Social IssuesJUN 16, 2022

30 Times "Raising Morale" Completely Backfired For Management, As Shared In This Online Thread

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If there’s one thing many bosses have in common, it’s assuming everyone’s happy just to have a job. They continue to live in their own delusional world, even when over half of the workers in the US are plotting to take their skills elsewhere. They carry on feeling confident in their ability to build workplace camaraderie and team spirit when in reality they patronize, exploit, and micromanage. What about respect, you ask? They've probably never heard of it.

Well, it’s about time they take a hard look at the mirror. A week ago, Redditor CasperTFG_808 reached out to the Ask Reddit community inviting fellow members to open up about their "the punishment will continue until morale improves" work stories. The question deeply resonated with hundreds of employees who quickly rolled up their sleeves to reveal the most inexplicable working conditions and horrible managers they ever had to deal with.

Below, you'll find responses that prove there’s definitely a kernel of truth in the old adage, "people quit bosses, not jobs." We handpicked some of the most blood-boiling responses from the thread, so continue scrolling and upvote the ones that echoed with you most. If you have any terrible work experiences with employers who blatantly ignored your needs, be sure to share them with us in the comments!

#1

30 Times "Raising Morale" Completely Backfired For Management, As Shared In This Online Thread

We were all swamped with more work than we could complete and mandatory meetings would happen often that were to discuss why we were behind and what they could do. One guy actually spoke up and said STOP HAVING SO MANY MEETINGS AND LET US WORK, EVERY MINUTE OF THIS MEETING IS PUTTING ME FURTHER BEHIND!. They literally called another meeting 30 minutes later to discuss how the last meeting was not a positive experience for them.

Corndog1975, unsplash

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243points

#2

I'm colorblind. I asked for help once when I was assigned a work task that was color-coded in a way that I can't see. I was immediately written up, since the boss "decided" I was lying to get out of work.

I appealed the decision with HR, who sided with the boss. But they offered what they considered to be a very generous solution: I could use the company's tuition reimbursement program to go take a remedial art class. "So you can *finally* learn your colors", she said.

This was about the same time I was also written up because I stayed late to cover for a diabetic coworker who had to run home and get an insulin refill, so she didn't risk her health working alone in the building overnight. I guess overtime pay is a worse violation than death on the job or abandoning the building. I didn't stay much longer.

Hysterical_Realist, pexels

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180points

We managed to get in touch with the author of this thread, CasperTFG_808, who was kind enough to have a little chat with us. They revealed they came up with the idea to post this question on the Ask Reddit community after they got off the phone with an old coworker. "They were telling me about the ridiculous demands that their new leadership was putting in place and how they were dumbfounded that everyone was leaving even though she had made multiple reports to HR about violations," the user told Bored Panda.

#3

Worked in a fintech company in the UK in the 90s. It grew to around 1000 people, building towards IPO.

HR decided we needed a company magazine to boost morale and give us a sense of community.

First issue landed and the cover story was, perhaps predictably, a profile of the new CEO. A decent guy fairly well liked up until they point, worked his way through a few roles in the company.

Except the angle they decided to focus on, to show us his human side, was how he was getting tired of his current 55ft yacht and was hoping that the efforts of we, his minions, would reward him with enough bonus to be able to upgrade to a 76ft model in time for summer.

Reader, I do not believe it has the desired effect.

TheoCupier, pexels

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175points

#4

Each of us had to go into a room with the COO and a general manager and watch a youtube motivational video with them. It was one of those narrated videos where it's some person drawing cartoons and text on a whiteboard. Like all you can see is a hand and the whiteboard in fast motion.

Anyway, the theme of the video was that you should be following your passion and pay should be secondary and not a motivation. After the video they then asked us, individually, "would you like to ask us to lower your pay?"

As if that was the take away we should be getting from the video. It was totally absurd.

watabby, pexels

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162points

So while some workers go out of their way to stand up for themselves, others quietly accept the things their entitled bosses tell them. Still, that doesn’t stop them from sharing their nightmarish tales with everyone online. As of this writing, the question has amassed nearly 16k upvotes and 6k comments where rightfully disgruntled employees air their grievances. CasperTFG_808 said they didn’t expect the thread to blow up as much as it did and thought it would get maybe a dozen responses. "The popularity of the post totally caught me by surprise," they added.

While "no one wants to work" has become a running trend among CEOs and managers who wield power in their companies, they seem to miss what’s happening right in front of their eyes. Millions of employees all over the world have simply had enough of feeling undervalued and ignored by their employers and decide that it’s time to shine a light on delusional management and poor working conditions.

#5

Worked my a*s off for a job, never late, always covered for people, model employee. Got pregnant (planned) but there were some severe complications, and at 7 months pregnant I had to go to the hospital for a procedure that had a chance of causing extremely pre-term labor. So bed rest for three days. I didn't have to work till day three, but informed my boss.

