Not many employees can shout from the rooftops that they love their boss but many of us get along with our managers or, at very least, can tolerate them during the working day. Sadly, for some, a controlling boss makes employment an uncomfortable experience.
Within the ‘controlling boss’ division is the micromanaging boss – probably the most damaging in the workplace. Countless surveys reveal how detrimental this style is. When researching for his book on how to quit a job, author Sam Dogen discovered roughly 70% of workers he questioned said the main reason they wanted to leave or did leave their jobs was because of a difficult boss who was either unfair, unpleasant, uninspiring or a micromanager.
It’s an anecdotal statistic backed up by a Trinity Solutions survey published in Harry E. Chambers’ book My Way or the Highway: The Micromanagement Survival Guide, which found 85% of respondents said their morale was impacted negatively by being micromanaged. Furthermore, an Accountemps survey found 68% of those polled said micromanagement decreased their morale and 55% said it hurt their productivity.
Micromanagement is stifling, characterised by a boss who sends excessive emails; hovers over workers’ desks; attempts to control every aspect of day-to-day work and addresses minor problems that really aren’t of importance, down to small details such as font size.
If you love your job but not your boss, there are coping mechanisms and strategies you can employ to make the nine to five more bearable. Here are Bond Williams’ top 10 ways to improve the relationship with a controlling boss – all designed to shift the power balance:-
Bond Williams is happy to give candidates advice about employment, so please get in touch if you have a recruitment or retention issue.
Suzanne leads a team dealing with temporary jobs. Having started her recruitment career in 2005, she has over a decade of recruitment experience. Suzanne works across all of the agency’s core industries on temporary, contract and interim roles. She places a big emphasis on delivery and accountability and never gives …