The 5 Bad Traits Of A Manager

When faced with the prospect of a new position, getting to know the company and the people as well as you can before committing to joining them is important. It can sometimes be challenging to weigh up all the pros and cons of the company and the people within it – especially if you have only had contact with the hiring manager and HR; however, it is important to get a good overview of what the people and company are like to make sure it is the right fit for you. The worst thing that can happen after joining a role is to discover the management is toxic; however, there are a few tell-tale signs that the company has bad leadership that you should avoid.

The boss who doesn't trust anyone

The boss who is a hider

The toxic boss

The boss who has no interest in you

The boss who is a controller

The boss who doesn't trust anyone

Have you noticed a top-down management structure? This often starts with the ‘gates of authorisation’ that people must pass through to get approval for small things like claiming mileage or buying a box of pens. This mentality then bleeds into every task; approval is needed before anything goes ahead. In a hierarchy, employees lose motivation, which spells out ‘we don’t trust you’.  Toxic leadership will also control benefits, and problems arise when certain benefits are given to some and not others.

Flexible working or working-from-home options should be available to everyone and not limited to their favourite team members. Leaders who have hired well should trust everyone in their team to avoid taking advantage.

If certain benefits can be earned, such as bonuses, then everyone should know how they can achieve them. Workload is another benefit that may be overlooked. It can be tempting for managers to give the best potential deals to their ‘favourite’; however, this can cause many problems for internal politics.

Favouritism and treating members of the team differently are the root causes of most office politics, which ultimately cause people to leave.

Favouritism and a lack of trust delay every company process and can ultimately delay company growth due to the time it takes for top management to approve everything. It is sometimes difficult to spot; however, if you sense it – run a mile!

The boss who is a hider

Every manager needs information and data about their employees to evaluate their productivity and sometimes profitability.  Bad managers will keep this information to themselves and other senior members of the team to exercise power and control over individuals; great leaders will use this information transparently to assist and develop their teams. Assess whether this is an issue in the company you are interviewing with by asking questions surrounding facts and figures on team growth. Great managers will share valuable data; however, they will also understand the importance of confidentiality when sharing it with an outsider. Ask questions about the team's overall growth to encourage information sharing.

Office politics also arise when management is not open and honest with their entire team. If changes in the company happen, managers need to communicate how they will affect people and their work.  The more open and honest leaders are with their team, the better feedback they will get, diminishing the chances of behind-the-scenes gossip and negativity.

Allowing individuals to be heard will prevent negativity and make employees feel valued.

The toxic boss

Toxic bosses are people in charge who lack empathy and understanding and ultimately mistreat their employees.  This behaviour destroys people’s focus and motivation, resulting in people leaving the company, high turnover, and a toxic environment.  It is easy to see whether the company has a toxic boss because you’ll notice the high level of narcissism and how others interact with them. Toxic bosses will usually put profit above all else, ignoring the input and well-being of their employees.

The boss who has no interest in you

It’s great to have relationships within the workplace; however, your boss should aim to develop a personal relationship with everyone, and they can’t do that if they don’t have any interest in your personal life.  Managers have no interest in your personal life because they only talk about performance and improvement.  Not only is getting to know employees important for building team culture, but it’s also essential to understand people’s mental health and how their outside life could impact their work life. If managers aren’t interested in you, how can they be interested in your mental health? You can quickly establish what a manager is like in your interview and whether they try to get to know you.

Offering support to employees is essential; however, one or two team members are often vocal about needing more support than others. This does not mean that the others on your team do not need support. Leaders should check in with everyone and offer them the same support and training.

Leaders should schedule regular training sessions and give people the option to attend. Giving individuals control over whether they attend training sessions will encourage decision-making and continuous learning.

The boss who is a controller

Micromanagers are initially hard to spot; however, you must avoid working for them at all costs.  Micromanagers do not trust anyone in the office, so they try to control every task and activity. Being controlling also resorts back to trust, and this behaviour destroys company culture, creativity, and motivation.  Establish how the leaders in the company interact with their employees during your interview to get a feel for whether there is any micromanaging going on. When in an interview, ask about how tasks are approved. Is there a strict path to approval through higher management, or is there a level of trust after a certain period?

If you have doubts about how the manager works, contact previous employees via LinkedIn and ask them questions about the culture, management style and working environment. Most previous employees will be open and honest with you and give you accurate insight. Other platforms that can help give you accurate company and management information include Glassdoor, where previous and current employees can anonymously provide honest insight into the company.