He told me I'd better use that time to find someone to cover my shift or I was fired.

Fortunately a coworker wasn't having that s**t and called around the other stores till they had my shift covered, but that absolutely soured my relationship with the boss. I took my maternity leave and just as it was about to end the boss texted me my new schedule. I responded "lol" and blocked his number.

Really grateful my husband works a job that allows me to be a stay at home parent.

Millenniauld

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160points

#6

I worked in a hospital for 10 years facilitating meetings for executives and doctors. My team was tech based but somehow we were connected to the catering department so the total team size was 10 people for years. No one in our department would fill out the "anonymous" surveys because it wouldn't be too difficult to figure out who was complaining based on content in the survey and the personalities involved. When I knew I was on my way out, I decided to put all the complaints from my team and the catering team on the survey and maxed out the space on the survey, including the maxed out salaries($10 an hour) of these older ladies and gentlemen that worked their as*es off on a daily basis. One of my picadilloes was that the upper management would always suggest to employees to pick up trash in the hallways as we moved through the building but the executives would trash every meeting room they used. I specifically noted and named an executive that spilled a full cup of coffee early in a meeting and just left it there to stain the table and drip on the floor with no attempt to clean it up. Within a few days, my managers would either look away when they saw me or they scowled at me. Nothing changed in the time I had left there but I'm glad I said what I said and a lot of people saw what I wrote.

GreyFecalMatter

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136points

The user noted that workers have been viewed as expendable for too long. "Many companies have lost sight of what led them to success in the past," they said. "They view employees as commodities that they can swap in and out rather than the special resources that helped build the company in the first place."

So the user offered Redditors a chance to take refuge from their horrible bosses by allowing people to spill the dirt about them in their thread. "The best part about this post was giving people space to vent. Everyone has a work story and even though I may never get through all the responses, I am so happy to give people the opportunity to get something off their chest."

CasperTFG_808 pointed out that it’s a job-seeker's market out there, so "don’t be afraid to make a move. Also, don’t be afraid to report bad behavior to HR. Many companies also have an anonymous reporting system where you can report issues," they suggested.

#7

We had to take a survey and one question was "Aside from getting a pay increase, what would make you feel more appreciated in your current position?" And we all wrote down things like birthdays off with pay, less overtime, allow coffee/soft drinks while we are working, increase breaks from 10 minutes to 15 minutes." We all handed in the surveys.

They did not implement a single suggestion.

Nobody_Wins_13, unsplash

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132points

#8

Not me, but had a friend whose supervisor got upset bc she heard people chatting while getting their lunches out of the fridge and making coffee. Her solution? Lock the break room at 8 a.m. (so you needed to come early if you want a cup of coffee), and lock the bathroom so people would need to approach her and ask for the key every time they needed to iuse the facilities. Imagine being in your 30s/40s and having to ask permission to use the bathroom.

Always_Trying01, pexels

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117points

To learn more about why certain corporations demand high spirits from staff while failing to meet their needs, Bored Panda reached out to Kristina Leonardi who is a nationally recognized career coach, speaker, and author of Say It To Make It: Affirmations to Empower the Heart, Mind, Spirit and Soul. She explained that employers who think that punishing their employees or making them "earn" good treatment is a good idea "have it all backward and are quite medieval in their approach."

"Creating a positive environment where employees can thrive is a win-win because when employees are happier, they will be more productive and loyal to go the extra mile," she added.

#9

Not really me, but my brother who worked in same place before me

The company had a very bad way to handle finances, often would delay the payment on our end, but theirs were always in time.

One day my brother got feed up and said they better pay them on time, they thought it was a empty threat and delayed.

On the same moment the payment didn't get in, him and his co workers all shut down the computers, took the phone off the lines and sat around. No one were to answer calls, e-mails, clients, schedule deliveries and anything.

The thing is, if THEY didn't work, things could still be solved, but their work was exclusively dependent on our end, if we didn't take the clients/deliveries, they couldn't transport or deliver anything.

They got desperate and threatened to terminate everyone, but then how the office gonna work with 0 people? Nor would be legal since it was the law here that everytime the payment got delayed the worker didn't have to work that "extra day" he's not being paid, or they would have to receive double for it because of the delay.

Not even 2 hours in, everyone got paid. They alwyas had the money, they just didn't care about the workers.

ACLullaby

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112points

#10

Not exactly a beating, but once my company got all the devs together in a room and told us we have to innovate. We were confused.

Them: We need you to innovate.
Us: What do you mean, innovate?
Them: Innovate! Do innovative things. Companies that innovate see higher profits!

VP proceeds to draw a graph on the whiteboard. No numbers, just "profit" on the y-axis and "innovation" on the x-axis, and a line going diagonally up and to the right.

