What makes a good boss?

Former Member

What do you think makes a good boss from an employees perspective?

At my work, we have five bosses for different departments. Four that everyone seem to like, and one that everyone hates. I've noticed that the one's that everyone likes are the ones that get involved with the hard work. They are willing to help clean up at the end of a hard shift, or do the jobs that need doing, no matter what they are. And I've noticed that's the same wherever I've been. When I worked in a bar last summer, we had two bosses. One was great, but everyone hated the other. She was nice enough, but she just spent all her time flirting with customers, and served the odd pint. One of those people who thinks that supervising means just standing there and watching everyone else do the work (it didn't help that the only reason she had the job was that she was engaged to the owner, but that's by the by). I think it's obvious when you actually see that contrast.

But what's your idea on what makes a good boss? Okay, I admit it, this thread is just an excuse for you to rant about any bad employers you've had in the past.

Former Member

well i work at tesco so there's loads of different managers. i don't have anything to do with the big store manager really but whenever i see him he says 'hello lucy' and is really friendly. i think that's important - i'm not even sure how he knows my name!

there are some managers who i don't like; and some who i really like. i like it when they don't make you feel like you're really stupid when you make a mistake and i don't like it when they make you feel like you're wasting their time when they're busy. i like it when they're friendly and say goodbye at the end of your shift.

Former Member

Well i work for a Marine based navigation and simulation company and in our office we have 4/5 managers (one for each department and general manager).

My boss (simulation manager), is quite good to work for (most of the time). He helps out, does his share of mucking in. But he has the worst case of PMT i've ever seen. His mood can change so quick you dont know where you stand. But he does backup his staff most of the time.

We have another manager that everyone apart from 2 women and one of his engineers hate. The two women grovel to him all the time. and the Engineer cant do anything wrong (though he's cost the company shit loads, but thats another story). This guy treats everyone like crap and talks to you like your something he has stepped in.

IHO what makes a good boss is.

• Mucks in with the dirty work
• Supports his/her workers
• Gives you the information need to do the job
• Doesn't treat the workforce like crap
• loads more but my mind went blank as soon as i started the list. DOH!

Former Member

lucifer devil wrote:

well i work at tesco so there's loads of different managers. i don't have anything to do with the big store manager really but whenever i see him he says 'hello lucy' and is really friendly. i think that's important - i'm not even sure how he knows my name!

there are some managers who i don't like; and some who i really like. i like it when they don't make you feel like you're really stupid when you make a mistake and i don't like it when they make you feel like you're wasting their time when they're busy. i like it when they're friendly and say goodbye at the end of your shift.

dont you wear a name tag at tescos?

and as for the good boss

im totally agreeing with the whole mucking in at the end of a shift, boss doesnt always have to do it, when they do though, you know they mean it

Former Member

imo a great boss is someone who lets you just do your job, and backs you up when you need it......both my managers at the college and here have been great so far because once i'd proven myself they just let me get on with it.....hate constantly being watched or quizzed every 5 minutes to see if i'm doing my job lol, as long as the work gets done everyone's happy

Former Member

easy to discuss ideas/ things with
disciplined
sets an example
respects his/her under-workers

Former Member

Most of my managers at the bingo were cool, one of them got slightly stroppy every now and then, but she was really nice to me and I think she saw that I was one of the few in there who actually always worked.

There was one manager in there "Ross the Toss", who was really quiet, but really rude when he did decide to open his gob. I hated the way he fucked with people's heads in there, like sometimes he'd speak about the football to you, but the rest of the time he'd just act like a wank. Not a clue how to handle staff.

Aaand my last manager was a tosser as well, he picked on me a lot for some reason, probably because my sales conversion dared to drop when we stopped doing the 50 quid cashback offer. Tried to threaten me with the sack when I said I couldn't give a weeks notice when I left, but he didn't have a clue about anything.

Former Member

in my experience, the best bosses are the ones that actually value your opinion. I've worked with people before who ask for your opinion then just ignore it anyway and do things their way which is really irritating. The ones i like however are the ones that take into consideration mine and others' thoughts and manage them into a workable solution.

Another plus point to making a good boss is to stick up for their employees.
Again, people i've worked with have gone against me in a dispute with a customer whereas the boss i have now will back me up if someone has a complaint.

Former Member

MrG wrote:

dont you wear a name tag at tescos?

yeh i wear a name badge but i didn't ever think i'd got close enough to him for him to be able to read it let alone remember it.

Former Member

I like it when my boss would congratulate me on a job I've worked at all day, like if I dealt with a shit of a customer in a good way she'd come over and say, "that was really well handled...good work".
A good boss communicates with their staff on a regular basis and is approachable yet professional (ie works when there's work to be done and not just sitting on their ass)

Former Member

When I recently did some work experince, I found it was small things like asking how I'm getting on and greeting me when she was around.

Former Member

scytherchick wrote:

I like it when my boss would congratulate me on a job I've worked at all day, like if I dealt with a shit of a customer in a good way she'd come over and say, "that was really well handled...good work".

Agreed. My bosses seem to thank me all the time - it was quite a surprise coming from my old job. Often they say thanks on days that I don't even feel like I've done anything amazing - they obviously appreciate the small things. Every so often, my boss' boss lets me leave early (when I'm going on holiday or the Friday before Bank Holidays, that kinda thing), which is nice.

Good bosses (like mine!) are also approachable and will help out with the meanial jobs when necessary - many a time have I bonded more with my boss when she's been helping me stuff envelopes (sending out Terms of Employment to 250 staff!).

Former Member

i play football with my boss

Former Member

I sometimes get the idea that all my manager does is sit around and drink all day, whilst filling in the occasional piece of paper, and occasionally berating the supervisors, but he certainly proved me wrong yesterday. It was a day of a huge check-in. So, what does he do? He spends six hours non-stop serving people on the tills. Literally non-stop. I don't know how he managed to do it. If I was on for six hours without a break, I'd probably collapse.

As for the supervisors, if I think they're not pulling their weight, I will tell them. They don't like it, and it's caused a lot of arguments, but we're supposed to function as a team, and slackers don't belong on a team.

Former Member

TBH as much as i can go on complaining all day about my work the management are OK.

The store manager is alright and he always says "Hello James" which is funny because he obviously met me when James was on my name badge and even though i left and came back he remembered who I was without looking at my badge (My badge now says Jamie)

My DM really mucks in and she has a laugh with all of us. She never gives us into trouble in front of each other (she doesn't really give us into trouble anyway) Most of the other DMs are like that. I can't say that I've met a bad DM in there.

The only problem we have is with one of the older women in the men's department. When the DM isn't there she takes charge and bosses people around (to their dislike) when she isn't even a supervisor or anything.