In my career coaching practice most of my clients come to me because of some abnormalities in their careers: no promotion despite promises; no raise, despite kudos for great work; poor performance reviews, which come as a surprise; and the most common one of all, a bad boss.
A recent (2012) study conducted by Gallup research on employee engagement entailed 1.4 million employees in 192 organizations, across 49 industries, and in 34 countries makes one thing very clear: employee engagement is directly correlated to productivity, employee happiness, and their overall quality-of-worklife. This study found that only 30% of the employees are truly engaged in their work, enjoying what they do. About 20% are disengaged (“walking zombies”) and the remainder 50% of the employees is marginally engaged, affecting productivity, morale, and their work.
The most salient cause for the whopping 70% of the unhappy employees is their boss. Assuming that this sample includes across-the-board employee pool (including managers and their bosses themselves) then it is safe to infer that the same stats apply to the managers, who report to a higher boss. This means that managers play a key role in employee happiness, productivity, and quality-of-work.
Dysfunctional, incompetent, and leaderless managers are the norm (as borne out by this research and other such surveys dating back to the middle of the last century). Interestingly the percentage of these pools has not changed much despite many MBAs and professional managers now in the ranks. That this cadre of managers gets to oversee your everyday work and to make your life living hell is a testament to how they wield their managerial power and authority and get away with it with impunity.
But, wait!
This dynamic is not that unilateral, as you may want to think. What is missing in this dynamic is a lack of accountability created by the direct reports to their managers (backward accountability) who make their employees life a living hell. In this blog I am sharing with your some of the advise I have given my clients, whose managers created such conditions for them, despite their diligent work and above-average work performance. In most cases this advice has worked and has resulted in their boss changing their attitude towards the employee (if not for all their direct reports). In a couple of the cases two managers have even got fired. Here is a partial list:
- If your manager suddenly surprises you with a poor performance review despite your previous reviews being above average—even stellar—do not just jump to the conclusion that you are remiss. Without getting emotional when the news is given to you (and, this is the tough part) listen to the boss and walk away with a promise to return for a follow-up meeting.
- Prepare yourself for the follow-up meeting with factual data about your performance, assignments, any kudos from others, and what may have caused you to miss your targets. Have this material logically organized with supporting emails, and other evidence such as notes of your ongoing meetings with your boss.
- In the follow-up meeting lay out the evidence for your case and ask the boss why she waited until the review time to surprise you despite your regularly scheduled status meetings, which gave you no indication of any trouble.
- Ask your boss how she sees her role as a leader to ensure that you are providing the right support in her team and that you are on track while doing it. If you have the fortitude to directly confront your boss, ask: As my leader don’t you think that it is odd that I am hearing this for the first time without even a hint of it throughout the year? You can further say that you find this singularly peculiar and troubling.
- If the boss refuses to hear your side. Then prepare a written rebuttal to your performance gaps—or complaint—and clearly communicate that you consider this as a leadership failure on the boss’ part and that you want this remedied. Also state that you are willing to follow her guidance to make things right from your side.
This same approach applies in other cases where your boss jumps on you with “you screwed up” surprise. Without getting into a reaction that can quickly escalate into an argument and a shouting match, calm down and walk away with a request for a later meeting. Here, again, you can lay out your case and place some burden of the responsibility on your manager. Although you may not win, if the manager has a pattern of such arbitrary and abusive behavior, then if enough employees react in this manner the manager’s behavior is likely to get noticed by the appropriate people for some corrective action. In a couple of the cases with my clients, as mentioned before, two managers got fired in about a year of initiating such a course of action.
When a manager comes down hard on you the normal reaction is to accept the blame and find reasons why this may have happened and work even harder. In most cases the manager, as your leader, shares equal blame. Holding them accountable can change the dynamic of your relationship with them.
Good luck!