Them: See! Innovate!
Us: What do you want us to innovate?
Them: Innovative things. When you are working, think innovatively.
Us: Do you want us to stop what we are working on to do this innovation?
Them: No no no! Keep doing your work. But also think about innovating while you do it.
Us: You know, some of the work we already do is innovative.
Them: Can't be, or we'd be making more profit.

I left the company soon after this meeting.

khendron, pexels

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106points

Some companies urge people to fill out surveys to measure how content they are with their jobs, benefits, and managers, yet fail to implement a single suggestion. Leonardi said they’re probably doing it for show, to check off a box, or for some regulatory reason. "If they don’t do anything with the responses then it’s a sure sign not much is going to change unless management has a change of personnel and/or heart," the career coach added.

#11

I don't know if this fits but I love telling this GameStop story.

Anyone who's ever shopped at GameStop knows the employees always try to get you to pre-order something or subscribe to their trade-in program (or whatever it is nowadays). Our store was actually number one in the district for both (BECAUSE we only offered when it made sense and didn't harass every single customer), but of course the district manager wanted to make a name for himself so he started demanding we increase trade-ins.

How - you may ask? By asking every single customer NOT trading in games if they knew we took games in for store credit. Yes, the bright red and yellow signs plastered on every surface pushing trade-ins clearly wasn't enough. So the district manager comes in one day to show us how it's done. He harangues everyone about trades all day, and everyone's like, "Yeah. I know." He starts to get frustrated.

Towards the end of the day a kid walks in wearing a backpack and starts looking around. DM goes "HEY THERE WELCOME TO GAMESTOP HOW YOU DOIN'! YOU KNOW WE TAKE USED GAMES IN ON TRADE RIGHT?" Kid goes, "Yup.", keeps shopping. So the DM goes "Maybe you got some games at home you're not playing you want to trade in? Maybe you got some in that backpack you'd like to trade in for something new???" Kid gives the DM this confused, slightly horrified expression, mumbles "uh, no" and walks out of the store.

DM stares at the door for a few moments then turns to us, mortified beyond belief, and goes "SEE HOW EASY THAT IS??"

halloweenjon, wikimedia

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103points

#12

My last veterinary hospital was really understaffed. Management asked what they could do to improve things and we all said that even just one extra nurse would make a huge difference.

You know what we got? A f*****g colouring book.

According to management, colouring helps with mindfulness which reduces stress. The fact that we'd never have time to use it didn't seem to matter.

Pabs23, pexels

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97points

#13

I’m a math teacher and have been teaching for 3 years.

We had a whole new team for our grade level and my principal put me down as the gradelevel leader. Ok. No biggie. We had someone called a “math coach” who was supposed to train the newbies and help them out. Nope. He put it all on me. I was in charge of training them on curriculum, which is SO NOT MY JOB and my expertise. The team was horrible. They knew nothing and I got no help. Told my principal and was told “If you want to be a leader, you need to handle tough situations like this!” with them smiling at me.

This year, I’ve never been so burnt out. Any time I asked for help I got a “you can tough it out!” I begged for any kind of help from anyone. My new team refused to do anything bc “it’s easier if you to do it…we’re so stressed being new”. This lasted for a whole school year. Imagine doing all the work for 5 people all at once, being treated like a whipping girl, and being told that I should expect this. Their students even came to me for help because their teachers did nothing in the classroom.

My prinicpal was so shocked when I said I was leaving. I told them that I had no help and I was not standing to be treated like this when I am still a fairly new teacher. He kept saying next year will be much better because my team has improved (no they freaking haven’t). I said “Hell no. You allowed them to think I am there to do everything for them. Next year will be worse.”

Awkward_Society1

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96points

Leonardi also stressed that another big issue she often hears from clients is micromanaging. "People want to be trusted and know that they are confident to perform their job well; having someone constantly double and triple check them (especially when they already have a proven track record) erodes confidence, creates unnecessary stress and anxiety, and creates low morale," she said, adding that it can ultimately push valuable employees out the door.

"It also tells the employee there is no room for them to grow or take on the responsibility or learn leadership skills which can also be an asset to the company if we're allowed to develop properly."

#14

The president of the $2bn company insisted on mandatory Fun. You were met with reprimand and sometimes termination if you:

-Denounced corporate Fun events

-Refused a random errand that had nothing to do with your job

-Didn't go to her parties

-Went to her party but left before early morning

-Stopped going to her parties

-Didn't dress up for costume days

-Didn't decorate your area elaborately for Halloween

They offered free tickets to a company concert each year and when employees sold their tickets online, she would buy them, go to their house, and fire them.

