Symptoms Of A Terrible Boss

In an ideal world, the CEOs and managers we all work under would have got there by showing great leadership traits. They’d be conscientious, a good listener, as well as meticulously in-tune with the company culture, and the wants and needs of every employee. Sadly, we don’t live in an ideal world! There are countless bosses out there who totally neglect their workforce, stir up resentment, and hold the business back as a whole. Here are just a handful of signs you’re working for a terrible boss.

First of all, they don’t follow the company’s own policies. If anyone at a company followed policy and protocol down to a tee, you’d expect it to be the management, wouldn’t you? Unfortunately, this isn’t the case. Workplaces all over the world are infested with managers who are happy enough to use company policy to reprimand employees and hold them accountable, and yet show a total disregard for these policies in their own behavior. For example, if your manager tells you you’re obliged to come in at 7:00 AM every day for a shift that starts at 8, but official company policy only requires you to call in half an hour before the actual start of your shift, then they’re being purposefully deceitful. Things become much more serious when an employer or manager doesn’t fulfill their legal obligations, like health and safety laws. This has sent many a worker running to a sexual harassment, discrimination or benzene attorney in the past.

Often enough, the issue might not be with the boss you answer to directly, but more with the manager a step above them in the pyramid. It’s extremely common for an employee to bring their complaint about a bullying or negligent boss to someone a little higher in the company, only to have it shrugged off and ignored. Sure, they might be strained by all their different responsibilities or a rough patch that the company is going through. However, if you bring the same complaints up again and again, and they get ignored again and again, you can be pretty certain that you’re working under a boss who doesn’t care about you. Just like the negligence of company policy, these situations can often lead workers to take legal action against their employers. If they’ve tried their HR person, boss and boss’s boss with no results, where else is there to turn but the courts?

Finally, bosses who are never, ever wrong. About anything. In any kind of organization, or social situation for that matter, learning how and when to admit you’re wrong is one of the most important things anyone can do. It builds respect, and helps everyone work through problems much more efficiently. This is even more important for someone in a position of power than anyone else. If your boss will never admit that they’re wrong, it means that they’re not willing to sacrifice a little bit of pride for the best interests of their employees. With a boss like this, you can be certain that A, the company isn’t going anywhere fast, and B, you may be at risk of taking the flak for their mistakes!