Article “5 Types of Bad Bosses” By Dori Meinert. The article appeared in the August 2014 issue of HR Magazine pp. 26-32.
Overview of the Article
This article explains five different kinds of bad bosses, and recommends solutions of how to deal with those bad bosses.
The first type of boss the author discusses is the “bully boss”. They are the classic type of boss in the workforce. This manager is the one who yells at employees in front of co-workers and customers, tries to intimidate in various ways, slams their fist on the desk/wall, and so on. The potential solution to this type of boss is to recommend special skills training, evaluations done by their employees, or eventually let them go if the problems do not resolve.
Next is the “micromanager boss” personality. This is the boss who stands over shoulders watching every move, making sure employees are doing precisely the correct thing the way he or she would do the job. The quick fix to this type of manager is to make suggestions to back off the employees to give them some breathing room and room to grow. Insist that they can’t be the employee’s babysitter, or provide even simple exercises like role-playing.
The third example is the “workaholic boss”. This boss is the one who insists on working 24/7, sending out e-mails at all hours of the night and expecting their employees to also be up late at night to reply back immediately. The possible solution to the workaholic boss is for the human resources department to have a discussion with the manager to see what is going on to help alleviate some of their workload if necessary, or just remind them of the rules, even showing evidence to them of how much the turnover rate has increased due to this type of leadership behavior.
Next, we have what is the total opposite of a workaholic boss, which is the “by-the-numbers boss”. They would most likely be classified as a bean counter or dweeb. This individual works better with numbers than they do with human interaction. To try and solve this problem, human resources could seek outside assistance from a mentor/consultant to help the manager learn some additional communications skills, or even recommend sending them to a program for help on how to interact with their employees.
Lastly, the fifth bad boss the author discusses is the “divisive boss”, who are the ones who play favorites and has their own little clique prior to getting a managerial position. The solution to this boss