Have anyone you can thank on boss' day?
Thursday, October 16, 2008THE ISSUE: Changing workplace, changing bosses
OUR OPINION: Struggling economy likely to breed worse supervisors
When Patricia Bays Haroski registered “National Boss’s Day” with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in 1958, she wasn’t playing a practical joke, or even sucking up.
She was working as her father’s secretary in a State Farm Insurance office in Deerfield, Ill.
Haroski wanted to let her father know she appreciated his willingness to always go the extra mile and provide the attention and support his employees needed, even when a host of other priorities competed for his attention. Haroski chose her father’s birthday, Oct. 16, for the holiday because she believed a great boss should be celebrated with the same positive regard and enthusiasm typically reserved for his or her birthday.
Let’s hope the previous paragraph isn’t read by too many people at once, otherwise the collective roll of eyes might tilt the Earth off its axis. Most Americans just don’t have much to celebrate on National Boss’s Day. According to a recent study published in Human Resource Executive magazine, a third of U.S. workers spend a minimum of 20 hours per month in the office complaining about their boss.
A Gallup Poll estimates U.S. corporations lose $360 annually due to lost productivity from employees who are dissatisfied with their boss. And if there’s but one hard truth the Gallup Polls have taught U.S. corporations in the last decade, it’s that people may join companies, but they will leave bosses.
In the days of a strong dollar, bulging tech bubble and robust housing market, people working for a bad boss had options. Careers were mobile and talent was in short supply. It was a snap to pack up and leave. But nowadays, things are decidedly different. Jobs are scarce and workers are staying put, even those stuck under what TalentSmart President Dr. Travis Bradberry calls “seagull bosses.”
Instead of taking the time to get the facts straight and work alongside their staff to realize a viable solution, these managers swoop in at the last minute, fuss at everybody and deposit piles of formulaic advice before abruptly taking off and leaving behind an even bigger mess than when they started. They interact with their employees only when there’s a fire to put out. Even then, they move in and out so hastily — and put so little thought into their approach — that they make bad situations worse by frustrating and alienating those who need them the most.
Today, seagull managers are breeding like wildfire, Bradberry says. As companies flatten in response to the struggling economy, they are gutting management layers and leaving behind managers with more autonomy, greater responsibility and more people to manage. That means they have less time and less accountability for managing people. It’s easy to spot a seagull manager when you’re on the receiving end of the airborne dumps, but the manager doing the swooping, squawking and dumping is often unaware of the negative impact of his or her behavior.
If “seagull manager” doesn’t describe your boss, you are one of the lucky ones who actually has something to celebrate on Boss’s Day. If you are working for a seagull manager, perhaps a copy of this editorial and more information about Bradberry and his insight could find its way onto his or her desk.
Bradberry’s new book, “Squawk! How to Stop Making Noise and Start Getting Results,” addresses the problem of seagull managers in the workplace and is published by HarperCollins. www.TalentSmart.com
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