Originally posted to the TribeHR Blog as "Tackling the problem of problem managers."

A recent survey of HR Professionals suggests there is a plague of problem managers in Canadian workplaces. With 73% reporting a problem, that number is indeed a bit alarming. Sadly, the problem is both deep-rooted and difficult to tackle.

In the Daily Business Buzz article linked above, this paragraph really sums how complicated the problem is:

Many respondents commented that problem managers have a strong impact on employee engagement, turnover and the bottom line; and that it doesn’t take many bad managers to have serious morale consequences. Others note the incidence of problem managers may be underreported because employees are fearful of reprisals, and that issues can go undetected for a long time until problems ‘blow up’.

How do you deal with this? The article suggests that you point out the negative consequences of bad behaviour and demonstrate how much more effective employees are when the manager changes how they treat them.

However, how do you even know there is a problem if people aren’t reporting it? In my mind, problem managers are a product of the culture within the workplace. The CEO or top level management is just as much at fault for the lower level management behaviour as the person acting badly.

At the point a full blown conflict shows itself, no on comes out unscathed and rarely is the core problem addressed. No individual is to blame either. Better tools are needed, in my mind, to collect measurable data that can raise the alarm earlier which will help correct problems. In my perfect world these are the top three things on my wish list:

An HR professional or senior manager can see early signs of problems in employee engagement: higher sick leave usage, using all of their vacation entitlement early in the year, slow responses from manager to employee questions, etc

Feedback systems are in place that give employees the sense that they can share concerns without being targeted for being a whistle blower. This means anonymous systems that can challenge even the most progressive manager.

Employees can benchmark their progress with others in the organization in a more neutral way that just what they hear at the water cooler—skills development, interactions with managers, job descriptions, and celebrations of little successes are all things employees use to compare their experience with others.
If you have tools that offer metrics, reports, and gentle nudges, that can help make the workplace a better place and I believe you can do something to avoid the plague of bad management.