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Complaining about boss, probably a bit long

8 replies

workhell · 09/05/2013 21:09

Have namechanged as anyone I work with will recognise this! waves Wink

After some advice please wise ones...

I've had a new boss for about 9mths. She joined from a similar role but this job is a promotion for her. There have been problems ever since and the warning signs were there before she even came (didn't accept job straight away, took ages to hand in notice at other job, ignored requests to come and meet new team etc)

It's hard to really put into words what the problems are, but to give a flavour: no leadership (they head up a team of about 20), poor management style, atrocious communications skills (hates meeting people, awkward, shy), can't make decisions so dithers, doesn't bother passing on work to team from senior management so stuff doesn't get done, misses deadlines and is generally incompetent. She is dragging the reputation of the whole team down.

Everyone knows this including the managing director (their boss), other senior management and hr. I have talked to hr and her boss about it. Answers were 'we know and we're doing something about it'. That was 3 months ago and nothing has changed. My bosses boss also suggested that i confront them and talk about the issues in the team. I've found this difficult for obvious reasons but try to address things as they come up. What's also happening is that people are going behind my bosses back to make sure work they give her is being done by me or someone else in the team. So rather than telling her she is doing a crap job, it seems like they are covering her arse and making sure things are done by giving the rest of us more work.

Now, what do I do next? People in my team are stressed, depressed and constantly saying they want to leave. Any advice please? Should I lodge a formal complaint? I feel I need to force the issue. She should have been fired at her 6 month probation but that's gone now.

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flowery · 10/05/2013 08:28

Probation doesn't mean anything, they could easily dismiss her now if they wanted to, so you have to assume that for whatever reason, they don't want to.

You could certainly bring a complaint, and informal discussions which would have been my first suggestion, have not worked. But you'd need to consider the impact on your day to day working relationship with her if you bring a complaint against her.

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workhell · 10/05/2013 13:03

Yes that's what I'm worried about. Her crapness is causing problems across the business though - making us all look bad - and it just seems wrong to ignore it.

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flowery · 10/05/2013 13:39

You haven't ignored it though. Often the problem in these situations is that staff know it but senior management don't, so the issue is bringing it to their attention while being concerned about the repercussions.

In your case, the problem is well-known to the relevant people, and for whatever reason they are choosing not to address, as far as you are aware anyway, and certainly not sufficiently.

Is there a possibility that the MD/whoever isn't actually aware of the full impact on the rest of the team, and the significant risk of substantial staff turnover/lost productivity/potential sickness absence? From a business point of view a key thing to getting action is making sure the relevant people understand the business implications, rather than just thinking it's a member of staff whinging about something.

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workhell · 10/05/2013 13:46

I have tried talking about business implications and I think that is recognised. It's like the people that hired her don't want to admit to each other they made a mistake. This is a senior person on a high salary - if they're doing their job well they should be making a significant positive contribution. Maybe I need to talk to our hr director again? It's so hard! Confused

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KenDoddsDadsDog · 10/05/2013 22:46

Is this person responsible for doing your one to one meetings? I'm assuming so as your boss. And what have you raised and what is documented?
It could be also perceived from what you say "warning signs were there before she came etc" that you have some kind of issue with her personally. Being asked to "confront" someone ,puts you on dodgy ground as does saying someone "should have been fired".
The option could be a group concern / grievance ?

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workhell · 11/05/2013 00:41

No, no issue personally. I actually quite like her as a person. It's her professional side that's the problem! Yes I am supposed to have regular monthly meetings with her but she gets out of them wherever possible and I have to nag to get notes although I have started keeping my own. I attempt to address issues on an individual basis but they are either brushed off or blamed on someone else. I think a group complaint might be an option. Maybe I just need to grow a pair - hard because I haven't confronted her about everything/flagged all issues. I find it very awkward. And she can be a bit aggressive and defensive when she doesn't like what she hears.

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workhell · 11/05/2013 00:45

'Confronted' is a strong word - I would talk normally but raise issues.

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KenDoddsDadsDog · 11/05/2013 06:20

I would ask HR to see your group complaint grievance process but all of the team need to want to work with this.

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