Boss Trashed the Hard Drive

At Unhooked we hear horror stories from all levels of the workforce.

Leadership doesn’t like to think that they have people who do such nasty things in their companies, but they do, and they are the workers who negatively impact productivity.

We’ll post an anonymous story on occasion to help you identify disruptors; observe their impact and how to better deal with them.

Here’s a simple story that goes on all too often. We think of it as, The Signs We’re All There.

The Disruptor
Director of a medium-size division of a large company.

The Disruptions
#1 :The director stopped speaking to an employee for three months, giving no direction, feedback or support. Eventually, a new employee was selected as the target of alienation putting employee 1 back in the communication loop. Over time, one employee at a time became the target.

#2 : The director spent lots of time with another director behind closed doors with no resulting work product.

#3 : The director eventually found a new job in a different company but before leaving, time was taken to trash his/her hard drive. Reign of terror = 4 years.

The Result
Two good employees left before the director resigned. Impact = loss of training dollars; more dollars spent on re-hiring; stunted productivity.

Employees reported physical ailments and mental stress during the director’s reign. Impact = reduced productivity.

Loss of equipment. Impact = minor dollar damage but potential for larger abuse; validated employee suspicions; tarnished leadership’s image because no action was taken to address complaints; negative morale.

Preventing and/or Managing Employee Disruptions in Your Company
1. Before the hire, reference checks are vital. Get clever to find out if the candidate was: overly-charming, defensive, condescending. Can he manage his anger? Can she take instruction and direction?

2. Provide structure, support and consequences for everyone. Help them unhook from the conflict and stress.

3. Pay attention to and provide a forum for employee’s concerns. Ask the right questions when complaints are made and observe patterns of behavior.

Share your anonymous stories with us on Twitter @unhookedbooks or via email on the contact page.

If you are living through experiences with explosive, self-centered or dramatic people at work Bill Eddys NEW Book It’s All Your Fault At Work could change your life.