Is my boss a tolerable person?

Question

Ok here is the scenario...
I just started work at a new place, somewhere downtown. My previous boss was a guy who left for a better pay. In his place came in a senior lady.

She seemed to be nice at first, but she began throwing tanturms whenever her superiors screwed her for doing her work wrong. But, in that process all her sub-ordinates received the rap for it. By the way, she hardly shares her thoughts with us...

And, she dosent respect "privacy" She calls us at anytime of the day she wants. Dosent she know on weekends/after work we have a family life? I like the job, but not the person in charge...

I dont wanna be a whinner about things like this....but I need the pay for my kids and family. So I really dont know what to do...

Answer 1

1. She has no right bothering you at home when you are off the clock. Some do in case of emergency but it is not the standard.
2. She is not communicating effectively and I would quietly sit down with her and tell her so as she may be so stressed out she doesn't realize it...and it should never get to that point of misery in the first place. Some people are just not emotionally equipped to supervise.
3. She just can't go around projecting her anger and frustration at everyone...it is not an effective way to operate and produces a lot of unhappy campers.
4. Suggest having a 10 minute talk with the group each morning...early...where she can express herself as to what is expected and have open questions by the help (without prejudice) or a meeting once a week for 30 minutes to air problems and expectations so everyone will be on the same page. Something must be done to relieve the stress else everyone will bail out. Everyone has to work toward the same goal.
5. Speak to her about your privacy questions and let her know they are offensive to the staff.
6. If the above suggestions are not considered there is a real problem in your office and won't change. You'll either have to go to a higher authority or leave. Some people are just not emotionally equipped to be a supervisor and many have personal problems of their own that you don't know about but it is no excuse to behave badly. Anyway, speak to her privately, quietly, humbly and come across very sincerely...have no "attitude" about it and don't forget your manners when doing so.
Good Luck.

Answer 2

If you don't want to leave your job, mutt_buff's answer is the advice you should take. I had a similar situation and going to personnel did not help as they were fully aware of her tantrums and railings against her staff. They had a file an inch and a half thick on her with complaints from all of her staff over many years, so apparently they did not have what it took to deal with her, that is, kick her battle ax to the curb.

For me, smartest thing I ever did was to leave and that was nine years ago. Best thing professionally, financially, and personally. No good can come of your career working for someone like her, so either she goes, which makes more sense, or her staff should start exiting stage left.

From what I hear former boss did retire two years ago so her tormenting incompetence as a manager finally came to a merciful end after some near 40 years.

Answer 3

No. Your boss is a nutcase.

Take the problem not to her boss, but rather to the Personnel Dept.

Call them for an appt, asking for a few minutes of confidential time for help with a problem.

And here's how you take it from there:

When you get there, be sure to tell the personnel rep how much you enjoy working for the company. Your only problem is that you are having a rough time adjusting to your new boss and you're hoping that the personnel rep can give you some pointers on how to adjust. Be sure to mention that you don't feel comfortable about approaching your boss with this since she seems to have a really bad temper and you don't want to make her mad. Be sure to mention that you're just not used to getting phone calls after hours and on weekends and you're wondering if there is something you should be doing during work hours that would negate the need for those calls. Be sure - absolutely sure - not to rant or complain about your boss to the rep. Your demeanor during the entire conversation should be that of a concerned employee attempting to be a better employee.

I guarantee you that your boss will find herself in her boss'es office.

This advise is coming from a 25 yr management veteran.

Answer 4

Yikes! Your new boss is acting like someone who is desperate. She probably doesn't have manager training. And sounds like she is unbalanced.

My boss was a new boss, he called me once at home. I told him face to face the next day that unless the building burned down or there was a physical emergency that he had better never call me after hours or on a day off. And he hasn't.

She sounds immature and will likely not be your boss forever. She can't penalize you for NOT answering her calls after hours. I would simply NOT answer the phone. She will get the message and stop calling, I assure you.

Document the things she does that are irrational and such, just in case you're ever asked for a peer appraisal. If your company has an ombudsman or something, you may want to report her to that person if things get really bad.

Best of luck to you!!

Answer 5

Have you thought about taking responsibility for yourself (and this is not a put-down) and explore other options ?

You have 168 hours in the week. Your job occupies 40 hours (assuming 5 x 8 hour days)

What are you doing with the rest?

Sleeping = 56 hours
Eating / personal time: = 21

That leaves 51 hours spare to accomplish great things like a plan for financial independence. Do you watch a lot of TV? That doesn't pay much.

Drop me an email if you'd like to have some perspectives that could help.

Keep Smiling.

Answer 6

You have a boss that may be in way over her head. Because of that she does all these things and will never admit any of it is her fault. If she did she would have to come to understand the job is either too much for her or she just doesn't know how to handle it.

If your job....and the rest of the people you work with.....is not a critical one...involving life an death.....she should never be calling you outside work.

This shows you that she is spending way to much time at this job.
The only real problem I see however is for her to blame her subordinates for problems. That is not acceptable.

I had the same kind of boss. Never called outside of business hours but did all the rest. Our group put up with this for a while but finally went over her head. That manager came to talk to each one of us and because she got the same story from each of us that manager was gone.

Give it some thought.

Answer 7

Go to someone above her and explain the situation,mention her contacting you out of hours because that is obviously not a matter of opinion or a personality clash,she just shouldn't be doing it.I expect the people above her will have noticed her behaviour and will value your opinion and front to come and discus the problem and not just leave or let it get to you until your work slips. Maybe a few stern words from someone above her on how she's treating the other staff members will bring her back down to earth! Don't forget to mention you like the job.From my experience people appretiate you coming and talking to them and respect you for it. Good luck it can make or break a job who you work with,what a pain.

Answer 8

It seems that people that are above her are not being very cooperative with her. It maybe because she is a woman. Also, it seems to me that she doesn't have many friends and her self-esteem isn't that high. Despite her high position with this company, she seems she isn't happy. Maybe because she isn't married or isn't married to a great husband.

Whenever she approaches you, keep a positive attitude. Try to establish a working friendship with her, that may help her gain a little more self-esteem where she feels that she belongs to the organization. From what you are telling me, she doesn't feel like she belongs to the company because some people (not say you) are not making her feel right at home.

When employees aren't happy, usually the problem lies somewhere in managment.

Answer 9

See if you can work in another dept.. be as nice to her as you be, so she won't single you out with her angry disposition. i was in the same shape once. i had the boss from hell, absolute hell. i swear no one could be as bad as he was. i ended up on lots of pscych meds, but they helped, he didn't bother me as bad as before. if it gets real bad start looking around for another job. Try to stay out of her way. try going here...http://www.computerworld.com/blogs/badboss

Answer 10

You don't tolerate a person when you work. You tolerate the job requirements.