She hired SVPs based on their ability to be evil/cruel, and they would terminate strong performing leaders who weren't yes-people, to make those around them more afraid/productive. Eventually she was ousted and all of her underlings were gloriously wiped out too, sort of like when you kill the head vampire.

SunshineSpectacular

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96points

#15

I once worked at a company where morale was very low due to extreme micromanagement, low pay, and having to provide tech support for a product that frankly sucked.

So they called us into a series of meetings to "discuss" the issue. The guy leading the meeting asked us as soon as we sat down, "Who here is happy in their job?" And like one or two people raised their hands.

He then said, "Well in this economy, you're lucky to have a job at all. Meeting over." And then he left.

Salarian_American, unsplash

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93points

#16

Story Time

I used to work retail for a big box office supply chain, you have a 50/50 shot at guessing which one, as there are only two left. Anyway, leading into Black Friday around 2018, my store manager was really making a big deal about cross selling, ink subscriptions, protection plans, the usual stuff.

Well Black Friday comes, and this was the first Black Friday weekend I worked in 10 years that didn't offer and sort of additional compensation for the staff working that weekend. The shifts were usually 9-10+ hours, and we'd get food catered in for the staff. There also used to be incentives for "top sellers", that was taken away as well...

The staff got nothing, and in natural fashion, our numbers that weekend were the worst in the store's history, by a HUGE margin. Our store manager had a meeting with all of the store and read everyone the riot act about how disgusted he was at our numbers being so low. IE - If you don't take care of your employees, they won't take care of you.

The store manager threatened "serious repercussions" for those that didn't go above and beyond the remainder of the year to make up for the lost sales over the weekend. More than 1/3 of the staff quit before the following Spring.

Come to find out later on, the store manager withheld all of these "extras" for the employees, because if the store spends less than a certain amount of petty cash on lunches, dinners, bonus programs, etc. The store manager gets a nice fat bonus at the end of the year...

Luke5119

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83points

If you’re working in one of these companies that have time and again displayed that they do not care about you as an employee, the career coach wants you to consider a few things. "It’s time to do some self-reflection and realize that you are worth more. You should look for other opportunities that create supportive environments for their employees," she said. "Remember that we spend the majority of time and energy at work, so if that is a toxic environment, it carries over into our personal lives."

#17

We had multiple people quit, repeated leadership meetings about bad attitudes, low morale, etc. (Height of the pandemic in a essential workplace) I suggested a monthly meeting with all the staff to check in, see what they were concerned about, ask if they had suggestions, to lay off on unnecessary contests for things that were LITERALLY NOT THE JOB, and generally try to lower the stress on people in general, learn what the key problems were, and show appreciation and that we cared. The manager was pressuring everyone to get a certain number of donations for rotating charities per day. It was stressing everyone out and several people said they were uncomfortable as we were in a poorer neighborhood and times were tough for a lot of people and they were not comfortable asking people who were barely scraping by to donate. This was discussed by leadership as insubordination, and the person who refused to ask people on foodstamps for donations was written off as a "bad apple". My suggestion to have meetings to talk about their concerns was shot down bc "we don't want them bringing negative things up" the solution the rest of leadership decided on was to ban the daily meme email bc it was "negative" (just normal "oh God its Monday" stuff), to "shut down" any negative talk and if we heard anyone complain or they brought it things up to us to tell them to focus on work, the contests that were not the actual job, and to have disciplinary meetings with anyone who complained or did not comply.

Literally the entire staff quit.

o2mask

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75points

#18

Manager asked what to do about low morale and high turnover. I know he’s a harda*s so I offer something simple, “well there’s only 3 chairs for the given 15-25 of us on an average day, how about we get some more?”

His response was, verbatim, “DONT YOU START THIS FIGHT WITH ME BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT GOING TO WIN”

URMILKJUSTWENTBAD, unsplash

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68points

#19

They sent a survey about what our perceptions about the workplace were. Voicing some issues with some areas was 100% going to get you in trouble so I complained that the survey was not anonymous, anddidn't complete most of it.

Some days later I was personally contacted by 3 people wanting to find out what was wrong. They completely missed the whole point

madkeepz, pexels

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66points

"You want a company where leadership understands that the employees are what makes their company run, and that trust is the number one factor employees are looking for to feel secure and able to thrive. More than cute perks and free lunches, it is about understanding that treating employees with respect and fairness will actually yield a better bottom line for them," she concluded.

#20

I was a nanny for this Instamommy.

I worked 10-12 hour shifts. And normally came in earlier as well as staying later because Mom only wanted the baby for her Instagram. I was exhausted and looked exhausted. She asked me about it. Thinking she was being nice I told her how tired I was.

The next day she had a floor mattress in the nursery right next to the diaper pail. She wanted me to start sleeping there since it was unsafe for me to drive home as tired as I was.

cleaning-meaning, pexels

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62points

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