News

/06.08.07
THE DEAL
By Moses Ngobeni

Confronting your boss wouldn't be such a clever thing to do; because you might come off second best and it also sounds very aggressive. Unless you've done everything to restore/improve the relationship, leaving is also not an option at this stage.

There are various factors that lead bosses to turn into "Bosses from Hell"; most of them having nothing to do with you. Assuming that your situation is clear, the following are the reasons why your boss may behave the way she does towards you:

It could be that she is threatened with the pace of your development - and will do everything in her power to frustrate your upward mobility within the company. It could just be a simple case of your personalities not being compatible, in which case one of you will have to leave; that person most likely being you, unless your boss' personality clashes with everyone else's personality within the department. You could have out-grown your boss, or your current job; this usually also leads to a lot of tension between superiors and subordinates. I once counselled an employee who had clearly out-gown her manager and felt that her manager wasn't challenging her anymore.

This situation was created by the fact that Jean was involved in a couple of enviable extra-mural activities, made worse by the fact that she was put on an accellerated formal development programme. The result of this was the beginning of an antagonistic relationship, which continued for some time. Her initial strategy was to get her superior on her side. The advice was to have regular meetings and keep her superior in the know; there's nothing worse than a boss who feels that her authority is being undermined and that she is always the last to know.

A further strategy was to use these meetings to raise and address her areas of concern. Unfortunately, these meeting didn't produce the desired results. The next step was to get HR involved, which clearly signalled a show down. The reality is, that once a situation goes to that extent, your superior will most likely have the upper hand. Chances are that she would have alerted the HR department about the conflict beforehand. Jean's initial reaction was to sideline her boss and just concentrate on the job at hand. That is a very bad move, because as Murphy said, "Left to themselves things always go from bad to worse". As uncomfortable as it often is, the best thing is always to engage your boss in dialogue. In the case of Jean, the ultimate solution was to move her to another department

Another no-no is to go over your bosses head; this is corporate suicide. In fact that is the worst thing you could do; in most cases your boss will enjoy a much better relationship with her boss than you do.

In your correspondence, don't cc her boss and/or colleagues, even if she initially copied them in, especially if you are addressing a contentious issue. This is a clear show of power play & there are no prizes for guessing who will come out on top. In this situation, don't ever discuss your boss with her colleagues, even if you believe that you enjoy a better relationship with them. There is a big chance that whatever you said about her may reach her ears Never make it your responsibility to try to get rid of your boss. Leave it up to her boss. If your dilemma is not an isolated case, your organisation will pick it up. Some of the tell tale signs are;

• Numerous complaints from different employees;
• Increased staff turnover in her department;
• A drop in productivity due to people not pulling their weight and giving it their all.

The best thing for you to do, is to perforyour duties to the best of your abilities. In these situations your boss will always look for a reason to "nail" you - don't give her that reason. You could lodge a formal complaint, especially when it comes to issues of your boss discussing you with your colleagues and subordinates. Again, my advice is that this must be your last resort, i.e. after you've exhausted all other avenues of getting through to your boss.

Having followed the recommended steps, you should be willing to deal with the potential consequences, which could be one of: victimisation; poor performance rating; negative impact on your salary increments, or on promotional prospects.

Finally, if all else fails, I suggest that you look for alternate employment!