Miscellaneous Forum

I was just curious about how many of you manage to get along well with their boss and actually likes him/her? I hate my boss, and the feeling is mutual ... any horror boss stories out there? Would be interesting to let them out!! We could then vote for the nastiest boss that has to be endured by us VT'ers!

Oh you poor thing! I would get another job! My boss is very pedantic and he's also a 'figures' man. Being a Director of the Bank he is well known in the organisation and most people find his direct personality hard to cope with. It's strange to say, but I actually admire him because he knows his stuff and if you do the right thing by him, he looks after you. But I've seen other bosses try to upsmart him and I've seen him cut the innards out of them with a few cleaver questions. He waits till their cards are laid out on the table then he produces the Joker haha :o) However on the other side of the scale, he looks after his hard working staff, like paying for work functions where the food and wine flows without batting an eyelid haha. I'm sorry, I really don't think I've had a horrible boss. Guess I'm just one of the lucky ones. Ann :o)

It is great if you at least have a boss who knows his stuff - I would live with that even if the character was really lacking. My boss is really stupid, so she uses other people's work and then goes to the top management bragging that she did everything herself and on top of that complaining about us! She also recently got a dubious promotion ... and now even the top management are complaining about her. I work with people outside of the company and they always beg me not to let her near them, as they can't stand her either!

Yes I agree with John. Just stick with it because eventually stupid bosses get found out and if management are 'fair-dinkum' they'll get rid of them. If not, then your organisation is not worth working for and I would definately get another job!! Hope it works out. Cheers, Ann :o)

i'm partly self emplyed, but i also work for a hotel owner.
he's really a bit of a silly thing and i used to hate the guy, but now i feel more sorry for him.
he runs around 60-70 hours a week trying to manage his 2 hotels and a family and is completely stressed out all the time.

he knows that he is stressed and not always that good at running his hotels, so he quitely accepts that me and another guy in reality runs his hotels most of the time.
that is fine for all of us.
i'm happy making things work and being paid for it, and he's happy that he can call himself a hotel owner even if all he can get is a misrable 2 week holiday a year.

I answer to the MD. After having worked here for nearly 3 years I can say with ABSOLUTE certainty that staff are seen as a salary figure and not as individuals here. The £££ and profit is all that the boss is really interested in. Staff are let go and not replaced, making our/my workload heavier and heavier. I work alot of overtime, am the first one in the office at 8am (work starts at 9am), work through lunch too... but dare I leave promptly at home time, I get a look and she glances at the clock. It seems that overtime before work and during lunch arent classed as overtime, only staying late is. Call me a bad employee but I just want to get home to my husband. I used to care about my job, but don't anymore. She has killed my passion for the job, and this is one of the reasons I am starting up my own business from home on the quiet. I had my own business for 5 years, and never ONCE spoke to the staff as cuttingly as she does. Wouldn't dream of doing so. I respected them. They respected me in turn. And they were loyal to me. No surprises that the turnaround of staff here is very high. I am generally a happy and optimisitc person, but seeing how human beings treat one another gives me a knot in the stomach. Life is not about how much bally money you can make!

I don't hate or like my boss but I'm not too pleased that she's a totally different person from the day we had an interview. On that very first day she made me feel like hey I finally find someone who shares the same ideal of wanting to make a difference but now that I've been working for her for 3 months, not a bit of what she said shows.

Wow Jenniflower - you summarized the situation I have at work perfectly! The only difference is that my boss is the last one in - and she comes to work only if she feels like it. The telephone and her staff stress her, so she got a special permission to 'work' from home. Her staff is made up of the incredible amount of 3 people. If we have a problems her response is : "I don't have time for this!" Mind you, she is no bigshot here - one of the countless managers, but everyone wants to keep interaction with her to the bare minimum and let her do as she pleases - no one else in the company has such permissions. When she does come to work, she usually grabs one of our tasks done during the week and brags about this to the top management; usually misinterpreting 3/4 of the stuff and then we are left to explain diplomatically to the top management the real situation ...

My goodness Jenni, that's a dreadful story! Unfortunately this is happening more and more these days. The days are nearly gone where you felt respect for your employer. Although I've never had a problem with my bosses, I can relate to what you say because I've worked in a company where it's the bottom $$. Unfortunately they never got more than the bear necessities out of their employees and there was more sick leave and low morale. I reckon that is no way to run a business!! But unfortunately these days, a lot of employers reckon everyone's despensible - and with the high rate of unemployment,.... they'll come out the winners,.... in the sort term!! In the long term, the good employees will go where they are more welcomed, a place with old time good values,.... and THAT company will be the winner in the long run!! I hope your business works out matey and I hope the Governments recognises small business!! Now that's another problem!! All the best. Cheers, Ann :o)

I once worked for a terrible boss. She was devoting 90% of her time to internal politics while in the remaining time she was screwing up projects big-time. She must have caused the company millions in damage. I figured that if the company rewarded characters like her, it's just not a good company to work for and left. I've been doing well ever since.

