Get your boss fired!

Do you have a legitimate reason to get your boss fired?

Let me guess: you don't like your boss.

You wouldn't have clicked on an article entitled 'Get your boss fired' otherwise, would you?

But what can you do about it? Can you actually get your boss fired?

My boss is a bad boss

There are many types of bad bosses. Perhaps your boss ruffles feathers, tinkers unnecessarily with processes, and makes a pig's breakfast of everything. You become unhappy, demoralised and demotivated, but the boss doesn't notice the problem, despite subtle hints, quiet chats and short tempers. Or if he does notice (it's just as easily 'she' but let's keep this simple) he thinks it's a good thing that the team is sullen and under the thumb. Or if he doesn't think that's a good thing, his insecurity and inability to deal with the situation makes him even more intolerable.

You know what I'm talking about.

Complaining from a position of weakness

Unfortunately, your boss's boss may not want to admit he made a mistake by hiring this chap. When business decisions are made, they're not lightly unmade.

If it's a recent promotion, bear in mind that your boss may be very good at what you do - hence the decision to ask him to lead the team - but he's not very good at managing people. Perhaps he simply doesn't know how to do it. Good managers are very rarely simply born good managers. They learn by experience.

For this reason, formal support within the company will be of a more sedate nature than you, as an angry underling, probably wish. Your personnel department is more like a mediation service than a trade union. Workplace mediation is in their training, organising pickets and banners isn't. The HR team hasn't been hired to stir up unrest, but to keep things (alright, people) running as smoothly as possible.

The bottom line is that you're personally going to need to build a great case if you want to get your boss fired.

Disliking the boss isn't enough

You need solid reasons that affect or are likely to affect business performance, or that seriously overstep social boundaries.

You also need to have tried to resolve the problems you have with your boss directly. You need to at least try to explain to your boss why you are unhappy, and – this is the hard part - you need to listen to his side of the story when he explains why he made a pig's breakfast of everything (it was unlikely to be intentional, after all). You should give him a chance – in fact, more than one chance – to resolve the problem, and you also need to make a big effort to understand why he is tinkering (seemingly unnecessarily) with processes. He is, after all, your boss: it’s his job to make those decisions, not yours. He may know things you don't. And do try to forgive him if he makes a few mistakes. He is human after all!

My boss deserves to be fired!

Experienced lovemoney.com HR director, Marisa Schlichting, told me there are three reasons why a company can fire someone: their work is not up to scratch, their conduct is unacceptable, and gross misconduct (such as stealing or punching someone).

What does this mean in practice? Let’s say you’ve got a new boss who has been changing things and you are 100% sure the way your old boss ran the team is better. Have you got a case for making a complaint and getting your new boss fired?

No. You might not like it, but you need to accept that each boss is different, and will have their own way of doing things. Ask yourself: is the change having a significant impact on your performance, and why? How can you adapt to the change and resolve the problem, without expecting your boss to change his ways? Make sure you truly give the new system a go, and keep an open mind.

The fact is, you are paid to do things the way your boss tells you to do them. If your department then performs badly, it’s your boss who will have to accept ultimate responsibility. And at that point, you won’t want him to have a scapegoat in the form of you - ‘the troublemaker’ – to parade in front of his boss.

But if your boss isn't managing his people – ie. you - effectively, can’t you argue that his work isn't up to scratch in that regard?

Again, this argument will reflect badly on you. If your boss was really such a bad manager, this would affect motivation, morale and, most importantly, performance across the entire department. It's likely that your boss’s boss will then want to take a look at why things are going wrong, and manage your boss better. It’s certainly not your job to do this!

I still think my boss should be fired!

Hopefully, by this point, you’ve ruled a lot of the mistakes that people make when they think they have a legitimate grievance against their bosses.

You’ve given your boss a chance to resolve the problem directly, you’ve listened to his point of view and you’ve tried to do it his way. But you are still having difficulties doing your work properly – perhaps you are being repeatedly bullied, verbally or physically abused, publicly humiliated or unfairly targeted. And as time goes on, it’s escalating, and understandably you are starting to feel very upset or stressed.

Particularly if it’s affecting your health, and you’ve had no joy addressing the matter with your boss, then it’s time to speak to either his boss or HR. You need to bring evidence of how it is affecting your ability to do your job, so start noting down examples of the problematic behaviour and potentially even speak to your doctor.

I recommend you stick to just the worst examples of bad boss behaviour. If you try throwing in a dozen smaller biffs to pad out your examples, you'll bury the important points and could be seen to be on a witch-hunt. Make sure you have tried to address each and every one with your boss directly before you take it further.

And whatever you do, don’t bring other team-mates into it – just stick to your own experiences and problems. Otherwise, you run the risk of being seen to be trying to gang up on your boss and create bad feeling within your boss’s team. Plus, when faced with backing up your claims to your boss’s face, your colleagues may choose to downplay their troubles or deny them completely.

If the bad behaviour is being aimed at more than just you, tell other colleagues what you are doing but let each individual make their own claim. In the end, a good boss/HR manager will recognise that, if it's affecting more than one of you, everyone in the team needs to be brought together in a meeting with your boss to address the issues. Let your boss or HR make that call, not you.

If, in the end, the informal process doesn't work, and you are still truly unhappy, then you can submit a formal grievance. This way, your concerns will have to be listened to and if you are unhappy with the outcome, you can appeal the process.

Difficulties at the next stage

Let’s imagine you’ve managed to convince your boss' superiors to take the action you desire. Unfortunately, your boss's bosses now have difficulties of their own.

There are considerable legal hoops a company has to go through to fire people. The dispute resolution service ACAS explains what has to be done under Discipline on their website or in their grievances at work guide.

Schlichting summarised the main legal requirements:

“Whatever the issue, it should be properly investigated, the employee should be given written notice of any formal meetings and be made aware it may result in dismissal. They have the right to be accompanied to meetings and the right to appeal the decision.”

Furthermore, Schlichting explained, employers have to be careful not to be accused of discrimination. If employer's get any step of the process wrong, the company could be sued for unfair dismissal. Hence, some managers may feel it's more effort and risk than it's worth.

Bear in mind that employees cannot claim unfair dismissal in the first 12 months of their employment. Effectively, any dismissal is 'fair'. So it's theoretically easier for HR to fire your boss within the first year of your boss's employment.

Can it be done?

Schlichting has never seen cases where managers have been fired because of complaints made by the people they are managing. But she has seen managers given their marching orders for poor conduct which included poor people management.

I believe you need a very good case to try to get your boss fired. You need really good examples of the manager's behaviour, quality evidence demonstrating his negative effect on your health and your work if possible, and a good senior management team that is willing to address problems with a middle manager.

If you don't think you've got those things, your time might be better spent sending your CV to your employer's competitors.

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