SINGAPORE: A toxic boss is allegedly dodging responsibility by pinning his own failures on a junior staff member who joined the company only a few months ago.
The junior staff member aired his grievances on r/askSingapore, writing, “Working in the private sector. Just joined this role few months ago and I was rudely shocked by the organisation’s lack of strategy and direction. Every week there is a new shift in direction because of poor leadership.
“Every opportunity that this gets raised up to my manager it is met with gaslighting that I am contributing to the lack of direction. This is despite my manager being part of senior leadership while I am a junior staff.”
Additionally, the staff member exposed some of his boss’s highly questionable and unleadership-like behaviors. For example, his boss spent over a month working to woo prospective partners and secure their interest, only to backtrack and turn them down at the last minute because of a “change of strategy from management.”
In addition to this, his boss has been engaging in dubious practices with the company’s financial reports. “He’s been fudging finance report numbers to play with expense ratio (it is in very dangerous territories and I am concerned to say the least),” he said.
The toxic work environment created by this boss has apparently led to the resignations of several long-term employees.
“He insists on 1 day WFH. Colleagues have asked for more to which he has responded in front of senior leadership that “he has no faith in the team”. With the 2 long timers leaving he has now begun to criticise my work constantly, even emails have to go through him for approval,” he added.
To make things worse, he has also heard from one of his colleagues that his boss is intending to have him remove from his position.
“He has found 1 to replace me. No word of this has come from my manager and he is acting normal. I need to know I’m not crazy. Has this happened to anyone else? Feeling a bit burnt that with this bad employment market I may be looking at unemployment soon.”
“Time to jump. Get that resume out there.”
The comments section was filled with advice for the junior staff member to start searching for new opportunities right away.
One user said, “Start sending out your resume just in case. Anyway, sounds like you are dodging a bullet if he does try to fire you. Working under him will also make you look like bad after too long. You don’t want him to end up being associated with you.”
Another commented, “Time to jump. Get that resume out there.”
A third user added, “Not every org/company is run like they are full of purpose and vision.
In reality, most companies don’t care if you recognize or align with their direction. You are a tool, paid to work. If this is not what you want, can’t stand just being paid to do whatever they say… change job ASAP.”
On the other hand, a few users speculated that the junior staff member might have done something to provoke such a reaction from his boss.
One Reddit user asked, “Have you been criticizing your management with your coworkers? Management will notice you if you have been doing it and they might feel like you are not aligned with the organisation. In this case, you might get managed out.”
Several netizens also reminded him that toxic bosses like this are everywhere, and that it is rare to meet ideal bosses, perfectly organized companies, friendly colleagues, or pleasant customers. They pointed out that dealing with such challenges is a part of the work experience, and it can be a testament to one’s resilience and adaptability if he survives.
Read also: Employee dealing with toxic boss asks Singaporeans how to fake happiness at work
Featured image by Depositphotos