Bosses - A National Problem?

CosmicCrusader

Ok, I'm 17, living in Dublin and 6 months ago I got my first job. The place in which I work has several managers who take care of different areas. When I was starting all the managers were deligted to take me on board as they were deligted with the work experience I had done for them the previous year. However, once I started paid employment, one manager in particular (the owner of the establishment) has become a real pr1ck!
He treats his staff like property and the way he speaks to them is well out of line! He was lovely to me at first, especially when I was doing my work experience (i.e. working for free). He often pulls me up on the silliest and most trivial of things that only he seems to have a problem with. Everyone else is delighted with the work I've done. And the way he speaks to me is so disrespectful, cursing at me often! It's not just me thogh, he speaks like that to all of us, but unfortunately there's really nothing that those of us who want a job can say. I love my job, and I love working, but putting up with him is definitely ruining it fo rme.

So basically, I want to know if this is a rare problem or if anyone else has problems in work that are solely down to your boss' attitude. (I'm not talking about your boss disliking you if you slack of or are always late, etc. That's a different thing all together. I'm talking about a problem with his/ her attitude?)

N.B: Be careful about giving details and what you say, this is a very popular site, that's why I haven't named my work place or given any worthwhile details.

tenchi-fan

Bosses can be like that, especially owner-managers and those with little formal education. I'm lucky enough in my current job all the mangers are qualified accountants and actuaries.

To cover yourself you should write down each and every instance of when the boss swears at you (making notes of the swear words he uses) - personally, I never bothered and a couple of times (in ridiculous jobs I was overqualified for, and my manager dragged me in front of HR unfairly) I wished I had a list of all the times they accused me of something in the wrong. For example, my idiot manager in one multinational mobile phone company wrote on a spreadsheet "0.3 hours" instead of "0.5 hours" and then pulled me up on it, claiming I did nothing because she was off. Straight off I pointed out she filled out the spreadsheet wrong and that 0.3 hours was 18 minutes, and not half an hour. I should have reported her to HR immediately for the way she spoke to me. Silly things like this were a regular occurrence.

Having said that, you also need to learn to play the game. Just keep on the right side of these stupid people and it won't matter if you're good at your job or bad at it, once your boss is happy you'll have an easy time.

CosmicCrusader

tenchi-fan wrote: »

Bosses can be like that, especially owner-managers and those with little formal education. I'm lucky enough in my current job all the mangers are qualified accountants and actuaries.

To cover yourself you should write down each and every instance of when the boss swears at you (making notes of the swear words he uses) - personally, I never bothered and a couple of times (in ridiculous jobs I was overqualified for, and my manager dragged me in front of HR unfairly) I wished I had a list of all the times they accused me of something in the wrong. For example, my idiot manager in one multinational mobile phone company wrote on a spreadsheet "0.3 hours" instead of "0.5 hours" and then pulled me up on it, claiming I did nothing because she was off. Straight off I pointed out she filled out the spreadsheet wrong and that 0.3 hours was 18 minutes, and not half an hour. I should have reported her to HR immediately for the way she spoke to me. Silly things like this were a regular occurrence.

Having said that, you also need to learn to play the game. Just keep on the right side of these stupid people and it won't matter if you're good at your job or bad at it, once your boss is happy you'll have an easy time.

Unfortunately, due to where I work we have no HR deparment and we're not unionised. However, that thing you said about recording when he curses at me is a great idea. Thank you, that might come in very handy some day.
You're right about playing the game, however with this guy it's almost impossible. He ALWAYS has something to complain about. And he's just plain rude! Like, if I was asked to do something by one of the lower managers, despite the fact that it's my job to do it, they will always say please and thank you. It's human nature! But him! He orders you around like a dog! . . . I just smile and be as polite as I can, I'm the part-times lackie after all, but I don't see how he can find anything wrong with what I'm doing or why he seems to enjoy hassling me (I can see it on his face sometimes that he relishes it!).
He lacks any understanding of how hard it is to actually work there when it's busy. I've often seen him giving out to other employees because this and that hasn't been done yet, even though they're busy with like 10 other things!

tenchi-fan

tenchi-fan wrote: »

Bosses can be like that, especially owner-managers and those with little formal education. I'm lucky enough in my current job all the mangers are qualified accountants and actuaries.
.

and sometimes those with too much education and little common sense

CosmicCrusader

Deleted User wrote: »

and sometimes those with too much education and little common sense

Well i severelt doubt education comes into the equation with my boss, it's the size of his wallet not his brain that's got him where he is!

wonton

i'd say nearly everyone reading this will think "hmmm.....this sounds like my boss"

which is what i just thought to myself, and still think it.

is there two owners in the place you work?

CosmicCrusader

wonton wrote: »

i'd say nearly everyone reading this will think "hmmm.....this sounds like my boss"

which is what i just thought to myself, and still think it.

is there two owners in the place you work?

As far as I know it's just him.
I love my job, but knowing that I'll have to put up with him and constantly checking over my shoulder to make sure he's not judging me is really ruining it on me. I actually dread going into work becaus eof him.

wonton

CosmicCrusader wrote: »

As far as I know it's just him.
I love my job, but knowing that I'll have to put up with him and constantly checking over my shoulder to make sure he's not judging me is really ruining it on me. I actually dread going into work becaus eof him.

ive been in that position before and it was so bad i actually changed my shifts to hours were he wasnt in.

CosmicCrusader

CosmicCrusader wrote: »

As far as I know it's just him.
I love my job, but knowing that I'll have to put up with him and constantly checking over my shoulder to make sure he's not judging me is really ruining it on me. I actually dread going into work becaus eof him.

