to a trusted colleague in human resources or even a mentor within the company.

 

Find a mentor with the company
If you love the company but hate the boss, another solution is to develop a mentoring relationship with a boss/supervisor in another part of the company. Mentoring is a fantastic strategy that you should consider even if you have a good boss because a mentor is someone who can help you in many ways, from offering advice to suggesting you for a promotion. And in coping with a bad boss, a mentor can be a good sounding board for you, and perhaps after you have documented all the offenses, someone who has the pull and the power to do something about your bad boss.

 

Report your bad boss
A last resort is reporting the bad actions/performance of your boss to his/her supervisor or to someone in human resources. While logic would hold that the company would not want a manager who is hurting performance or productivity, the reality is often that you become branded as a trouble-maker/whiner/complainer and your days at the company quickly become numbered.

 

Don't sacrifice your health or self-esteem
The worst thing you can do is simply to do nothing, hoping the problems will get resolved. No job, boss, or company is worth losing your health, sanity, or self-esteem. If you can't find a way to resolve these issues and/or your boss simply will never change his/her behavior, you should immediately start working your network and begin looking for a new job within or outside the organization. Again, if you love the company, a transfer might be the best option but keep in mind that your boss might be as evil as to sabotage that transfer. And try not to quit before you find a new job, but again, if work just becomes too unbearable, you may need to consider quitting to save yourself. 

 

by Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D.

Top 10 recruitment predictions and trends for the next 12 months (2010-2011) …

Daniel Lyons, (Managing Director), shares his Top 10 recruitment predictions and trends of what we can expect in 2010-2011.

1. The perfect storm: say hello to innovation:

At a time when no business is exempt from the challenging economic market, companies are being forced to innovate and restructure at an unprecedented rate in order to achieve a competitive advantage in the market place. The recruitment industry can be no exception: 2010 is ripe for a recruitment revolution.

Whilst for years the recruitment process has remained static, rendering all parties and stakeholders involved in the process unsatisfied, it can no longer afford to lag behind the futuristic technologies which other industries are so successfully embracing in order to get ahead. Recruitment players will be required to offer a much-needed, dynamic and efficient solution to the recruitment process at every level. This will provide large efficiency gains for the early adopters before becoming the industry standard.

 

2. Increased pressure on HR Professionals

During unprecedented times in which increasing amounts of people have been forced to change jobs, the number of applicants per role has risen dramatically. Naturally, this has had an immediate knock-on-effect on the time HR professionals are having to devote to finding the right individual for the job. In fact a recent survey* revealed that of the 39.4% of respondents’ HR departments, as much as 9.2% of them are spending 50-75% of department time on recruiting. These professionals are crying out for an easy to use, creative technical solution in order to decrease interview and screening time.

* Recruiting, Turnover & Retention in the New Economy, Kennedy Information

 

3. From traditional to digital

2010 will see a gradual decline in the use of traditional recruitment methods, at least as far as the larger companies are concerned anyway. They will have the scale to develop the best practices, and train their workforce in other methods of recruitment. This will see the inertia which has traditionally been associated with Social and Digital Media recruitment begin to drift away. Case studies for recruitment via digital will develop, increasing the level of trust that other, smaller parties have in the system.

As employers become increasingly cash conscious and time poor, online resources will begin to take precedence over the traditional mediums of recruiting, which involve lengthy processes such as collating references etc. This will particularly become the case if online recruitment methods improve, and attain a higher level of integration with recruitment CRMs. Finding the right candidate at the best possible price will be key in a difficult economy.

 

4. Increased care to get the right candidate for the job

The commercial cost of making a wrong hiring decision is estimated to cost up to four times the salary of the position according to xxxx - (need to get hold of print copy Recruiter, 3 February 2010 p.20 “Selection – it’s time to move on” by David Mason). There have been murmurings in the industry for years about concerns which employers and recruitment consultants have with CV inflation, but now they cannot afford to make a mistake.

They have to make sure they get the right person, and that that person is capable of adding value to their business. Despite budgets becoming tighter than ever, employers and recruitment consultants will be prepared to invest heavily in solutions which can provide them with the right candidate.

 

5. Direct relationships with employment community

Platforms such as Twitter and Facebook signal a future where employers will need to build deeper channels of communication and provide platforms if they are to get noticed by today's job seekers. In a real time world that is about live, unedited, and passionate responses which span platforms and time zones, job seekers will expect a relationship with an employer that goes far beyond merely sending in their CV. To a candidate, sending a CV to a recruiter currently feels far too much like throwing a tennis ball over a wall. Employers which can engage without compromising their integrity will be the big winners in 2010.

 

7. Accelerated competition

Whilst the recruitment sector is set for gradual recovery this year, the value of the permanent recruitment market will decline by a further 4.2% in the year ending March 2010, according to a report from market intelligence provider Key Note.

For some recruiters, this may be too little to late but for those that remain, competition will be hotter than ever before. Recruiters and companies alike will need to embrace technological solutions to get ahead.

 

8. Mounting pressure on Recruiters

Recruiters will be required to up their game significantly in 2010, providing essential metrics and KPIs to employers in order for them to justify in-house and external recruitment expenditure. Despite this increased service, fee rates are unlikely to rise in 2010 and may even be squeezed further, forcing recruiters to be creative in budget spend and strategic in investment.

 

9. The rise of online video

The widespread availability of cheaper, hand-held broadcast equipment, software, and photo and video editing sites such as Flickr and YouTube has improved the process of producing and displaying creative work. This has been embraced by candidates, particularly amongst the young, to improve their job prospects, and align themselves with other creative leaders.

"The opportunity for young people to be part of the creative community has soared" notes Matthew Taylor, Director of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts. "The number of people involved in grime [UK underground music scene] is an indicator that we are moving away from an era with a small number of spectators, to an era where every person feels that they have scope for, and can be creative." We expect to see this trend spill over into recruitment, as companies increasingly look for creative thinkers with great problem solving abilities.

 

10. Development methods to pre-qualify candidates

In an increasingly competitive job market, candidates need to be top of their game: anything less just won’t cut it. This quest to gain the competitive edge will render the role of online career centers absolutely crucial. Candidates will begin to rely on these as a means of bridging their skills gap and enhancing their offering to potential employers.

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By Daniel Lyons

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