Unfair or Unpredictable: What will be your choice of boss?
Unfair or Unpredictable: What will be your choice of boss?
Introduction:
You don’t always get what you want in a job like good work environment, good pay, a work profile that just clicks with your expectations and the most important of them all – a boss who isn’t nagging at your tail all the time, isn’t unfair towards you and doesn’t come up with mean and unexpected surprises or shockers. You can’t have the whole package, let’s accept it.
Since we can get a dream job but not a dream boss, we decided (not that there is any choice in this matter) to comprise with one or more of the missing qualities if he/she is at least not the worst nightmare of a boss that there could be. Given a choice, many wouldn’t settle favorably in a job where the boss is either unfair or unpredictable.
If you have to choose between an unfair or an unpredictable boss, you may not like either of them and trust me when I say you don’t have to, but since you have to deal with them if the job is the one that you always wanted, a comparison between the two can always help.
Unfair:
1. Challenge is good: When we know that the boss is not the easiest to please even when we are more deserving than the others, one is bound to work harder than one would usually. You know that he always has it set in his mind to present all the credits on someone who might not be working as hard as you are, you will work on making it so better that the man on chair finds absolutely no excuse to point finger at you. This, in turn, is good for the development of your skills.
2. You learn patience: Forget the phase of life where everything happened as per set rule and prescribed system. Be adaptive of the new phase where a lot depends on your patience and ability to deal with the unfair. Your unfair boss could be the person who could teach you this better than anyone else can. You might feel angered and frustrated by his actions but you still keep your calm and go as per the routine of work. This is where you start growing up with rising tests and trails of time.
3. Getting used to it easily: With a boss who is unfair and doesn’t look pleased even when you give your best, it becomes usually predictable which makes it convenient for you to decide how he would react in a given situation. With time, you know exactly how he would want things done and how to play your cards differently to keep his wrapped around. Most employees under an unfair boss get comfortable after working for a few months compared to those working under unpredictable boss with whom there is no guessing or predicting.
4. Unpredictability is unpleasant: The last thing you want at work is things going just the opposite of how you planned. You expect something and your moody boss simply turns up in blues to bring you out of your dilemma. It is something which not everyone will be able to deal with even after spending years working under the same person. Crushing expectations most of the time leaves one hopeless in a job where there is no getting familiar to boss.
5. Taking actions: If you are on the receiving end of unfair treatment at work which doesn’t seem to die down even after trying everything that you could, there is always a formal process to make it right by raising your voice against the boss. As a team you could always tell him directly that his unfair judgment is not acceptable. In case, where there is someone above the boss or the manager, you could always take the matter to them. On the other hand, there is no complaining and protesting against an unpredictable boss.
Unpredictable:
1. Hopelessness: Being treated unfairly at work is a big demotivation to employees. You do everything right yet the boss always has something or the other to accuse you for. You do the work better and someone else gets the credit. When it comes to promotion, someone closer to the boss gets going while you do not get incentivized despite being more worthy of it. Unfair treatment can demotivate even the best of performers while unpredictability is a behavioral issue which can be lived with.
2. Introvert employees: The shy and introvert lot of employees would never be able to speak up against unfair treatment by boss. First, it is not in their nature to complain and raise voices. Second, they fear losing job if they offend the boss. For these people, an unpredictable boss is always more preferable than an unfair jerk of a boss.
3. Your mind learns to work overtime: When you have an unfair boss to deal with, you would always be measuring the options and consequences of your each action before taking any important step. It will make you versatile and more confident with too many options ready before hand. You become smarter where you have considered more options before presenting your work to your moody boss.
4. Better prepared: Employees under an unpredictable boss are often more attentive and better prepared. With an unfair boss, you simply know that there is no pleasing him no matter how hard you try so most would simply give up on the idea of trying to please him. With an unpredictable boss, there is always hope that your work would be approved and due credit accorded to you which makes the employees better prepared to face whatever comes their way.
Conclusion:
You could raise your voice against partiality but not unpredictability because it will never be regarded as a valid reason for being unhappy with the boss to the extent that you needed to take it to higher authorities. This makes unpredictable bosses slightly better worse than unfair bosses.
At the same time, we must also note that not everyone is attuned to speak up when they are not happy with an unfair treatment being meted out to them. For such shy people, unpredictable bosses are always better than unfair bosses. They would get going despite facing issues but would never dream of raising voices against higher authorities.
