Why is new boss being such a knob?

[Buggeroffboss]

Our old boss took ill suddenly in December last year and died shortly after. They been the boss for 20+ years, so appreciate we were all very used to them.

Following their illness I became interim boss. In April I was offered the role permanently but declined as it would mean returning to full time work. I'm bitterly regretting not taking it due to new boss!

We're a remote team, have been since many years before COVID. New boss clearly hates remote working. We do have an office, but it seats 10 people and us open to the whole business (approx 300 people) not just our department (40 people). New boss wants everyone in the office 2 days a week. HR have told him to go whistle - we are all on remote contracts and live across the whole of the UK, including channel Islands and 2 in France!

New boss is now insisting we schedule any "coffee breaks" (you know, where you brew up between meetings) and that under no circumstances are we to appear on screen with tea/ coffee if it isn't adjacent to our scheduled break. In addition he's put an embargo on lunch time errands, such as laundry, popping to the post office or collecting the car from the garage. All time is to be accounted for.

As you can imagine, morale has gone down the pan. We're a high performing department, there is 0 issues with productivity. Our work is largely invisible most of the time, lots of thinking time and idea generation which makes monitoring our day to day workloads difficult, but we always exceed our targets at quarter and year ends - so people are clearly working. In the 6 weeks he's been in there's been a noticeable change in how people are working, fewer people on early or late, most just working to their hours.

AIBU to think he's being a bit of a dick and just needs to chill the fuck out?

How can he tell you what to do in your lunch hour?

He clearly doesn’t have enough to do if he can waste time on this sort of stuff. How productive can it possibly make him wasting this sort of time?

Amazing how some people in authority will try to do this. I used to work in an office located above a shopping mall. I’m disabled and a new boss took me aside one day and told me she would rather me not go out of the office into the mall during my lunch break as I walked a lot slower than a ‘normal’ person and she wasn’t convinced I could get back on time. I’d been there five years and did this most days without a problem. A short conversation with the union rep about disability discrimination put a stop to any further meddling - needless to say she didn’t last long.

No idea what all the deleted messages are about! There's so many of them.

Yes, it's been 6 weeks since he started. It's really not long at all. People expect someone to say one wrong thing and they're out on their ear and hats just not how it works, even when on probation. People are given time to settle in, time to adapt and time to change if needed. It's why probation is 6 months, for us to fully evaluate someone, give them time to show their value and give them support if needed.

I don't think new boss will last much longer, now HR and big boss are aware I suspect it'll be a "wind your neck in" conversation and when he doesn't, he'll be gone. I don't think he will learn/ adapt. I suspect it's a fundamental difference in how we work Vs how he's happy to work.

Solution for the tea/coffee thing, if you make your cuppa but make a second one at the same time in a thermal cup, you can just top up the original cup of tea. This is what I do to save me getting up

So on top of your day job…. HR have asked you to document all these grievances from your team and then submit @Buggeroffboss ?

Well I definitely am! I work so much better in the office.

Mind you… it’s a lovely 10 minute walk from my front door, and I love my colleague and the IT chap is AMAZING so sorts anything and everything.

I'm a manager, so supporting staff with these kinds of things is part of my day job.

OP has already explained what HR asked her to do:
HR told me to ask others if they would write down their concerns as part of a group grievance. Their information, their words. Their choice as to whether to submit jointly,. independently or at all.

Please stop using references to men's genitals as insults, it's very offensive towards men and very sexist, if men did the same on here there would be cries of toxic masculinity and misogyny !

Thank you x

have you managed to do this @Buggeroffboss ? How many have “signed up” as such to the group grievance?

No, OPs boss also said she should call him a twat, so it's all even.

ODFOD

In my company, if the big boss knew that there was a newbie causing real unhappiness amongst multiple members of his staff… he wouldn’t just essentially 🤷‍♀️ and say yes sounds crap, off you pop to hr.

He would bring him in to speak to him as a priority to avoid more staff getting pissed off and morale plummeting

As you can imagine, morale has gone down the pan.

and the sum total of what hr and the big boss has said? Get your team to write down what their issues are and submit as a grievance.

I am so grateful to work for a more proactive company

A load should all rock up one day and get him to sort the seating arrangements!

Be aware that HR are not your friend.

Maybe he's been instructed to do this? Employers are paying for your time, as well as "productivity"

Unless you live next door to the garage it's unlikely you can get yourself to the garage, pay and collect the car from a service in a lunch break.

OP - can you hand on heart say there is no substance ever to the complaints?

This kind of routine slagging off of HR is very tiresome. I have worked with many HR teams.....yes they have to focus on what the business needs (the same as everyone else in management) but I can assure you that the better ones go out of their way to support employees in ways that rarely come to light.

So what if your partner/son/ daughter made you a cup of tea or coffee? Your boss clearly has no idea how to motivate people. I had a boss like that once and decided to have a quiet word with him about how his actions were undermining productivity, and hugely damaging to morale. If you’re brave enough it’s worth a try - otherwise get him and HR round a table to discuss. It’s worth remembering that people who assume that everyone who works from home is sciving is basing it on themselves!

Likewise. I am not really impressed by bosses who, faced with an obvious risk to their employees' morale, instead of taking positive action put the onus back onto employees by advising them to submit a grievance. There is also the possibility this tips over into actively soliciting grievances against the individual, which could backfire too.

True story.

The OP has already tried to have a word with him and he has refused to listen. It is really up to the big boss to do the sitting him down and effectively telling him: 'This can't continue. You either change your approach with immediate effect or your days are numbered here'. It doesn't sound as though the boss is providing any necessary leadership....just shunting it back to HR and the employees to resolve via a grievance.

I am not sure what you mean here.....what I am describing is a true story. I don't say that HR always gets it right but it is actually common for HR to be blamed for the failings of those who are really responsible. No doubt that is what will happen here, if this is not resolved as a direct result of the big boss ducking out of the decisions it is on him to make.

It maybe tiresome but they rarely go out on a limb to support a junior employee who has a complaint against a boss.