Please help with my boss!?

Question

My boss Janice came from nothing. She worked in manual labor for years. She put herself through college in her 30's, then her Masters in her 40's . She can be described as a little "rough around the edges". However in the past years she has gotten worse. She has negative comments to say about everything. She has never had any children so she HATES it when she finds out anyone in our company is pregnant or has to be out with kids. She constantly complains about how overworked and underpaid she is. She is the boss but she complains if we come to her with work related problems etc. Other co-workers and I have talked about how we now hate to be around her and know every conversation is going to end in her complaining. I like this woman on a personal level but how can I tactfully tell her she is being a pain!

Answer 1

I think that when people come from a tough background and they have worked so hard to reach an upper level of education or employment status, it toughens them and they view people as complaining about any little issue as weakness and being unable to handle real issues.

If people come up and say, "my kid is sick" and they do it all of the time it gets old. An employer wants a crew who can be efficient, get the job done well, and have as little complaint as possible, and as long as your wage is fair and you have a contract that allows you for sick days or personal days and even some vacation days, and they have these things set up and people abuse it, then in the real world there's no synmpathy. It's dog eat dog out there. From an employer perspective, finding out that someone is pregnant usually means that they'll be out for a while or will have to be put on a lighter workload, and it is a hassle for companies that need work to be done on deadlines.

I would suggest that you separate work from personal life. Anything that happens at work leave it there and when you go home at night, forget about it. She is not going to change how she is and what she thinks about certain issues. The best option is to do your own thing, worry about your own behind, do what you need to do, and work your way up the chain. Never burn bridges.  

Answer 2

I have a similar situation at work a few years back.  Luckily my office has a great structured management and HR.  I'm not sure about your situation but if Janice has a superior, you may want to go to that superior or if you're afraid of retaliation, usually HR offers anonymous way of submitting feedbacks.

I am not suggesting ganging up on her but it would make the feedback/your case more substantiated if it comes from several co-workers.  

Hopefully from there the company will educate your boss to be a better superior.

Good luck.

Answer 3

Find another job

Answer 4

The same way you just told us.