Bad Boss Index: 1000 Employees Name Worst Manager Behaviors

The manager behaviors play an important role in your success at the job and your passion for the position. When you have a boss you respect and admire, you are more likely to produce great work and enjoy your job. But when you have a bad boss, you’re much more likely to be upset, unengaged and ready to leave.

Recently, BambooHR polled more than 1,000 U.S.-based employees to get their views on bosses and rate various aspects of their manager behaviors on a scale from one, being a “deal breaker that would make you want to quit,” to six, being “completely acceptable”

• 1 = deal breaker that would make you want to quit;
• 2 = not at all acceptable;
• 3 = minimally acceptable;
• 4 = moderately acceptable;
• 5 = very acceptable;
• 6 = completely acceptable

The results show the number one trait employees can’t stand is when their bosses take credit for their work, and that older employees find this kind of behavior significantly less acceptable than younger employees do. These employees most likely feel they deserve credit for their intellectual contributions that have become more substantial and proficient as they scale the ranks.

The study also found that your response to your manager’s unfavorable behavior could even be connected to your gender.

While receiving fair compensation is typically at the top of employees’ must-have list, having a boss who doesn’t fight for them to achieve the pay they think they deserve doesn’t top our list of bad behaviors — there are other factors that are more egregious.

Above all, employees want a boss who trusts them, cares for them as people, respects their work/life balance, and appreciates and acknowledges their hard work and good ideas.

Most leaders want to be good bosses to their team members, but they may be falling short in ways they aren’t aware. This survey highlights a range of unacceptable manager behaviors pinpointed by employees, while simultaneously providing a cautionary guide to the traits managers and employers should avoid.

Read on to learn what employees dislike and gain insights into how bosses can fix these behaviors.