How to Tell the Right People Your Boss is a Jerk

How to Tell the Right People Your Boss is a Jerk | Champion Tempting, isn’t it?

Satisfying? Could be.

Do many deserve it? Yes. And no. Being a Boss or Manager is NOT easy. And most receive NO or very little training or coaching in how to be a good one.

75% of all “quits” today have something to do with leaving a Boss, not the company.

So, when do you tell someone about a Bad Boss? After you leave? The day you leave? Weeks BEFORE you leave? Not at all?

Here is what to do, if you are looking for a solution, or you want to be considered an exemplary employee (especially if you ARE going to leave, eventually, and want a good reference):

1) Make sure you are darn good at what you do, or getting there. Perhaps any negative comments from the Bad Boss have to do with your behavior or results. If your output or behavior is lacking, some of the sandpaper between you and your Bad Boss is he/she simply wearing thin about you.

2) Write down the actual incidents where the Boss is being Bad. What happened? What started it? How did it come across? Do you have other people who can support this? Will they? How do they feel? Avoid “He’s being a jerk” and leaving it at that. (How, when, why?)

3) One incident is probably not enough to affect a change in Bosses. Everyone gets a pass, especially someone who has been there longer than you have.

4) Make sure your complaint/ observation cannot just be boiled down to “he’s a jerk”. The person you are telling this to wasn’t there, and may never see this in the Bad Boss.

5) Practice making your complaint OBJECTIVE, not personal, even though YOU may think it is highly personal.

6) Think about and offer a “workable solution” where all three parties win: You, The Bad Boss, the organization. “Get rid of him, he’s a jerk” isn’t enough.

7) Have you tried to talk directly to the Bad Boss? Tactfully? Sometimes he/she has things going that are affecting their better nature, you have no knowledge of.

8) Talk to someone wiser than you, before you make your case to someone. A senior staff person, your Recruiter, a Mentor. They may give you advice. They may tell you to shut up and just leave. If you do, give 1-2 weeks notice. Don’t just walk out.

9) NEVER create a scene on the job. That incident will follow you. Now you are unemployed. And now that scene could follow you in your interviews.

Want more insight? Have a tough one on your hands? Call 216-823-5900. Ask for Toni Stewart or any of our staff Recruiters, and even if we did not place you at your current job, they will guide you through the tough stuff.

Champion Personnel System. A Better Job. A Better Life ®.

5 North East Ohio offices. Established 1964. Probably way before you were born.

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