Career Doctor Articles

With the kind permission of the Career Doctor, jfo is able to bring you a series of articles to help you in your work situation and longer term career management

Nasty Men at Work

In my recent article entitled “Nasty Women at Work” I discussed the many stories I have heard from clients about how vicious and spiteful women bosses and colleagues could be to other women, whilst at work. That article prompted a number of female readers to phone me about similar cases whereby they had been treated abysmally at work, by other women.

As all my articles prompt people to phone me, there was nothing new, to me, about nasty women at work - but I also received a number of calls from men, suggesting I should write an article about “Nasty Men at Work”. So that’s my theme for this article, just to even up the score, so to speak.

But where to start? As a mere male I thought that men always had the ability to be nasty to each other, so where’s the news there? The more I thought about it, the more I came to the conclusion that men handle other men’s bullying and harassment in slightly different ways to women who are also being bullied and harassed.

Listening to the various tales of woe from my female clients it seems that when a woman wants to bully or harass another women, she will either be quite callous and vindictive, or, more frequently, use subtle ways to undermine the confidence of her victim. On the other hand, when a man wants to bully or harass another man, he will often use more direct methods.

WHAT ARE THE SIGNS?

So what are some of the signs that you are being harassed by Mr. Nasty?

- being sent on unwarranted secondments, with no guarantee of your old job back
- cutting you out of the communications loop, so you are unaware of what is happening
- ignoring you, as though you don’t exist
- giving you far too much work to reasonably finish
- reducing your workload so that you have very little to do all day
- denying you the opportunity to work overtime, but letting others have that opportunity
- keeping you under exceptionally close scrutiny / supervision
- unfairly criticising your performance (often in public to humiliate you)
- giving you warnings for every minor misdemeanour
- taking you round the “back of the bike-shed” to tell you to your face he wants you out

Recognise any of the signs? I am sure there are many more, but the end result is the same. Can you stand up to Mr. Nasty? Can you retaliate? What can you do to save your job / career? In my experience that’s where most people say they can see the writing on the wall, and have no option but to seek another job. That’s certainly one of the main reasons why people seek the services of my consultancy.

Having spent some 30 years in Human Resources, Employee Relations and as a Career Consultant it seems to me there are two types of harassment - either against an individual, or the whole department; and three sub-divisions of each type. There may be more, but the following encompasses the main variations.

VICTIMISING THE INDIVIDUAL

a) Mr. Odd-man-out

So your wife and children love you, and most of your colleagues think you are an OK guy, but your boss doesn’t like you at all. You are the odd-man-out. Why you? Well the reason doesn’t really matter, as you will probably get a plastic answer if you ask the question. I have known men who were seen as being very professional and competent given poor appraisals and who were treated quite unfairly (but within the system) by their managers.

Why are you seen in such a poor light by your manager? Sometimes it is jealousy, or fear that you will overtake or replace your manager. Sometimes it is just a personality clash. The reason is immaterial; the results can be quite devastating. I have heard of careers that have been blighted, resignations forced, even being victimised to the point of dismissal.

When I was working in the HR department of a shipping company I used to regularly receive crew reports from the Chief Engineer or Captain of the eight ships in the fleet. It was amazing that Joe X, a Second Engineer was seen as “ready for promotion” in the reports of seven Chief Engineers, but as a “poor performer” by the eighth Chief Engineer. Why was that Chief Engineer the only one to criticise Joe? Was Joe the odd-man-out, or the Chief Engineer?

I soon learned in HR to question the actions, motives and track record of the reporting manager just as much as the behaviour of the person accused.

b) Mr. Newbie

This is almost the classic situation, where a new manager is appointed, who then considers that he has inherited someone who is not “his man”. You are now seen as the “old guard” and as a hindrance to the new manager’s plans. You stand in his way of becoming the success he thinks he can be. I am sure we have all come across this scenario.