So if you can't change the situation and it's not likely that someone will change it for you (top-management), find/create a new work environment. Do it asap, or at least before you turn sour.

Good luck!

I don't hate her but i do not trust her after she picked my ideas and used them as her own. She is certainly out to make a career for herself even at the cost of the rest of the team (and i might add my feelings go for more of the team.
Luckily i have my own little tasks which she cannot do and does not know how to do and i am not telling her!

I never complain about my boss, I let him/her torture me as much as they wish. I worked excessive overtime, I was never late, I never asked for salary, I did not eat, did not rest, I only want to work.

>>>'I hope your business works out matey and I hope the Governments recognises small business!! Now that's another problem!! All the best. '

Thank you Rose :) MUCH appreciated!

I started planning my own business the day my boss told me in my appraisal last year October that she was 'budgeting out' my full-time assistant... I realised that of course, whereas it saved the company money, it just meant me having to find the time to carry her workload too, thereby taking more time away from home and my husband and family etc. I thought 'enough is enough!' and now I am nearly finished sorting out what needs to be sorted (legalities/website/business cards/agent etc.) to start my own business. I have to ensure I get in enough £££ to be able to quit though, so hold thumbs it takes off quickly :)

>>'Wow Jenniflower - you summarized the situation I have at work perfectly! The only difference is that my boss is the last one in - and she comes to work only if she feels like it. '

San, shame, isnt it soooo irritating!? My boss also floats in as and when she feels like it. She does work late though, but then she has a house husband and a nanny, so when she gets home dinner is cooked and the kids are seen to...

John, it's a two edged sword isnt it? Those who take their work seriously and work hard are taken advantage of.

I just dont need the corporate politics and cr*p and boss's bad moods in my life anymore. Why should we have to put up with it? The work is pressured enough without the added nonsense. Ah... self employemnt beckons again... with much glee! :)

I agree John.

As I have tasted both sides of the coin, I see that there are definate pros and cons to both. I worked longer hours when I had my own business, and had no social life (wasn't married so was able to more easily). This time round, I will do things a bit differently to the way I did things last time.

I have also suffered at the hands of a boss as described above in the past. The top knobs thought the sun shone out of her wotsit, the staff hated her. He was promoted again and again. I got out, to another department, as she was stressing me out much too much to be worth staying.

The boss in my previous job is one of my best friends, I didn't like her when we first met, but we became great friends over time. She was very direct and said EXACTLY what she thought, but she was also fair and supportive. One of the best bosses ever.

I get on with my current bos very well too, she generally lets me get on with my job and that's how I like it.

I guess I am a minority -- I LOVE my boss!! She just acquired her position not too long ago, and is kind, down to earth, great sense of humor, and listens to our suggestions on how to make things better. You can actually talk to her like a normal person and not feel uncomfortable, and you can tell she is actually listening to you. One time we were talking about a book called "14 foods for optimum health"; she came in to work the next day and gave me her own book to read as I hadn't read it yet.

Kay, you will be in her vicinity tomorrow... I can give you her address... ;)

Re the kids... yes Kay, exactly. My BIGGEST reason for leaving...

Madamx... that's what good management is about. Very happy for you that your boss is approachable and decent! :)

My boss is great. He's actually one of my best mates, and I went to his wedding when we were working together in another place and we socialise together etc. He actually headhunted me for the job, so it would have been a bit daft to take it if we didn't get on.

Jen, that's a great shame, to lose that talent. But she wasn't being a team player. Hopefully she learnt a lesson for this and has mended her 2-faced ways.

I don't have a good rapore with my supervisor. Just before I went on holidays she actually went and told my manager that I had been going home an hour early each night. I only found out by accident as the Manager for one reason or another didn't approach me about it. Luckily I sorted that out before I went off on holidays. I wonder now what other stories she has made up. Grrrrr!

I used to get on just fine with my boss he was a good mate always ready to help,I did not feel like he was my boss but just a friend.
Then one day he changed overnight he was the rudest man you can imagine,later I found out many workers had to get redundant,he did not want to pay so he tried to get us resign.