Irresponsible boss
I am a 36 year old male and I am a business consultant. The company I work for is very reputed and I have been working with them for 7 years now. My boss recently got a transfer and I have been assigned a new boss. He is the complete opposite of my old boss. The new boss is irresponsible and never does any work. Instead, he makes others do even his share of work. We often have to wait back till very late to complete the backlog and even go on Sundays. The time he even does any work, it is always messy, half-hearted and has a lot of mistakes. He is not punctual and acts as if he is superior to everyone. He is a relative of the CEO and therefore got this job and can get away with being the way he is. Before him, I loved my job but now each morning I dread it. The pay is very good here and in this market, I don’t think I can find a good job that pays as well as this one. I fear that with the way he is behaving, the company will lose its reputation and employees will be forced to find new jobs. What can I do before things go from bad to worse?
Ans: You can be complaining and rolling your eyes, every time your new boss acts difficult or you can just choose to be the bystander at work and pay attention to what you are told to do, finish the same and go home without worries. Yes, it does sound challenging to just be ignorant at work when your boss and you are entwined with responsibilities and you feel guilty of not getting the job done, but that’s the problem, if you are ready to take the whole responsibility on your head and be ready to finish it he is more than glad to stand back and watch the show. However, you cannot possibly do everything on your own, so say it, be assertive and bring to his notice that there is a job role designates to you and beside that you are incapable o finishing it and hence you may not be able to cater to everything he expects. Gradually he will get the idea that in order to get the work done he cannot expect everything from you, as if the job is left incomplete no matter how lose a relative he is with the head, he will be held responsible and feel guilty of the dame. If you keep covering up for him he will never have to face the negative consequences. Also if you’ll collaboratively bring this to the CEO’s notice, he will have to do something about it as he will not want to sound partial.
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Being objectified by the boss
I am a 25 year old man working in media and advertisement. My boss is a 45 year old woman who talks to me in a manner that makes me feel extremely sexualized. I take good care of my body and workout regularly as I love being fit, but this means the shirts that I wear are form-fitting and highlight my muscles. She often comments on how ‘handsome’ I look that my form-fitting pants makes my derriere look ‘cute’. She has even tried me to show her my body by modelling clothes of a brand that she was making an ad for. She talks to me like I am her personal ‘boy-toy’ and has even insinuated once that if I would follow her wishes then ‘amazing things would happen at work’ for me. I really don’t know what to do as most men in my office feel like this is the best thing to happen and the women don’t take me seriously. But I feel very violated even by her stare. Please help me!
Ans: If you are so sure that you dislike being judge as an object of attraction, then take a step and stop this action at once. Why would you be confused about the whole situation, if you feel negative of the whole scenario take actions and get out of the trouble? It is sad that male sexual harassment is less spoken about and hence boys like can be left apprehensive about handling the situation, due to the lack of support. However even if a slightest ridicule feeling that you may experience while you are working with this boss, you have all the right to stand up for yourself and take the necessary steps.
Also Read: Agony Aunt answers queries on problems at work place
You can think of quitting or be assertive and clear the air with this lady that you are not interested and would appreciate if she could stop misbehaving with you as it hurts your feelings. If it doesn’t help you can even seek help of the human recourse department, where they can bring the required changes and deal with the situation appropriately. So even if there is lack of support in terms of saving you from which unfortunate annoyance you create one for yourself on demand and get yourself out of the trap.