I can say without fear of contradiction that this is the most common tale of woe that I hear in my consultancy. Unless the new manager takes to you immediately, there is a fair chance you will be seen as blocking his ultimate success, and so you become his enemy who he must vanquish.

c) Mr. Colleague

In my experience it is less common for HR to hear about a man who victimises a fellow colleague - possibly because the victim is less likely to complain to HR unless there is a very clear case with plenty of corroborated evidence. The victim runs the risk of being called a “grass” and being sent to Coventry if he complains. Men will tend to sort out problems with colleagues in their own way, and not call for help. Macho, and all that!

I was involved in a case where management received an anonymous note alleging a severe breach of rules. The note had to be investigated, and I was called in. On the face of it the note was written by Mr. X, as he had distinctive handwriting. He denied it emphatically, and the more I delved into things, the more suspicious I became. Nothing was as it seemed. I even hired a hand-writing expert to compare the note with Mr. X’s known handwriting (timesheets, etc).

The bottom line was that one of Mr. X’s colleagues had tried to stitch him up, in a devious way. Even the trade union agreed with my conclusions, and I sacked the forger.

VICTIMISING EVERYONE

d) Mr. Tyrant

Occasionally a manager surfaces to the top (like dross) who believes that the only way to manage all his staff is to use fear. He acts like a tyrant, makes autocratic decisions, and will bully anyone who stands up to him. Woe betide you if you fall foul of him

I had the misfortune to work under such a man when I worked on a local newspaper (not in this part of the UK). He treated everyone with distain and bullied all who worked under him. I resolved never to treat anyone under my supervision in the same way, and it was that experience that ultimately led me into a career in HR.

This autocratic style of management is often found in sales, whereby the manager believes in the stick and carrot approach. Pressurise the sales force, set them impossible targets, criticise their performance, but offer them a commission if they do manage to make some sales. I am glad I never wanted a career in sales!

e) Mr. Ambitious

This is the manager who wants to make a name for himself, and is quite happy to step on or over other people to reach his goal. The blue-eyed boy who wants a meteoric career and doesn’t mind who he hurts on his way up the corporate ladder.

He will set impossible targets and standards, issue a stream of memos and emails, and work 18 hours a day (expecting the same “dedication” from you). If you do anything exceptional, he will make sure he gets the credit, whereas if you do anything wrong, he will make sure he is not tainted by your mistake.

I again had the misfortune to have one of these types come into the HR department in a senior role. I was one of the “old guard” he inherited (see Mr. Newbie) and this man so wanted to be a director that he behaved just like I described in the preceding paragraph. Eventually he was seen to be what he was, and his career hit the buffers. What sweet justice!

f) Mr. Incompetent

A common complaint that I hear from my clients is having to work under a manager who is not up to his job, who has been over-promoted, and who is blighting my clients’ careers by his ineptitude. If you work under such a manager your career will suffer, by association.

Mr. Incompetent will blame you for his failures, will turn a blind eye when things are going wrong, and will sometimes actively encourage others to bully or harass a colleague. That man is weak, ineffective, and has lost control, but he is still in charge, and can make your life uncomfortable and stunt your career prospects.

One of my clients was being harassed because of his race - a very dangerous situation which should have been immediately acted upon. Mr. Incompetent turned a blind eye and the end result was the company faced a major Employment Tribunal case from my client, which I had prepared. Before the case got to Tribunal I negotiated a Compromise Agreement with the company, for it to buy-off my client with a large payment. I enjoyed helping him achieve that result, and we had a beer together on how Mr. Incompetent had caused his company to spend such a large amount of money to pay for his ineptitude. I wonder if he is still in his job?

Good luck!

The Career Doctor is Eric Hearn, Chartered MCIPD and Managing Director of Milverton Career Solutions Ltd, Ascot, Berkshire, UK.

Contact details:
Tel: 01344 624383
Email: milvertoncareers@btconnect.com
Website: www.careerdevelopment.co.uk