The insensitive manager does not care about an employees life outside of work. So if one of their team is caring for an elderly confused relative whose behaviour results in phone calls from concerned neighbours  during office hours the manager is more concerned about the impact this distraction has on work. Such a manager expects employees not to let family or personal circumstances interfere with their performance at work.

It is important as a manager to keep things in perspective and not over react. Some managers want to go straight to formal disciplinary action for a minor infringement of the rules believing ,”if you give them an inch they will take a mile”. This heavy handed approach alienates employees, destroys good will and can result in grievances against the manager.

Some managers simply shy away from challenging a team member over the quality of their work or the inappropriateness of their behaviour. They let things go rather than risk confrontation. Other members of the team resent the fact that this individual is getting away with it, they lose respect for their manager viewing them as weak.

Nothing frustrates employees more than inconsistent management. “You just don’t know where you stand one day it’s ok the next it’s not”. Sometimes this is seen as favouritism one rule for the manager’s favourite another for the rest. Maybe it more a case of changing their mind depending who they last spoke to. Annual leave requests often throw up inconsistent behaviour breaking the first come first served rule or saying no more than two people can be off at any one time then allowing a third person to have time off.

Managers are expected to set a good example so it is particularly upsetting to an individual if they feel they are the victim of discrimination by the boss. Perhaps they are being denied training and development opportunities because they work part time or are considered too old to be ambitious. Managers know it is totally unacceptable to be racist but that doesn’t mean that some managers can’t put additional obstacles in the way of BME employees or overlook them for promotion describing the individuals management style as,” aggressive” when the same behave in others is seen as assertive.

HR believe the best way to avoid bad management is through compassionate management. Treating each employee as an individual and responding accordingly when issues arise. Being compassionate doesn’t mean you are weak or a sucker for a sob story it means you are sympathetic to an individuals personal circumstances and not ridged or inflexible in your response.