50 Awesome Bosses That Proved There's No Need To Be A Jerk To Run A Company (New Pics)

So, what’s a good boss? Funnily enough, explaining what a bad boss is first is the easier task. Brace yourself as it’s about to get super crunchy (get it, because numbers and facts?).

The tl;dr explanation is that a bad boss is any managerial persona who’s confrontational, unkind, unaccommodating, or unmotivated. This can manifest in a number of ways: lack of leadership skill, use of micromanagement tactics, and exceedingly high demands for employees, just to name a few.

This is besides lacking any sort of positive human qualities, thus prompting for hostility, avoiding providing help where needed and just being flat out disrespectful. And then morale plummets, employee turnover skyrockets, productivity tanks, and the negative Glassdoor reviews start piling in, culminating in a cluster-truck of trouble for the company.

Now, there are ways of dealing with poor management. Mostly, it’s tackling the issue head on and working together to fix it. This involves taking notes and recording (within legal limits) the actions and behaviors that need correction, consulting with fellow employees, and approaching the supervisor directly, either with or without HR (though the former is recommended).

Ideally, the use of “proper channels” makes sure that everything is civil and it provides the manager with a chance to explain themselves. By proxy, talking through an issue can determine who is at fault (if any) and identify ways to rectify it. A learning experience all around.

So, 13%. A 2018 study done by the Institute of Labor Economics dove deep into how common bad bosses are in a discussion paper series of theirs. The need for the study arose for a number of reasons. Most notably, it was the increasingly common media and movie representation of bad bosses, the Peter Principle (whereby managers were often promoted to positions one level above their realistic aptitude) and the more recent concerns of stress and psychological ill-health in workplaces.

The study also premises its research with a number of factors. A key aspect was that supers, managers and the like exert a great deal of power in the workplace, and this has a significant impact (either positive or negative) on employees and the way the company operates. This includes a direct correlation with performance and results.

The key demographic of the study was Europe, though data sets and descriptive stats were given for the USA as well.

Bosses were classified as bad if the net score was negative across seven categories scored by workers: feedback, respect, praise and recognition, help getting the job done, support for individual development, successful team-working, and one who helps and supports.

Around 13% of all employees in the survey were actually working under what the survey would consider a genuinely bad boss. This was actually lower than some of the extreme convictions brought about by other similar studies and polls of the time. Funnily enough, 13% of employees also gave their bosses a perfect score.

According to the study, the most bad-boss-laden industries were transportation (a bit above 17%), manufacturing (16%), and human health and social work activities (nearly 15%). Runners up include agriculture, admin and support services, hospitality and food service industries, wholesale and retail, among many others.

So, let’s circle back to what is a good boss? The same ILE study provided a dead giveaway, actually: it’s a boss who gives useful feedback, is helpful in getting the job done, respects workers as people, encourages development, gives praise and recognition, is successful in teamwork, and helps and supports employees.

PeopleHum adds to this by also suggesting other lesser-practiced, yet still significant aspects. You know, having a plan (a clear vision) on how work will be done, communicating expectations, treating employees like equals (horizontal hierarchy), and making work fun. Team building, events and activities, snack giveaways, that sort of thing.