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Do you have a toxic boss?
Last updated at 00:22am on 12.01.07
Mr Angry: one of the classic profiles of a toxic boss
Experts have identified a new breed of nightmare bosses - "toxic managers".
They have pinpointed the traits that they say make workers life hell and are bad for business.
Typically a toxic manager will shout at staff, have few academic qualifications, be arrogant and poor emotional control.
They will also be easily bored, unable to make good long term plans and place little value on seeing their workers gain new skills.
For their beleaguered employees, psychologists warn, this combination causes misery and reduce productivity as people start to take days off work.
"Having a toxic manager makes workers unhappy and incompetent," said Professor Adrian Furnham, of University College, London.
He presented his findings to the British Psychological Society's occupational psychology conference in Bristol yesterday.
Prof Furnham, who pooled together previous studies as well as conducting his own research, said the number of toxic managers remains mercifully low - but still causes misery for thousands of workers.
He produced a checklist on how to spot a toxic boss, including characteristics like moodiness, unpredicability, restlessness and selfishness, He told the delegates that the characteristics of bad parents could be translated to managers - with similar effects on other people.
"One of the major causes of misery is misery at work, especially if your boss is uncaring, selfish and arrogant, because you are stuck with that for eight hours a day," he said.
"It leads to low morale and poor productivity because people keep going absent from work."
Last year American researchers also identified how you can tell if your boss has an ego that is out of control.
Scientists from Penn State University said you can tell if he is a true narcissist by looking at how many times his picture is in the annual report, his prominence in press releases and the number of times he refers to himself in interviews.
Other telltale signs are the difference between his pay and perks and those of the next biggest earner in the company, plus the length of his Who's Who entry.
Based on their study of 111 company bosses, the researchers also concluded that self-importance is not necessarily good for business.
They found that those who have large egos tend to take bigger risks and while for some that means larger gains, for others it can mean more spectacular falls.
Checklist
How you can spot if you have a toxic boss. Your boss:
• Is inconsistent and unpredictable so you can never be sure what they will say or do.
• Has a low tolerance of provocation and be known for their moodiness.
• Appears self-indulgent and often deeply selfish.
• Displays a total lack of long-term planning for future eventualities for themselves, their staff or their product.
• Frequently appears restless, seeming to become bored easily and unable to pay attention.
• Has learning problems reflected in the fact they may have few educational qualifications.
• Shows poor emotional control causing them to shout, weep, sulk and gush with little embarrassment or control.
• Places little value on skills and despise attempts by staff to upgrade their skills.
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