Building a Better Boss

As chief talent officer at Mastercard for five years, Deacon gathered anonymous employee feedback about supervisors in annual surveys. While the risk of false positives or negatives is high, Deacon says, “it signals loud and clear that how someone is managing people is important.”

Great managers understand the impact they have on their team members’ work environment.

“Good managers consciously and deliberately choose to create an environment for the team where good things happen,” Deacon says. “A great manager will figure out what each individual can and should contribute, and what the collective ambition should be, and will be very clear on what that looks like.”

The best managers are constantly asking: How do they need my help? How can I help them grow? By encouraging their employees’ growth, they give them something to work for—and create a more productive team as a result, he says.

In addition to more and better training, some companies are using technology to provide new managers with extra support. For example, research shows that people tend to think about quitting after their birthday or when it’s been a while since they last took a vacation. 

“We’ve started seeing companies use technology to nudge a manager around when these important events are occurring,” Kropp says. “These are the times you should check in with employees to see if they’re at an elevated risk.” 

Raising Self-Awareness

Good managers don’t shout, bully, belittle or play favorites. But poor managers might not realize that these behaviors are counterproductive. 

“Most bad managers think they’re doing a fine job,” Kropp says. “They generally lack self-awareness. In those situations, trying to convince someone that they’re doing a bad job is rarely successful. They have to come to their own self-realization.” 

HR professionals can guide those conversations with managers to help them realize that there are better ways to achieve their goals. 

Here are some common types of problematic managers and advice for helping them improve, according to management experts:

Micromanagers. Employees say micromanagers are the worst type of boss, according to a 2018 Comparably survey of 2,248 respondents, primarily in the tech sector. Their constant second-guessing and smothering behavior frequently stems from their own insecurity, says Joan Caruso, managing director of The Ayers Group in New York City, which provides executive coaching.

They can change if they can learn what’s causing their insecurity. Often, it’s fear.

“There are managers, men and women, who have imposter syndrome,” Caruso says. They think if they let something slip, others will find out they’re not worthy of their position.

Caruso once coached an executive who was a control freak. She learned that he had survived a plane crash when he was young. As a result, “he never wanted to give up control,” she says. “What we try to do as a coach is help them unpack that.” 

She uses role-playing exercises to help micromanagers learn to delegate more tasks to team members. The exercises might also give them the ability to understand how their actions can be demoralizing for subordinates. She tries to help them realize that they’re empowering others when they let them make decisions. 

‘We put them in charge of other people, and someone teaches them to do a little extra paperwork, but nobody actually teaches them to do the people work.’
Bruce Tulgan

Neglectful managers. The opposite of micromanagers, these managers don’t provide their direct reports with the guidance, support and coaching they need. Tulgan argues that there’s an “undermanagement epidemic” going on in the workplace right now. 

Without adequate training, most new managers won’t spend quality time with their individual team members. They say they’re too busy. Or they think they’re communicating because they e-mail them or see them in meetings.

“What happens is managers lull themselves into a false sense of security,” Tulgan says. “They think they’re keeping track. But problems hide below the radar, and then they blow up.” 

Then, everyone’s scrambling to put out fires, leaving little time for quality one-on-one conversations with employees. The team is caught in a vicious cycle of undermanagement.

Todd Saffell, HR manager at Rueter’s, a 130-employee construction and agricultural equipment distributor based in Des Moines, Iowa, says he recently had two technicians quit after just six months with the company because their manager failed to provide a consistent workflow. They would finish one job, for example, and then wait hours for their next assignment.

“We worked with that service manager as well as others to develop long-term plans so the employees can see the workflow,” including what their next job will be, Saffell says.

As a result, workers are able to plan ahead better. “If you know it’s getting close to planting season, you’re less likely to take a day off because you understand the direct impact on that customer,” he says.

Bully bosses. They rule through fear and intimidation and leave workers cowering in their wake. Caruso gets their attention by asking: “Could you behave differently if your job depended on it?” Then she tries to determine if they bully everyone or just those they supervise. 

Usually, bullies will behave quite differently around those who outrank them. She considers that a positive sign. It means they’re aware of their behavior and can control it when it’s beneficial.

“For some, all they need to hear is that they’re never going to be promoted again if they don’t stop,” she says. But it can take a long time to break bad habits and even longer for those around them to believe that they’re truly reformed.

Caruso helps bully bosses identify their triggers and teaches them how to avoid or respond to those triggers. (They can agree, shut up or walk away.) Sometimes, she’ll even write scripts for them. She teaches them to ask questions before they react, such as “Can you help me understand the situation?” 

However, she admits, coaching doesn’t always work. 

“I can’t make them change,” she says. “The company can’t make them change. If they won’t, I have to go back to the CEO and say, ‘You have to create consequences.’ ”

Beyond the potential legal risk of creating a hostile work environment, bully bosses can damage an organization’s reputation. When employees quit, they might record their complaints on employer-review websites such as Glassdoor. Sometimes they’ll even name the offending manager. HR professionals can show such comments to the bully boss and explain that these reports could limit their future career opportunities, she says.

In some cases, faster action is required.

“If their behavior has heightened to the level that they’re scaring employees, I honestly don’t think they have a place in the workplace,” says Skye Mercer, SHRM-SCP, an HR consultant based in Iowa City, Iowa. 

Slamming doors and cursing at subordinates are unacceptable, period. Mercer says she would refer a manager exhibiting such behavior to the employee assistance program for an anger management class.

‘I can’t make [bully bosses] change. The company can’t make them change. If they won’t, I have to go back to the CEO and say, “You have to create consequences.” ’
Joan Caruso

Divisive bosses. These managers play favorites, pit team members against one another and hoard information as power. 

“Bad managers divide and conquer,” Deacon says. “They like individuals to feel they’re at a disadvantage.”

But team members acting collectively can push for change. HR professionals should take these complaints seriously and search for data, such as engagement scores and turnover rates, to demonstrate a business reason to compel better behavior, he says. 

When working with divisive managers, Caruso will often suggest simple behavior changes to get the ball rolling. If a 360-degree feedback survey shows employees don’t feel appreciated, she will help the manager pick small things to thank employees for that week. She’ll ask the manager to record his actions and staff reactions in a journal to help him be more conscious of the encounters. And they’ll discuss the actions in their biweekly meetings. 

Helping problem managers improve can seem like a lot of effort. Business leaders might think it’s not worth the cost. But those leaders might change their minds if HR helps them understand the price of allowing bad managers to continue mistreating their teams.

“People leave bosses, even if they’re in good jobs,” Caruso says. “And they stay because of good bosses.”  

Dori Meinert is senior writer/editor for HR Magazine.

Lego sculpture by Nathan Sawaya.