Horrible Bosses – Dealing with the Devil by Tiffany Hoy

Horrible Bosses – Dealing with the Devil

Did the recent comedy flick ‘Horrible Bosses’ ring a bell for you? Have you worked for a monster like Kevin Spacey’s control freak, Colin Farrell’s drug addict or Jennifer Aniston’s sexual predator? Maybe not to that extreme, but I’m betting plenty of movie-goers cheered on Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis and Charlie Day as they took down their horrible bosses.

In the real world, bad bosses are no laughing matter. Beyond Bullying estimates that 2.5 to 5 million Australians will experience workplace harassment during their career. This can cause anxiety, stress, depression and insomnia, and does not make for a happy and productive workplace. So before ‘Horrible Bosses’ gives you any dangerous ideas, here’s some tips for dealing with a toxic boss.

A good place to start is to read up on your workplace’s bullying policy and complaints procedure. Talk to a supervisor at a higher level, a harassment contact officer or a health and safety representative. If you’re having trouble finding support internally, contact your union or another relevant organisation such as JobWatch and Reach Out, which can point you in the right direction.

Keep a diary and document everything that happens, including your attempts to get help and anything you do to try to stop the bullying. This can prove helpful later, if you are forced to take your case to another level.

If you’re feeling game, approach your boss. Explain to them that their behaviour is unwanted and unacceptable, and is creating a hostile atmosphere in the office. Bad bosses don’t always realise that they are treating their employees unfairly, explains Ian Stephens, director of training and development consultancy Enrich Management Group. To them, intimidation is an acceptable means to an end, and business as usual.

“Any bully, be it in the schoolyard or workplace, has learnt at some time in the past that the strategy of being a standover merchant gets them results. Sometimes they’re not even aware of it, and it takes an intervention to wake them up.

“When I work with managers to overcome this kind of behaviour, we do a survey of their colleagues and the people around them, which gives the leader feedback on how they’re seen by others. That can be a big shock, a big wake up call.

“They just have to learn that there are better ways to get results from your people than bullying tactics. Every employee has a reserve of discretionary effort – that extra 10% they will put in for a leader who inspires them, who recognises and rewards their good work.

“Workers who feel oppressed by their manager are just going to show up from nine to five and won’t put their head down. They’ll do what’s necessary to keep their job and nothing more.”

Stephens himself had to face a controlling boss. He handled the situation by being assertive and standing his ground.

“My boss expected me to lie to clients about how long I’d been working for the company. He told me to say I’d been there for three years, because the clients wouldn’t want to work with a junior.

“I said, ‘but that’s not true.’ We had an argument and I nearly resigned. He backed down and we found a middle ground – I told clients I’d been in the industry, if not the company, for three years – which was true, and I felt comfortable saying.”

Personal integrity is one thing, keeping your job is another. Those who are not willing to risk losing their job can turn to the people around them for help, instead of confronting the boss directly.

Colleagues can be an invaluable source of support, says Rosabeth Moss Kanter, professor at Harvard Business School. Employees can band together to focus on tasks and help each other to succeed despite a demanding boss. By creating a network of alternate relationships, you may not feel so isolated, and together you can weaken the control of the toxic manager and bring them to the attention of higher level management. Find someone in your workplace that you can trust, and anchor each other with moral support.

If following your company’s official complaint procedure hasn’t worked, you may need to turn to legal avenues. Workplace bullying involving discrimination (on the grounds of sex, race, age, disability, etc) and harassment (including stalking and assault) is a criminal offence and should be reported immediately. Other kinds of bullying may be covered under Occupational Health and Safety legislation, which states that employers have a legal responsibility to eliminate or reduce the risks to employees caused by workplace bullying.

Bullying can be costly for an organisation – in high turnover, lost productivity and increased leave taking. Not to mention the financial burden of legal and worker’s compensation as well as lost management time from addressing cases of harassment. Should the story reach the media or social networks, bad PR is another damaging factor.

It’s in an organisation’s best interest to minimise the impact of a toxic boss. To do this, Kanter recommends that performance reviews are based on objective measures, not subjective ones. The organisation can examine tasks and workloads for relevance and fairness, and make flexibility a right. They can also switch a chain-of-command hierarchy for a team-based culture that encourages success and empowers employees. Here, workers are given shared responsibility and leaders are coaches rather than ‘bosses’.

“To me, a great leader never sees themselves as a ‘boss’. ‘Boss’ says, ‘you’re my subordinate and I issue your commands to you’,” says Ian Stephens.

“Everyone needs to be made to feel important – that’s one of the seven life requirements that leaders shouldn’t overlook. New managers must be trained in the appropriate upskilling tools so they can step into that identity comfortably.

“Leaders should encourage peak performance without resorting to intimidation tactics. For businesses, ultimately – if you can’t change the person, change the person.”

Fred Barret, an American consultant, has a novel way of testing employers before he decides to work for them. Barret told Sue Shellenbarger, Wall Street Journal columnist, that he always visits the bathroom at an interview to check out the toilet paper. According to Barret, soft and cushy paper is a good sign. Rough paper signifies that the company is happy to cut costs when it comes to looking after their employees.

So next time you’re at an interview, if your gut’s telling you there’s a horrible boss behind the desk, make an excuse to visit the loo. Are they looking out for your bottom line?

Article supplied by Big Fish Global Consulting Group Pty Ltd www.bigfishgroup.com.au