You can’t be a good manager and inspire your staff without proper leadership qualities. In the workplace, this means having empathy, giving your employees the support that they need, and setting a proper example of how to behave. However, if you’re petty and passive-aggressive, don’t be surprised if your top talents decide to jump ship in search of greener pastures.
One woman recently went viral online after spilling the tea about quitting a truly toxic workplace environment. However, after she left, her manager sent out a petty office-wide email trying to shame her. It’s mind-boggling, not to mention incredibly unprofessional.
Bored Panda reached out to the author of the viral story, Kels, and she was kind enough to share more details about what happened, as well as her thoughts on what good management should be all about. You'll find the story, including our full interview as you read on.
You'd expect your boss to have high emotional intelligence and know how to lead. Unfortunately, some of them can be very passive-aggressive
Image credits: Anonymous
A woman recently quit her job at an awful company, only for her manager to send out a petty office-wide email
Image credits: Pixabay/Pecels (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Anonymous
"It gave me confidence that I’d made the right decision and I’m just glad I didn’t stick around any longer"
According to Kels, the author of the post, she worked at the company for around 6 weeks. "Based on my limited interactions with this manager during my period of employment, I wasn’t hugely surprised by the email he sent to the staff. I had always tried to be positive and friendly towards him and all of my colleagues," she shared with Bored Panda.
"I quickly realized that I didn’t want to work for this manager long-term, so around only two weeks into my employment, I decided to reach out to an industry recruiter. I told them I wasn’t in a rush and just wanted to find a company that would be a better fit!"
In the author's opinion, it wasn't professional to put her down and call her character into question in the email. However, she added that she thinks this was her manager's adverse reaction to her 'rejecting' the company by leaving without another job lined up. "Sort of like breaking up with someone because you’d rather be alone, than in a relationship with them!" she made a comparison.
"It seemed like a strange way to announce an employee's departure: no mention of work allocation or managing things going forward. I also think he really just wanted to get in the 'last word' since I wouldn’t have a chance to respond to his comments or have my say."
Kels opened up to Bored Panda that she can be "quite sensitive at times," however, in this case, she didn't feel hurt at all by the email. "It gave me confidence that I’d made the right decision and I’m just glad I didn’t stick around any longer. I never thought I’d be reckless enough to quit a job without another one lined up but I wanted to focus on finding a company that is a better fit."
She hopes that her next job will be her 'forever' position, or at least something long-term. "Since leaving a few weeks ago, I’ve had a few interviews and just received two offers."
Great managers are good communicators and foster a healthy workplace culture
We asked Kels for her thoughts on potential red and green flags in managers. From her perspective, some managerial red flags include getting involved in gossip, not having empathy, guilting employees for taking time off or getting sick, and having poor communication skills.
Some other warning signs to look out for are an inability to communicate professionally, and treating employees as though they are 'lucky' to have the opportunity to work for them. "They need you to do the work, as much as you need a payday!"
On the positive side, though, good managers are people who encourage a healthy and positive team culture, communicate clearly, concisely, and consistently and treat others around them as they would like to be treated. Furthermore, they genuinely respect their staff. However, respect should always be a two-way street!
Meanwhile, Kels was kind enough to give some advice to anyone who's currently stuck in a toxic workplace environment. She said that it might not be the best financial decision to leave a job without any offers.
That being said, she urged employees not to let their managers or companies determine how they feel about their own worth. "It’s easy to fall into self-doubt and lose confidence, but other opportunities are out there, and there are managers who will value you!"
Toxic workplaces push talented people out the door
Harvard Business Review explains that toxic corporate cultures are disrespectful, unethical, non-inclusive, cutthroat, and abusive. A FlexJobs survey of US workers found that 42% of them said that they’re seriously considering quitting their jobs, while 20% admitted they had recently quit.
Toxic workplaces were their third top reason for wanting to quit. According to the American Psychological Association’s 2023 survey of the American workforce, 22% of respondents said that their work environment harmed their mental health. Repetitive stress from workplace abuse can lead to serious physical health problems like cancer and heart disease.
There are so many bright red flags about the author’s former company that it was undeniably a good move to leave ASAP.
Not only did her manager show that he’s petty (who sends emails like that?!) and obsessive (he’s stalking her on LinkedIn), but he also proved that he’s not beyond making up lies about his employees to frame the situation his way.
Clear work contracts and documents are a must if you want to avoid issues down the road
On top of that, a major no-no is for a company not to offer employment contracts. If there are no formal documents setting out the terms of the agreement, and you’re relying on verbal agreements, it can lead to some major headaches in the future. You can never be certain if you’ll get paid, how much you’ll get paid, how many vacation days you’re entitled to, what your benefits will be, etc.
Real Business explains that in the United Kingdom, it is not illegal to work without a written employment contract. However, your employer is legally required to provide a written statement of employment particulars. This statement needs to include information ranging from the pay you will be getting to what the hours will be, and it needs to be provided on the first day of employment.
Another iffy thing that caught some internet users’ attention is that the author mentioned how her former workplace didn’t have a human resources department. Generally speaking, HR is there to ensure that the interests of the company are protected.
But genuinely good HR staff will act as a bridge between management and the other employees, mediate arguments, solve problems, and hold everyone accountable. No HR department means that the only people holding everyone accountable are the ones in charge. And that means that they can be as biased and subjective as they like. It also means that if there are any issues at work, you have no choice but to speak directly with the person in question instead of going to a third party.
However, this doesn’t mean that bosses and managers are invulnerable or almighty. Far from it. They still have to abide by the law, respect workers' rights, and be ethical to a certain extent. If they don’t, they open themselves up to lawsuits, inspections, and inquiries, which is very bad for business owners but great for workers and the health of the job market as a whole.
Gossip culture is something you ideally want to steer clear of
Something else that stood out to us was the culture of gossip in the author’s former office. Gossip often travels at lightning speeds; however, it’s not always reliable. It can be a distraction from getting the job done and can turn employees against each other.
Unreliable gossip can be deeply toxic. It erodes trust and morale, damages people’s reputations, makes individuals feel uncomfortable, and leads to friction.
From an employee’s perspective, the best thing you can do is to avoid being part of that type of gossip-centric culture. Be neutral.
You should also strive to avoid sharing any overly personal information about yourself. Yes, that means that you’ll likely have a harder time connecting with your coworkers and becoming friends, but… if they love mean gossip, are they really worth your time and energy?
What do you think about the way that the author’s manager handled her leaving the company? What would you have done if you were in her shoes? What’s the most toxic place you’ve ever worked at, Pandas? What did you do to solve the issues you faced? Let us know in the comments.
The author later shared a lot more context while she interacted with her readers
Here's what some other internet users thought about the tense situation
Image credits: Anonymous