Bullying boss - what would you do?

[harrogatemum]

My boss at work this week shouted at a member of my team across the office in front of the entire department. It wasnt just a small rant but a major one - the girl did not notice a fax on the fax machine so he had a go at her telling her to look next time. She said sorry and walked away, he then saw her smiling and screamed at the top of his lungs "Dont you fing laugh at me, dont you dare fing laugh at me" over and over again. She of course was in tears.

HE apologised about half an hour later to her but the morale of my department is now on the floor. One new member has said that if he does it to her she will take him to a tribunal for bullying.

Note - he is the Managing Director of the company and thinks he can get away with anything he likes.

I just wondered what people thought of this - what should I say to him and could he be in trouble for this? I just dont know in terms of HR etc.

I'm not sure he could do tho if someone were to leave on account of his bullying then a case for constructive dismissal may be relevant.

What is your position in the company to enable you to talk to him about it?

Does he do this kind of thing often?

I manage the customer service dept and am on the executive team, i.e any major management decisions that need making (although he just ignores us usually!)

Not sure if one incident would constitute bullying.

However, is there an HR dept and formal complaints procedure?

It is not a plant hire company is it ?

Because there is one in Starbeck that is famous for low morale.

I am sure there is a bigger picture to this and perhaps there has been lots of little incidents as well as this. I agree it sounds well out of order but at least he had the decency to apologise.
If you do have a word with him, try to see if there is a bigger picture again before launching in with talk of bullying and tribunals. Are you in a position to tell him that you have noticed that he seems under a lot of strain recently and whether he is ok? Has he got personal issues/needs time away from work etc etc? and play the understanding card?? Maybe he is just a git but equally I reckon there just might be more to it and worth at least attempting a gently approach first? If he does say that there is nothing wrong and is a bit defensive you could always go on to say that if there was no underlying reasons for the other day’s incident, then he really needs to think about his self control and the way that he addresses staff as you are concerned that it could land him in hot water as well as ruin the team morale??
Maybe he is a git and also having a rough time?? Who knows? Maybe he just needs management to pull him up on it. Use your gut instinct and be brave :)

I would not put up with somebody talking to me like that, I dont care who they are!!!!
That poor girl, I would complain to managment, knowbody has the right to talk to somebody like that, even if they are having problems!

what an ahole, i used to work for a company that had just two employees. me (pt) and another full time bloke and the md (who owned the company).

the md shouted at the other bloke all the time, i used to hide in the loo to escape the rows. some people can't handle the pressure i suppose. she should just feel sorry for him.

its not the plant hire company lgj!!

And Bagelbird - I wish there was an excuse for his behaviour but he has always been like this!

Well cant do much about shouting at her across the room but the swearing thing is a bit much. However he has apologised and if it happened again then I would seek assistance from Citizens Advice.

I'd say get a grip.If someone swearing (ooh err!) has morale 'on the floor' it must have been pretty crap to start with.

He did say sorry.

Moondog - I wouldnt say it was great to start with but if you had been there I am sure you would have agreed that it was extremely venomous and not something that should be taken lightly.

Anyway thank for all your comments.

Moondog - I think that is a load of crap actually! I've worked in a male dominated environment all my working life and if someone subjected me to that kind of abuse I would take their heads off!

I don't put up with it at home and I certainly have no intention of putting up with it at work!

The only 'get a grip' angle to this one, IMO is for boss man to stop subjecting his staff to his ranting!

No-one should be expected to put up with that kind of behaviour at work and I am really sad for you that you seem to think it is ok!

Agree that his reaction was completely out of line and over the top and unacceptable. But, must say the fact that she was smiling after being reprimanded also seems inappropriate. Her reaction seems to have provoked him, but I will say it again - there is no excuse for what he did.

Perhaps an anger management course would be appropriate (not that bossman would attend). An alternative approach would have been to count to 10, then take the girl aside and speak to her separately, not shout across the room. It is bullying, it is grounds for constructive dismissal, and it could end up costing him lots of money (£57,600, plus high staff turnover, plus low morale resulting in poor performance).