Knowing you can trust someone takes time. Even if you’re a good judge of character, it’s not easy to get to know someone well enough to feel safe or not with them. When you’re making new friends, building a trust relationship is all about spending time together and sharing meaning experiences. But when you’re at work, knowing whether you can trust your boss is a different kettle of fish. For a start, it’s hard to get to know your boss in the same way you would a friend. Ultimately, stress, high responsibilities, and lack of time can stand in between you. But, some clues can let you know whether you can rely on your boss, or whether they don’t have your best interests at heart. Here are four red flags to identify when dealing with a new manager:
Not respecting your time off
Dealing with health complications is always a challenging experience. In some cases, you might find yourself stuck at home during the recovery period. As tempting as it might be to pressure yourself to bounce back quickly, you know that healing is a time-demanding process. However, recovery can get stressful when you’ve got a boss who doesn’t respect your time off. A manager who gets in touch to check if you’re really ill or who needs you to tackle work-related matters is not someone who looks after you.
Not maintaining the workplace
Your workplace should be a place where you can feel safe. The coronavirus pandemic highlights the need for strict health and safety regulations. However, even outside of a health crisis, you want a boss who maintains the workplace. Loose wires, slippery floors, dark areas, and exposed electrical connections, for instance, are some of the most common office complaints heard by personal injury lawyers. You’d be surprised to know that some of the most overlooked and most easily avoidable work-related accidents happen in the office.
Not valuing your time
‘Hey, could you stay late tonight to deal with that new project we’ve received?’
Wait. Did your boss ask you to work overtime for free? Unfortunately, it is a frequent occurrence for desk positions. The correct answer to the query is no. You shouldn’t agree to work for free or let your boss corner you on the way out. Your contract stipulates your working hours, which means that anything unreasonable that goes above the amount of time you are paid to dedicate to the company is not okay.
Not supporting your growth
Where do you see yourself in five years’ time? Probably not doing the same job. Unfortunately, when managers refuse to invest in your personal development, you can find it hard to boost your professional skills. A dedicated training program that helps you grow in the business and learn new trends and techniques should be part of your job. Additionally, failure to provide constructive feedback can also affect employees’ growth and professional career. It’s your boss’s responsibility to help you improve your skills and knowledge.
Your manager has a duty of care. Indeed, a good boss should value and support the growth, skills, and time of their employees. A boss who fails to fulfill their duty of care toward their team can be a dangerous manager. More importantly, employees should report their mistakes to the HR department to help protect coworkers and create a standard of quality across the business.
