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Rex Gatto Ph.D., BCC Executive Coach and President Gatto Associates LLC. Do YOU have a Toxic Boss? Developing and sustaining effective employees is the job of every boss, those who do what is in the best interest of the organization, is critical to that organization’s success. Bosses, who coach and mentor employees to grow and learn are essential to the workplace. Bosses need to be aware of employee skill sets and abilities, and be able to differentiate employee performance into three categories: High potential employees Moderate performing employees Why was this person hired? Furthermore, the boss needs to establish developmental goals and action plan to clearly identify behavioral change through the developmental process. Jack Welch, retired CEO of GE, when asked what is the main job of a manager he responded, to differentiate talent. Let’s compare Toxic Bosses with Nutrient Bosses. Toxic Bosses: Don’t recognize employees for contribution Micromanage employees and take credit Avoid change and innovation Don’t hire, promote or develop the right people Don’t listen, say things in meetings that cause confusion Don’t support their direct report Don’t communicate clearly and with transparency Are not consistent (what mood is s/he in today?) Don’t make timely decisions or change their minds Wait too long to remove personnel problems

Do YOU Have a Toxic Boss?

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Page 1: Do YOU Have a Toxic Boss?

Rex Gatto Ph.D., BCC Executive Coach and President Gatto Associates LLC.

Do YOU have a Toxic Boss?

Developing and sustaining effective employees is the job of every boss,

those who do what is in the best interest of the organization, is critical to

that organization’s success. Bosses, who coach and mentor employees

to grow and learn are essential to the workplace. Bosses need to be

aware of employee skill sets and abilities, and be able to differentiate

employee performance into three categories:

High potential employees

Moderate performing employees

Why was this person hired?

Furthermore, the boss needs to establish developmental goals and action

plan to clearly identify behavioral change through the developmental

process. Jack Welch, retired CEO of GE, when asked what is the main

job of a manager he responded, to differentiate talent.

Let’s compare Toxic Bosses with Nutrient Bosses.

Toxic Bosses:

Don’t recognize employees for contribution

Micromanage employees and take credit

Avoid change and innovation

Don’t hire, promote or develop the right people

Don’t listen, say things in meetings that cause confusion

Don’t support their direct report

Don’t communicate clearly and with transparency

Are not consistent (what mood is s/he in today?)

Don’t make timely decisions or change their minds

Wait too long to remove personnel problems

Page 2: Do YOU Have a Toxic Boss?

Wait too long to promote the right people (personal bias)

Toxic Bosses waste time, demoralize employees and are a catalyst for

talent walking out the door. People join organizations and leave bosses.

Nutrient Bosses are able to differentiate talent and give supportive and

developmental feedback to help employees grow.

Nutrient Bosses:

Give continual feedback

Recognize employees for their contributions for success

Establishes clear performance expectations

Create performance consistency by using a common descriptive

performance language

Discuss, support, and coach employees to sustain or develop work

performance (behaviors)

Outline employee strengths and talents with enhancements through

self-assessment and boss observation/assessment

Utilizing the above points to support employees will create consistency

within the organization. Helping employees become role models for

appropriately receiving feedback and demonstrating how to effectively

utilize feedback is the job of the boss.

Following are six key points of measurement to identify Nutrient Boss’

actions and priorities: people issues, work issues, teamwork, leadership,

goal achievement, and peer feedback to enhance performance.

Understanding these six dimensions will create a benchmark of

performance for your organization. The best way to avoid creating toxic

bosses, those focused on themselves and not the organization, is to stop

promoting toxic managers who are great technicians but lack the ability

of working at a true manager or executive level. The six-dimensional

process creates a mechanism for candid feedback that can support

employee effectiveness within the organization and create a level of skill

Page 3: Do YOU Have a Toxic Boss?

needed to accomplish individual responsibilities, departmental goals,

and supports organization wide goals.

Nutrient bosses who implement a reward process for successful

employee performance effectively establish the behavior patterns needed

to sustain the organization now and in the future. A Nutrient Boss’

focus needs to be in the best interest of the organization while

individually developing the work-related and people-related skills to

ensure the health of the organization. If Nutrient Bosses are successful

at doing this, they will become role models for employees, while setting

a successful level of executive/manager performance. The question for

you to ask is “are we as an organization selling products and or services

or sustaining and building a business?” You build a business by

developing the right employees who will sustain the future of your

organization. To sustain the future of the organization Nutrient Bosses

continually are focused on giving employees feedback that will feed the

future.

Employee feedback creates a common language for development by

identifying the level of functional performance that creates consistency

throughout your organization. Identifying the right employee actions

creates organization consistency through a process that supports

employee recognition and compensation.

Six types of performance feedback:

Evaluation- measuring the worth of performance

Interpretive-reviewing performance with expectation

Strengths – keep performing in that manner

Development – learning and enhancing performance

Probing- asking and guiding employee performance

Understanding- knowing intent, thoughts, and direction

When giving feedback bosses need to know the types of feedback and if

they are evaluating (evaluating or interpreting) or coaching (strengths,

development, probing and understanding) or both.

Page 4: Do YOU Have a Toxic Boss?

Motivation being an outcome from performance feedback can differ

based on the type of feedback given.

The problem; managers think if I am giving feedback it is an evaluation!

Employees respond differently to the type of feedback and may also be

motivated based on the relationship between the boss and employee.

Nutrient bosses have always known this!

The key to giving performance feedback really has little to do with the

document, tools or format it is the rapport that the Nutrient Boss has

developed with the employee.

A Big questions: Does the employee realize in his/her heart that the boss

has their best interest in mind while giving performance feedback?

Nutrient Boss = yes

Toxic Boss = NO

The really BIG problem is tying feedback to money during the same

meeting. That is an issue for another BLOG

Do you have a Toxic or Nutrient Boss?