Adjusting to a new manager is not always a smooth or pleasant experience. A 2023 survey reported that 43% of professionals struggled to adapt to a new boss and had to change their working style.
Indeed, the most challenging part of having a new leader mostly revolves around their understanding of work quality and quantity, assessment, work-life balance, and many other things.
A newcomer manager can really shake up the place, and this one from the story shared by the Reddit user u/WeebingDaddu took it to a whole new level. Just two weeks after his arrival, he started to belittle senior employees and tried to cut their hours as they “didn’t meet his standards.”
Having worked there for more than 5 years, one staff member went straight to HR to solve it. And well, the manager wasn’t happy, to say the least.
The employee was resting after completing their 13.5-hour shift
Image credits: cottonbro studio / pexels (not the actual photo)
However, the new boss refused to pay for the last few hours as the employee wasn’t “technically” working
Image credits: Jake Hills / unsplash (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Jopwell / pexels (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Andrea Piacquadio / pexels (not the actual photo)
Image credits: WeebingDaddu
Broken communication and unspoken expectations are the culprits of many conflicts
This story shared on the “Antiwork” subreddit is an example of broken communication and unclear expectations between a new manager and an employee. The newbie boss’s neglect to convey additional tasks to the staff member likely caused this whole unpleasant situation.
However, this scenario is more common than you would think. Poor communication in the workplace is one of the most common challenges people face. It often causes low morale and reduces employee engagement. In fact, a survey of 400 companies found that poor communication costs organizations an average of $62.4 million a year.
Conveying information effectively doesn’t mean simply passing it on to another person. This entails spoken and written communication, body language, clarity, and a safe environment to discuss workplace concerns. It’s not enough to say, “Please send this over on Tuesday,” as your understanding of what time of the day it has to be delivered may differ. The employee might think they have until 5 p.m. to do so when it’s due at 10 a.m. Emphasizing something as simple as the hour can prevent many disagreements and confusion from ensuing.
Employers are often at fault when their expectations of people aren’t talked about or written down. As a result, they are dissatisfied that employees aren’t doing what they are supposed to or that their overall performance just isn’t meeting the unknown standard. Or, better yet, they arrange an 80-minute meeting with their workers to discuss their incompetence in finding extra tasks during their 13.5-hour shift.
Image credits: Ketut Subiyanto / pexels (not the actual photo)
The roots of poor communication and its consequences
One of the causes of poor communication in the workplace stems from leadership. Information flow goes from the top down, and the leader sets a good example for the rest of the team. They also motivate staff members to be more productive by clearly establishing objectives, goals, and future visions. Poor managers often don’t have this information and are unable to inspire their team. They may be impatient in their communication style, conveying that through their tone of voice and even radical decisions like refusing to pay for worked hours.
In this case, the uncommunicated expectations were quite unrealistic. Overly demanding workloads, like completing 13.5 hours without any time to wind down, can become exhausting and stressful very quickly. Without reasonable boundaries, people find it hard to continue working in their roles. Fortunately, the original poster (OP) instantly realized the boss’s incompetent actions and turned to HR to solve the problem. They were able to help and reinstate the pay.
What the manager could’ve done was perhaps update the task list if he wanted the workers to know about it. Ideally, he could’ve discussed it with them and made sure they were realistic and wouldn’t hinder the personnel’s well-being. In addition, just like the OP of this story, people have to be aware of their boundaries and know when they’re being tested, so they don’t get overworked without adequate pay.
Image credits: Startaê Team / unsplash (not the actual photo)
As the story got more recognition, its author joined the discussion in the comments
After a couple of days of suspense, the author posted an update
Image credits: Andrea Piacquadio / pexels (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Myke Simon / unsplash (not the actual photo)
Image credits: LinkedIn Sales Navigator / pexels (not the actual photo)
Image credits: WeebingDaddu
People invested in the story provided some advice for the OP
