Dear seniors,

Gretings of d day.

Let me quickly brief you abot d situation which i am facing.
I started working in an organisation as an hr executive two years back. When i joined there was an admin officer whom i was reporting. But within two months of my joining the entire management team got changed even my reporting admin officer also left. Then entire hr responsibility came on me. But the previous management had no system n no proper docimentation for anything. It was really difficult to understand and deliver d tasks with very less or no information. Somehow was able to manage. But our new head of the management used to ask proof for everything which we did not had at all. N he started shouting n scolding. Whenever u go to him he tells something negative about our work n tries to find d faults only. N appreciation word is not ther in his dictionary. N he talks very loosely to all of us. He has started behaving as he is ultimate he is great n we all r fools. N this every day torture is putting my confidence n morale down. Because of all this m ending up doing more mistakes which i know is not acceptable. I m not getting how to tackle this situation without hurting anybodys ego.

Desperately waiting for the advices...

Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Pooja

From India, Bangalore
Dear Pooja,
Handling tough bosses is a part of life.
We all go thorough it at some time or other.
As Stephen Covey put it, evaluate your options
and try to be proactive.
The general approach is 'don't take it to heart'.
Ignore as you would treat a barking dog.
All of us should examine the FREEDOM TO CHOOSE
- to quote Stephen Covey again..
Many articles have appeared on the topic of tough bosses in Cite HR.
Please browse them and see how you can get benefitted by them.
V.Raghunathan

From India
nathrao
3131

You had worked two years what was done to streamline work?
Now you will have to be tactful and proactive.
try and move things as far as possible in proactive manner.
But do not get disheartened by difficult boss.
Unfortunately as there are problematic subordinates,there are problematic bosses.
Dealing with such a boss gets you good deal of knowledge and tact.
Ignore barbs and criticism and try to be as professional as possible.
Keep documenting your work and keep him in the loop.
Do not worry too much about hurting some people's ego.
Avoid it as far as you can,but where necessary to tell the truth or bring out facts,do not worry about egos,but be sure of the accuracy of your work.
Many bosses have fragile egos and feel they are the ultimate.
But then you have to learn to tackle such people.
Take time and avoid mistakes.
Do not let him break your confidence and produce results.
Boss will change or at the end fit if things do not change,look out for alternative jobs.

From India, Pune
Dear Seniors,

Thank you very much for your moral support.

I want to quote one more thing here, i am working in Dubai and the head office is in India. We have seek approval for everything even if its increment or fitment or promotion or separation. From past two years we were able to set some proper procedures and standards in recruitment. Streamlined payroll procedures, introduced some employee benefit programmes and appraisal system. Also prepared policies and asked for circulation, but the response was so bad from him and said we have already policies prepared by some external consultant which is sent for approval and all. But till date nothing has come to us. Even if we want to send some simple circular, he will not accept easily. Also in between day to day activities i hardly get time to think of anything. After doing everything he is unsatisfied...

We are not at all clear what exactly he is expecting from us. Some of the formats and procedures which we are following now are told by him only, but sometimes he says what you are doing is all wrong. painful

Regards,

Pooja

From India, Bangalore
Interesting,

You joined the company 2 years ago.

Your management changes after 2 months.

Meaning you had 20 months to get things right.

Even after 1 1/2 years, you do not have a system of doing work, your documentation is not in place, you do not have proof of things you have done. And you are making mistakes all the time. On top of every thing, you are an expat and therefore a high cost resource (probably requiring perks like housing, etc). And you expect the manager to be happy and pat you on the back. It's unlikely to happen.

We don't know your position, qualification or experience prior to this. So we don't know whether you should have known what you are asked to do, but it appears your boss thinks these are things you are supposed to know.

You need to evaluate whether you are fit and capable of doing this job. If your knowledge and experience is inadequate to domthemwork, then you should be looking for another job which you can do and learn your way up, perhaps a job that has a senior who will guide and train you. The other option is to take time off and go for a training at will give you the required skill set.

From India, Mumbai
Dear Pooja,

Other senior members have given their views. Since I also hold similar views, these do not merit reiteration. Now I would like to look at the other side.

Your first post is written in informal language. Should we construe your post as informal attitude itself? Now in contrast, if your boss is methodical or fastidious, then your personalities are contrasting to each other.

From your both the posts, if we read between the lines, we find lack of managerial grace in your boss. However, at this stage, you may recollect on what occasions your boss had scolded you. Make a list of such instances and find out whether any pattern emerges. Make two lists, one for you and one for others. When you document his behaviour, you should be able to understand his psychology.

Your problem is that you should have worked under experienced HR Manager. Hardly you joined and the Admin Managers, to whom you were reporting also left. Therefore, mantle of change fell on your shoulders. But then you were not prepared to shoulder this responsibility.

When a person works in a very organised company, when he/she leaves that job, he/she tries to replicate good practices of his/her past company. Your problem is your lack of exposure. This is also one of the factors that is putting you on the spot.

Lastly, you are little vague when you say "there were no systems and procedures" when you joined. But then what change did you bring in? Did you try to showcase it to your boss?

If the work atmosphere is too frustrating then you may look for a change. However, in your next job make sure that you have someone to guide you.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar


From India, Bangalore
nathrao
3131

One thing is clear.
Boss is difficult.
But employee also has shown gaps in performance.
Employee must first focus on what she can control-performance,improved knowledge and putting things right in her sphere of activity.
Probably boss seeing state of things is probably venting his unhappiness.
If things improve he may also become more congenial.
Focus on what change you can bring in your work,
Boss lacks grace possibly but even difficult bosses can change for the better when positive results flow.

From India, Pune
Pooja, u r member since 2007. u sd have been expert by now.
The only dictum," Boss is always right." If u do not agree to it yr future in careergraph is bleak.
Now for tackling the issue, when ever u r putting a note for any case, you should specific about the past records and mention clearly such records are not available. This is for your safety. Then ask your boss for a sitting and tell him that u require some guidance as to how to update record. take a specific file and seek his advice. He will bluff as he knows nothing. But do appreciate as how helpful he is. Assure him that u will be updating the past records gradually. tell him directly that u consider him as yr mentor and it becomes stressful for u if rebuked incessantly.
But always be polite and never blame anybody.
Things will change.
All the best.

From India, Ahmedabad
" Boss is always right." This is misspelt dictum; dissent is the essence of management..
From India, Kochi
nathrao
3131

PVenu,
Dissent is the essence of management is a truism but in practical life,those who dissent are sidelined.
Reason for dissent is never analysed by the bosses.
Some bosses teat dissent as an indicator that employee wants to leave the job and not as an indication about employee engagement to the job.
My way or the highway is a style practised by many managers.

From India, Pune
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