Am I overthinking this or being unreasonable?
I have had a promotion at work. I now line manager my old team.
I have worked there for 4 years. Our boss has always been decent. We all have our faults but nothing major. I have found him supportive in the past and he is a hands off manager and a decent person.
About 3 years ago he went through a bitter divorce and met someone new online. This relationship is not going well. He tells us all about his personal life and has no boundaries. During this time his work life has taken a hit. He is getting worse as a boss. He has been hit with much more work but some of this is down to him not managing effectively. He has created an office environment that is toxic. He won’t manage anyone or anything, he doesn’t give direction or expectations. He swears and talks constantly about the copious amounts of alcohol he drinks at the weekends. He slags off Senior Management and staff in front of us. It’s bad!
There has been a big change in the office recently as I got a new job and I am now HR and office manager to a small number of people in the office. He is not offering any direction or support and the atmosphere in the office is absolutely dire. I have tried talking to him about it but he doesn’t want to be bothered. He avoids making any decisions. I have offered solutions but he just isn’t there!
We all went out this week to celebrate a team members birthday. He was on a mission to get absolutely steaming drunk. Taking leftovers and pouring them into one glass and necking it. He said some inappropriate things to my colleagues about them seeing the bullying policy when they get back into work (he feels that their behaviour has been unfair on me since I got the job and it has to some extent but it’s made worse by his inability to manage it).
He told us that management want him out and he then threw up all over everything.
I am concerned that his drinking out of hours is directly impacting his work. I don’t know what to do or if I should do anything. The top boss is great and she has told me that I can come to her and her office is a safe space. I did tell her that I was struggling a bit in my new role as I wasn’t sure of expectations and that I have tried to talk to my boss about it but haven’t had any firm direction. She said a meeting was needed for all of us so we were all on the same page.
Should I just carry on or should I speak to the top boss about my concerns. The office staff are on the brink of throwing in the towel!! They have lost morale and trust and I am going to have to pick up the pieces at some point. I have only been in the new role 3 weeks! Advice please