In the perfect world, we’d all have fabulous bosses – those who help us grow, succeed and cultivate a harmonious workplace environment that’s a genuine joy to be part of.
But that’s not always the case and bad bosses are unfortunately a common occurrence here in the UK. Indeed, a recent survey found that 70% of UK employees have been bullied by their boss in the last three years.
In their lifetime, the average Brit spends 3,507 days at work, including 204 days of overtime. That’s a lot of time dealing with bad bosses, overblown egos, ridiculous requests, endless meetings, and oppressive micromanaging.
A bad boss can make a great job, terrible. A particularly loathsome one can affect you in your personal life, too, so it’s important to deal with the problem head on. Whether your boss is the devil incarnate or more akin to David Brent from The Office, here’s 4 ideal ways to deal with a horrible boss.
Focus On Your Wellbeing
First things first; life is too short to be unhappy at work. Moreover, as Forbes reports, working for a bad boss may actually be killing you slowly. Indeed, as the site explained, “Swedish researchers found that working for a bad manager was linked to an increase in incidents of unstable angina and heart attacks, resulting in hospitalization or death”.
It’s time to put your wellbeing in the workplace first. If you dread going to work everyday and are bringing your boss’s negativity and toxicity home with you, then it’s probably time to bid adieu to your job.
Of course, you’ll want to put the mechanisms in place privately before doing so; apply for new roles or make plans with your partner for them to bear more of the financial load for a while. Life contentment should always come before workplace satisfaction.
Read: 5 IDEAL ways to look after your workplace wellbeing
Have A Candid Conversation
It takes a lot of courage to do so, but if you feel brave enough have a frank conversation with your boss, you may well both benefit from your bravery.
Sometimes, people have absolutely no idea of how their behaviour affects others. Moreover, if you think your relationship with your boss isn’t great, chances are they think that too, and a simple talk might help fix it.
Jill Walker, author of ‘Is Your Boss Mad?’, tells the Guardian “Bad bosses find it harder to intimidate people who appear confident. Confidence is like a muscle, the more you exercise it the stronger it gets.”
Moreover, one study suggests that employees who stand up to their bosses are less likely to feel bullied and more likely to feel committed to their job.
When confronting your boss, it’s important to come prepared with examples of when you feel like they have been a bad boss; for a truly constructive chat, come armed with solutions, too.
This will allow you to take control of the situation yourself. Your boss is only human after all, and, like most people, won’t respond well to accusatory terminology – try using phrases like ‘’I’d prefer it if you’’, or ‘’I feel like…when you…’’. Be diplomatic for best results.
Manage Up
Managing up is all about adjusting to your boss’s preferred style of working and anticipating their needs. Let’s be clear, managing up is not about currying favour with a bad boss; it’s about making life easier for yourself.
What’s your boss’s workplace personality? Try and work around their weaknesses. The more awareness and understanding you hold of your boss’s personality and work attitude, the better you can deal with them
It might help to try not to think of your bad boss as your actual boss. Instead, think of them as a really difficult, annoying client who needs their expectations managing. Sometimes, the best way to tackle issues at work is to reframe them.
Read: 6 IDEAL ways to beat workplace stress
Speak To HR
If your boss’s behaviour doesn’t change, appeal to their manager and to your workplace’s human resources department. If your boss is guilty of any inappropriate workplace behaviour such as bullying, discrimination, or inappropriate demands, your HR department must take it seriously.
Employers have a legal responsibility to protect their staff from stress at work, so make sure your voice is heard if you’re suffering. Others may well be feeling the same thing, and be grateful for your intervention.