I sympathize with you. Look your a young kid and i admire you for going out into the work place at such a young age. The world is your oyster! i mean do you really want to give the best years of your life working for this lump head? look into getting a skill set even if its on a part time basis and keep your options open. its an employers market now and i hate to say it but they are going to push peoples mental strength to the limits. get skills and certificates and when the time is right tell him, "F*ck You asshole!!!"

EDIT: i dont mean that literally

CosmicCrusader

Deleted User wrote: »

I sympathize with you. Look your a young kid and i admire you for going out into the work place at such a young age. The world is your oyster! i mean do you really want to give the best years of your life working for this lump head? look into getting a skill set even if its on a part time basis and keep your options open. its an employers market now and i hate to say it but they are going to push peoples mental strength to the limits. get skills and certificates and when the time is right tell him, "F*ck You asshole!!!"

EDIT: i dont mean that literally

Thanks mate Yeah I plan to go to college and get a theoretical physics degree (fingers crossed I get the points) so I'm hoping that will lead me to a job I'll love. This is strictly part-time, just a bit of pocket money while I'm in school, and maybe get me through college (That's if I don't find a better job in between).

messymess

Welcome to the next 40-50yrs of your life .... this is largely why its going to be ****

Look at it this way, even if the owner is a good business man/women, things are tough right now. Looking at money coming in/out of a business at the moment is enough to put anyone on the edge, particularly where mortgages and children are concerned.

Aside from that many senior people you'll encounter in your working career will at some stage be ***** to you. Some are natural at it and some will be sporadic. Personally I prefer people who are full time ***** as you don't have to spend as much time working them out. I'm in my mid 30's and with a lot of experience under my belt and have been subject to the same treatment at various stages throughout my working career and fully intend to be for the rest of it. It's a fact of life I'm afraid. I even got thrown out of a meeting by the MD of a well known Irish retailer at one point, right after getting a mouth full of a abuse from her .... purely because she felt like it.

The best advice I can give you is this

1) Don't take it personally, seriously, if its not you it'll be someone else.
2) If someone is giving you grief, make sure it is for a perfectly valid reason, and if it is learn from it.
3) Keep your body language and your voice confident, as much as you can. This makes a HUGE difference in how people will relate/interact with you. If you appear to be cannon fodder, you will be treated like such.
4) If someone has said something out of line to you or been verbally abusive to you, pull them off side and tell them that this is not acceptable. Quite often they will apologise immediately.

Also, don't forget that there are (employment) laws to protect you if needs be and at your age walking from a job is an incredibly liberating experience

Irish_Nomad

Your position is that the owner is being unreasonable. You say his criticisms are silly and trivial but you haven't given any specific examples to allow people here to make their own judgment.

It certainly seems as if the owner is expressing his criticisms inappropriately but that doesn't mean that the criticism itself is unjustified. He must have been satisfied with you during your work experience since you were offered a job later. But now you have been trained to do the job and have 6 months experience so your performance should be at a higher level.

Obviously he is unhappy about something. The fact that you dismiss his complaints suggests to me that you don't change your behavior and that could be leading to frustration on his part and causing him to express them in more unreasonable terms. But I as said earlier you haven't given us enough information to judge.

You also didn't say whether the owner is your line manager. If he isn't you should talk to your line manager and find out whether he/she agrees with the criticisms.

Irish_Nomad

Your line manager is typically the person you report to, who gives you your work assignments, and who conducts your performance reviews.

Given your example I wouldn't call his criticism silly but since you don't want to discuss your situation I'll leave it there.

CosmicCrusader

Irish_Nomad wrote: »

Given your example I wouldn't call his criticism silly but since you don't want to discuss your situation I'll leave it there.

Ok, I see what you mean, but you're kind of missing my point here. It's not criticism that I find irritating (although there are better examples I can't give you), I misheard and he corrected me, I get that. However, what I mean is that it was an easy mistake to make and was not worth losing the head over and it certainly didn't warrant the language he used. Had that been anyone they would have just told me politely and realised it was a case misinterpretation. I'm a good worker, I do my best and I work hard, I can take correction, just preferably with a few less f-words.
That's pretty much all I'll say now with regards to my situation because I really don't feel like b1tching about him, I just want to know if there are many other people with similar problems.

jiltloop

I would never let any manager curse at me, particularly using the f word. That's completely unacceptable. Everyone gets a bollocking every now and then or a lecture but as soon as there is any kinda cursing involved that's verbal abuse in my book. I would tell him that you will not be spoken to in that way. Tell him you'll take any criticisms on board but that you won't take anymore verbal abuse. The worst that can happen is he sacks you in which case you may have grounds for unfair dismissal, if not then at least its just a part time job.

Da GOAT

well you are just 17 years old.

looksee

Can you try and maintain a sense that he is not that important. Of course he is in the sense that he is your boss and gives you instruction (and grief), but at a personal level you don't have to like him, and you are doing your job for payment, not praise.

You are young, and even in the most civilised workplace there is always someone who is rude, or offhand, or you do not like for whatever reason. This is part of your life training, dealing with him. Just be grateful that you are learning on a part time job that you don't have to contemplate spending the next good few years at.

As the others have said, remain polite, courteous and don't allow yourself to be rattled by him. Certainly don't show him that he is getting to you. Hang in there, its a job, you have joined the adult world, try to learn positively from it rather than letting it get you down.

K4t

Try walking into a kitchen on your first day of work and hearing the chef suddenly roar at you to get the **** out and call you every name under the sun.:D It's all part of the learning experience. You just have to ride it through and come out the other side a stronger person for it.

I'm in a job at the moment where everyone is udner a lot of stress and always under time constraints. It can get fiery at times but I just embrace it and keep my head down and work harder. Managers and co-workers respect hard-workers and someone who will take orders without complaint and carry them out to the best of their ability. Keep doing this and eventually he'll stop having a go at you. Hopefully..