My boss refuses to talk to subordinates

Bad boss behavior. Also, 7 other things worth knowing today

May 03, 2022

Big news out of DC last night, specifically the U.S. Supreme Court. I’ll address what we know in the “7 other things” section. First, our regularly scheduled (meaning I’d put it together by about 9:30 p.m. Monday) newsletter…

Bad boss behavior

They say people don't quit bad jobs. They quit bad bosses.

So here's an exercise. Think about the worst boss you've ever known. Research suggests it's likely this boss had one bad habit that made you dislike working for him or her.

Frankly, it's one that people might not think of on their own.

Actually, I have two studies to discuss today, both asking the same question:

What are the "bad boss behaviors" that employees hate most, and that might encourage them to quit?

We’ll start with the one from Harris Interactive a few years back, where they asked employees to disclose the things their bosses did that drove them crazy.

They came up with nine examples:

“My boss doesn't recognize employee achievements.” (63 percent)
“My boss doesn't give clear directions.” (57 percent)
“My boss doesn't take time to meet with employees.” (52 percent)
“My boss refuses to talk to subordinates.” (51 percent)
“My boss takes credit for others' ideas.” (47 percent)
“My boss doesn't offer constructive criticism.” (39 percent)
“My boss doesn't know my name.” (36 percent)
“My boss won't talk on the phone (or in person).” (34 percent)
My boss doesn't ask about my life outside of work.” (23 percent)

Wait, more than half said their bossed refused to talk to subordinates?

How do you even—OK. Moving on.

What I found most interesting was to juxtapose this study with another one that said it found a "worse behavior" that the employees themselves were not able to see—one that became apparent only when independent observers looked at their situations and realized what was going on.

It was this:

“My boss is inconsistent.”

Employees suffered a greater negative effect on their happiness and productivity when their boss inconsistently displayed bad behavior than when the boss was consistently bad.

"Intuitively, you would think the more fairness you get, the better. But that's not what we demonstrated. It's better if supervisors are a consistent jerk than if they're fair sometimes and not fair other times. People want to know what they can expect when they come into work," the lead researcher on the study out of Michigan State University, Fadel Matta, told The Washington Post.

These Michigan researchers conducted two experiments.

The first was a lab experiment, in which college students were hooked up to heart monitors and told to perform a cognitive task (estimating a hypothetical company's stock price).

One third of the students were given positive feedback.
A second third was told that they were doing poorly. (I found the examples of negative phrases amusing: "All I can say is that I wish I was working with someone else," and "It sucks to work with an unmotivated person.")
The final third heard a mix of the two—some positive reinforcement, combined with negative feedback.

The employees who received positive feedback did best, but it wasn't the ones who received negative feedback who did worst—it was instead the ones who got the mixed messages.

Separately, about 100 workers and their bosses were asked to complete surveys over a three-week period. The employees were being tested for their perception of fairness while bosses were being tested for their ability to maintain self control:

"Again, employees who had unpredictable managers were more likely to be stressed, dissatisfied with their jobs and emotionally exhausted than those who said they were always treated unfairly."

What do you think? Is inconsistency really the hidden cardinal sin of leadership and management? Or is there something else we haven’t included here? Let us know in the comments.

Understandably by Bill Murphy Jr.

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