Horrible bosses living up to name

HORRIBLE bosses are not limited to the silver screen with many of the nation's managers failing to earn a pass mark from disgruntled employees.

Bosses

HORRIBLE bosses are not limited to the silver screen with many of the nation's managers failing to earn a pass mark from disgruntled employees.

About two-thirds of Australian workers who responded to a survey rated their boss as either "horrible'' or "average'', with 61 per cent claiming they had been bullied by a superior.

More than a third of respondents said their boss had asked them to do something unethical or dishonest, while a few said they had been sexually harassed by a manager.

CareerOne workplace expert Kate Southam said: `"It is well known that most people leave managers rather than jobs so a bad boss costs an organisation.''

The most common problems workers said they had with their bosses were:

• Keeping secrets from their staff.
• Deliberately causing conflict.
• Being a "boot kisser'' to their superiors while mistreating workers below them.
• Belittling and bullying workers while being moody and inconsistent.

The CareerOne.com.au survey coincides with the release of the Hollywood comedy Horrible Bosses, but unlike their fictional counterparts, Australian workers want to see a more subtle approach to fixing the issue.

Half of respondents called for dysfunctional bosses to undergo people management training, while 24 per cent said they should be fired and 16 per cent suggested demotion.

The 36 per cent of workers surveyed who said they had a "good'' boss listed setting clear directions, strong communication skills and being well organised as their managers' best traits.

One South Australian worker familiar with difficult bosses is fire engineer James Sunjaya, 28, who has found greener pastures at his new workplace Lucid Consulting Engineers.

"It's good here because all three directors have an open door policy and sit outside with the rest of the employees,'' Mr Sunjaya said. "It's been quite different to past (jobs) where the bigwig would always be in the office and wouldn't mix with the workers.

"They were never around and when they were they just didn't get their hands dirty.''