Are you the boss no one wants to work for?

If the tightness of the labour market in a post-COVID-19 world has taught us anything, it’s that to attract the right talent, we need to offer the right environment, good opportunities, and an appealing culture. And if you’ve developed an unfortunate reputation for being that boss no one wants to work for, good luck in recruiting!

To test the idea, I recently asked a group of colleagues, friends, and staff for their views as to the attributes of the “worst boss” they had the misfortune to work with. To assist, I gave them a non-exhaustive list of some less desirable characteristics that included:

• Micromanages;
• Poor communicator;
• Doesn’t share information/secretive;
• Doesn’t lead by example;
• Says one thing but does another;
• Blames others;
• Throws people under the bus to protect their own position;
• Incompetent;
• Lacks empathy;
• Doesn’t acknowledge the work or success of others;
• Fails to provide feedback or clear direction;
• Has favourites and teacher’s pets;
• Lazy;
• Disrespectful;
• Fails to appreciate the impact they have on others;
• Lone wolf;
• Confrontational or aggressive;
• Yells and screams at people;
• Racist/sexist/inappropriate;
• Lacks strategic vision;
• Unrealistic expectations and expects too much;
• Fails to train and mentor;
• Won’t delegate;
• Always takes the glory;
• Never available or never around;
• Unresponsive;
• Inefficient;
• Lacks courage to have frank, open discussions;
• Lacks insight and self-awareness;
• Changes the goalposts; and
• Selfish – puts themselves ahead of the team.

1. Blames others or throws them under the bus;
2. Unresponsive or hard to get a hold of;
3. Disrespectful or inappropriate;
4. Confrontational or aggressive; and
5. Micromanages (an equal fourth).

As leaders, managers, and bosses, we undoubtedly need to have a solid self-awareness of the impact we have on those in our charge. We are in the position to drive positive culture and ensure job satisfaction for our teams, but we also can destroy morale and lose top talent in the process.

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If one good thing comes from a labour market in which there is genuine competition to recruit the best staff, it may be that organisations are forced to critically analyse their culture and whether their leaders and managers are, in fact, a barrier to recruitment. But if you’re a boss with an EQ deficit, you probably wouldn’t even click past the heading of a blog like this!

Travis Schultz is the managing partner of Travis Schultz & Partners.