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Can Employees and Their Bosses Really Get Along?
In honor of National Boss Day, employees and their bosses open up about life in the workplace -- the good, the bad and the ugly.
Posted 10/ 14 10 at 5:00 PM | Business Trends, Management, Leadership
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My first boss spoiled me. He was smart, nurturing and challenged me to venture out of my comfort zone. Then he was promoted and replaced by someone who was so awful that years later I got a letter from him apologizing for what a jerk he had been.My guess is that most bosses would consider themselves good bosses -- some might even proclaim to be great. But is that just their opinion or would their employees agree? And what makes a great boss anyway?
In honor of National Boss Day on Oct. 16, HR solutions provider Adecco Staffing surveyed 1,000 U.S. employees and bosses to answer that question. Here's a look at what they said.
Dream on. Asked who they'd chose as their ideal boss, 37 percent chose Oprah Winfrey and 35 percent picked President Obama.
Nightmare boss. Who don't employees want to work for? At the bottom of the "boss list" were former American Idol judge Simon Cowell, with just 8 percent of the votes, and former BP CEO Tony Hayward, earning a mere 4 percent of the votes.
You're not the boss of me. Oh wait, you are. Most of us seek bosses who are true team players -- 88 percent of employees say a good boss is one who is willing to roll up his or her sleeves and get the job done. But while employees dream about bosses who are visionary coaches, offering clear goals for the future and giving them the motivation and tools to get there, many bosses are too, well, bossy.
Employees said their bosses are too "commanding" and tend to order them around. While just 15 percent of bosses saw themselves as "commanding," 23 percent of employees saw their bosses that way. And while 29 percent of bosses think they are great coaches, only 20 percent of employees agree.
Don't look back. Something may be gaining on you. Something that may not concern you as a business owner, but that's interesting nonetheless. While 30 percent of employees have absolutely no interest in replacing their boss, nearly half (45 percent) of Millennials hope to have their big job someday.
Confirm or ignore? Should bosses and employees be friends? Yes, just not on Facebook. Although 61 percent of employees think of their boss as a friend, 82 percent aren't connected with their boss on a social networking site like LinkedIn or Facebook. Of those employees who are connected, 32 percent wish they weren't -- and almost half (45 percent) have tweaked their privacy settings to hide parts of their profile from the boss. What are they hiding? Thirty-five percent don't want you to see their opinions (comments or posts), while 27 percent are hiding their photos and videos.
R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Ninety-one percent of employees say there is mutual respect between them and their bosses, and 86 percent of employees actually trust their bosses. However, a respect gap emerges as bosses get younger and employees get older. While 83 percent of employees say they could respect a boss who is five years younger, that number drops to 68 percent if the boss is 10 years younger, and to 56 percent if the boss is 20 years younger. Still, more than half (55 percent) of employees said no amount of age difference would keep them from respecting their bosses.
Stress cases. It's no surprise that 63 percent of bosses are more stressed today than they were three years ago, pre-recession. Nearly three-quarters (71 percent) of bosses who manage 11 or more people say they're more stressed now, compared to only 57 percent of bosses who manage 10 or fewer employees. In general, white-collar bosses are more stressed than blue-collar bosses (67 percent versus 59 percent).
Bonding moment. Whether you're a boss or an employee, the recession has forged new bonds. Seventy-eight percent of bosses in the survey say they feel closer to their teams than they did pre-recession, and 61 percent of employees agree. I'm not surprised -- it's long been known that being in combat together brings soldiers closer, and for most businesspeople, the past few years have been one heck of a battle.
Rieva Lesonsky is CEO of GrowBiz Media, a content and consulting company that helps entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses. Follow Rieva at Twitter.com/Rieva and visit SmallBizDaily.com to sign up for her free TrendCast reports.
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Comments (Page 1 of 1)
I absolutley adore my boss. She is someone I wish everyone could know. We are the same age so there's a good amount of friendly banter "talkin' about the kids in the office" and all in a friendly supportive way. One thing about my boss is that she has my back and all of the office workers know that PLUS we have hers. I'm in the best job I've ever had and Dr. Hopper (we work at a small university) respects, supports, and supervises each one of us as adults, not drones or drudges.
I had a boss that everytime I got near him in a skirt, he would try to stick his hand up it. I had to hand him everything over his desk.
Most bosses consider themselves "good" or even "great?" Sure, and I can consider myself to look like George Clooney -- doesn't make it true.
So there are no Democrat sociopaths? What a stupid association.
Only 10% of sociopaths actually kill a victim. The other 90% live amongst us disguising themselves as the friendly neighbor or community leader. I had one of these as a boss. A week after I told him I had breast cancer and that it would not impact my job (I would use earned vacation and sick leave to go to chemo and schedule all treatments either early in the a.m. or late in the day after work), HE FIRED ME. Yep, a good ole republican white male sociopath to the core. I have 17 years of examples of his abuse and terror; and even though everyone at work complemented me on my strength, I still ended up with PTSD.
As additional thought: the field which has the most sociopaths in it is education and these guys are the principles, administrators, etc. I am wondering if these toxic guys are the reason why education has so many problems. A study needs to be done.
If you think knowing something about your boss that could get him fired will keep your job,think again. Some will take the chance and get rid of you, knowing that basically you are a nice person and you won't blow his cover. It depends on your mental state when the ax falls. Are you vengeful?? I bet he doesn't sleep quite as sound at night though. Good, he deserves at least that.
I feel for you, I actually though I had friends at work, having worked there multiple number of years, and yet, only one or two even communicate with me now. I still am of the mind that they know that I know a lot of "stuff" that would be ultra damaging if it came out. I, too, suffered from PTSD, having had some personal losses shortly before this, it was the last straw. But I am coming around, and I feel it is their loss, as I sit and watch them deteriorate and I glad I don't have to go down with the ship.
most are asses and one i had i would like to see his business go out
I work for a small private company owned by hubby and wife. I live so close to work.
I am truly blessed; they stuck by me when I was having emotions problems.
Great bosses!
It all depends on each situation since no two or more job experiences are always alike. For the most part, it is important for bosses or supervisors to be aware of whom their most productive employees are and what they do for the benefit of the department and the company. Too many faithful employees are ignored and under appreciated. At the same time, it is important for bosses to treat their employees respectfully, not like tyrant screaming orders and verbally abusing their workers. Just as in the military, rank may have its privilege, but that does not give license to bully or harass.
In front of bosses all employees need to agree that they are the good bosses but reality is much much different than this.
Amen to that brother !
This is all a "F***ing" Joke ! The whole thing is a Greedy F***ing" Joke. Were all just a bunch of numbers that can be replaced at any time of their choosing,whether its to cut costs or curb bad attitudes. Don't play their game and your out !
Most of the so called bosses that I have worked for are egotists and surround themselves with junior wannabe ogotists. And for the most part if you don't play by their rules whether right or wrong you are expendible.I was a blue collar employee with lots of training and college on my side and constantly upgraded my skills but I always had a rough path with my so called leaders. I knew there were ways to eliminate me even being a union member. With total control and not willing to listen to the voices of experience our bosses finally broke our company and we were shut down and all equipment sold or distributed to other companies in the corporation.
If you are fortunate to have a good boss that is a good listener and is not always looking over their shoulder you are lucky.The only good boss I've ever been associated with worked right beside me and led the way !
There was a woman VP in our office who made everyone in the office, except her friends, call her "Baroness." We had to address all memos to her as Baroness. No one respected her for doing that. She actually had a fake gold plaque on her desk that said "Baroness." She didn't realize how people laughed when she was not around.
I can't believe this is still on AOL since 10/15. Isn't there any other news to comment on?