Bad Boss as a Reason to Quit

Shawnee Love   •  
February 7, 2014

Last week, we talked about the real reasons employees quit.  To be clear, I wasn’t talking about why employees quit in the first year of employment, because there are 3 very clear reasons that happens as well.  Interestingly, having a bad boss is a reason common to both lists.

This blog is focused on what you can do to avoid being the reason your employees quit.  Hope it helps:

 

 

Bad Boss Behaviour Your Fix
Information Black Hole (info comes in but never gets passed on) Start providing weekly updates on what is happening and where you are   going.  Book it in your calendar.
Credit Hog (quick to take credit for all good work) Bite your tongue when you feel the urge to take credit. Instead, take   the high road and say “Thanks, but it was a team effort”. Or better yet, “It   was my fantastic team that accomplished it. Let’s go congratulate them   together”.
Hunger Games Manager (pits employees against each other) While it is okay to set targets, it isn’t okay to have them competing over resources to accomplish work you have assigned.  Focus on teamwork by asking your employees to work together on a solution.  Ensure your rewards and recognition focus on teamwork rather than individual effort as well.
Work Hoarder (keeps the interesting work for himself) Delegate, delegate, delegate.  As a manager, you shouldn’t do work that you are the best at.  Instead you must focus on what only you can do, i.e., manage.  Give the interesting and challenging work to your staff and remember not to get frustrated with mistakes that will happen as they learn. You were there once too.
Critical Cathy (never a kind word for anyone) Find opportunities to thank and recognize your employees every day.  Your employees should hear about something good they do at least every other day.  Sandwich constructive criticisms (i.e., about the work and never   personal) between praise.  Take responsibility for your team’s mistakes and pass on praise for successes.
Micromanager (doesn’t trust anyone to do the work) Set the parameters and goals and ask for needed updates on critical aspects of the project and work but avoid interfering in how the work gets done.
Waffler (never sure, always thinking about it) While it is admirable to ask employees for opinions and ideas, as a boss they need you to make a decision. So, do it. Hold yourself accountable by spending the last 15 minutes of your day on Friday evaluating the week based on what decisions you made and stuck to. Write down what you will do better next week.
Old Yeller (thinks yelling will get people to work harder/faster/   better) Stop.  Not only is yelling unprofessional, it is 19th century management. If you are a yeller, consider communication style training and work on your anger management. Or, try paying each of your employees $10 each time you yell at work.  It’s amazing how fast behavior is curbed when we put our money where our mouth is.