Day 56 - When is a Boss Not a Boss?
Feb. 25th, 2010 07:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wolfsbrideIn the strictest sense my boss can be classified as such. She employs workers. In all other aspects though, she's a dud. I understand the concept of I own the company so I don't have to do any work but I think that way lies employee dissatisfaction and decreased production levels or at least sub quality production. Generally speaking, I do not think an employee will do or give their best if they perceive their boss as a lazy bastard. Unless they're like me and the satisfaction of work properly completed is their motivating factor.
If you wish to be an absentee boss, that's grand but for it to work properly I believe you have to acknowledge the skills of the people you have working for you that allow you to be an absentee boss. It smacks of gloating to come into the office complaining about how busy you are to people who are working diligently when all you've been doing is nothing business related. It's especially crass to complain that your worker drones are not working fast enough.
The other flaw my boss has that makes her a terrible employer is her inability to communicate effectively. It's actually quite mind boggling. It's like she expects you to read her mind. There have been many instances where she's told me to do something and I've done it only to have her say... but that's not what I meant! Well, how do I know what you mean? If you tell me one thing abut mean something completely different, of course I'm not going to do the right thing.
This becomes a special problem when it comes to training. When the new girl started working in September, I would sit at my desk cringing because my boss had no concept of how to instruct someone. She nattered away to the girl for an hour and then left her alone for the day. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see her sitting at her desk staring at the computer and the sheets and sheets of paper spread out. She looked about ready to burst into tears. I took pity on her and went over.
I basically broke it down into stages. I would explain one stage and tell her to do that and then when she was finished, I explained another stage. It's ridiculous to expect someone who is totally new to infer how things are to be done. Throwing everything at someone and then leaving does not make them learn faster or better. It just frustrates them.
When I first started here, I was given a bunch of invoices and a three second introduction to the accounting program. Then I was left on my own. Everything I know how to do, I've taught myself because my boss is a boss in only the most vague connotation of the word.
If you wish to be an absentee boss, that's grand but for it to work properly I believe you have to acknowledge the skills of the people you have working for you that allow you to be an absentee boss. It smacks of gloating to come into the office complaining about how busy you are to people who are working diligently when all you've been doing is nothing business related. It's especially crass to complain that your worker drones are not working fast enough.
The other flaw my boss has that makes her a terrible employer is her inability to communicate effectively. It's actually quite mind boggling. It's like she expects you to read her mind. There have been many instances where she's told me to do something and I've done it only to have her say... but that's not what I meant! Well, how do I know what you mean? If you tell me one thing abut mean something completely different, of course I'm not going to do the right thing.
This becomes a special problem when it comes to training. When the new girl started working in September, I would sit at my desk cringing because my boss had no concept of how to instruct someone. She nattered away to the girl for an hour and then left her alone for the day. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see her sitting at her desk staring at the computer and the sheets and sheets of paper spread out. She looked about ready to burst into tears. I took pity on her and went over.
I basically broke it down into stages. I would explain one stage and tell her to do that and then when she was finished, I explained another stage. It's ridiculous to expect someone who is totally new to infer how things are to be done. Throwing everything at someone and then leaving does not make them learn faster or better. It just frustrates them.
When I first started here, I was given a bunch of invoices and a three second introduction to the accounting program. Then I was left on my own. Everything I know how to do, I've taught myself because my boss is a boss in only the most vague connotation of the word.
