In the world of work, you’ll always come across people you don’t get on with or people you don’t work well alongside. That’s just human nature. However, it can go further than that. For many people, struggles with their bosses and how their bosses treat them have become the norm. But it doesn’t necessarily have to be that way. Here are some steps to take if you’re having to deal with a bad boss.
Discuss it with Your Colleagues
If you feel safe and able to do so, you should consider talking about your experience with fellow colleagues. You can then get an idea of whether they’ve experienced the same things during their career at the company to date or whether you’re being singled out for the negative treatment. Ideally, you should have these discussions with people you feel like you can trust.
Make a HR Report if Appropriate
Making a HR report might seem like a big step to take. But if you feel as if your rights are being ignored and that you’re being treated unfavorably for no particular reason, there might well be grounds for action to be taken by the HR team. Just because your boss is superior to you in the company structure, that doesn’t mean they can’t be disciplined and action taken.
Blow the Whistle on Serious Misconduct
If you feel your boss and the company are exploiting you and ignoring your employment rights, it might be a good idea to blow the whistle on the company. You can look into how to find a whistleblower attorney and take things from there. It might help to change things once and for all, but you’ll need to make sure you have the evidence at hand to back up the claims you’re making.
Set Your Boundaries
There’s never anything at all wrong with wanting to set your boundaries and being clear about what’s okay with you and what’s not. If you feel that someone, even if that someone is your boss, has clearly crossed a line in some way, you should first of all let them know that calmly and then expect it not to happen again. If it does, that’s when you can start to escalate the situation further.
If You Want to Quit, Plan Ahead First
Finally, you should accept the fact that the role might not be for you. It’s not right that someone forces you out of a job. But if you come across an opportunity elsewhere and it allows you to work with less toxic and unhelpful individuals, it might make sense to leave. If you do decide that you want to quit, it’s usually best to plan ahead and ensure you have a new job to go to.
Dealing with a boss that abuses their power and mistreats you is never easy. But there are steps you can take. And as we just discussed, if the problem doesn’t get resolved, you can always walk away and find a new role where you’ll be appreciated and treated better.
