Ask the expert: How to face a management bully

Q.I'm a senior professional with project leadership roles in a large organisation, where I have worked for more than 10 years. About a year ago, a new manager was appointed for our unit. Since then, there has been a stream of co-workers into my office saying that the new manager is threatening them and is a bully.

The new manager has tried to strong-arm me once or twice, but I have enough mana that he hasn't bothered me too much. Primarily he doesn't seem to think we're very good, and sees himself as a one-person crusade to clean us all out and remake the place in his own image.

He talks in a very patronising way to most of the staff, and those with short-term contracts or any flaw are made to feel distinctly at risk.

Those with longer-term roles are just politely threatened that if they disagree with him - including crossing him on issues that are legally or ethically dubious - they will be loaded up with work to the point that they can't perform, and then he'll manage them out.

He seems to be really down on the members of the unit who are older, female or brown, many of whom are in part-time or contractor roles that make them more vulnerable. He acts the same way to our clients.

A.Generally, I tell those who complain to me to see the manager's boss, but they usually return to say that the manager's boss doesn't seem to want to deal with the situation.

On the occasions when the boss seems to have talked to our new manager, this has made things much worse for the person who complained.

Increasingly, my co-workers are quitting or withdrawing rather than deal with the situation. I feel they should stand up for themselves, but the system doesn't seem to support them if they do.



The things that you are describing - intimidation and harassment combined with discrimination - subject your organisation to real risks, including legal liability.

If you are not directly experiencing them, though, you are not in the position to really do much about it. What you can do is try to establish what other assistance is available in your organisation.

Check what organisational resources exist; perhaps you can identify a helpful human resources person, equal opportunities adviser, occupational safety and health manager, dispute mediator, union representative, industrial chaplain or employee assistance programme counsellor to help your co-workers.

As this affects many people and they are now afraid to say anything, approaching these resources as a group rather than individuals may add greater legitimacy to their concerns.

You might also want to assess whether there are options to have support people at meetings to ensure both a factual check on what is happening - if you are already scared, everything sounds like a threat - and to curb the manager's behaviour, assuming he is aware of being threatening.

You may want to check your employment agreements to see if the disputes procedures could be used to provide direct feedback to the new manager and try to reach some sort of resolution.

Often such managers are unaware of their impact on others; they mistake fear for respect and silence for agreement.

It may take some very pointed group feedback to reach the offending manager. In some circumstances, a 360-degree feedback survey could be helpful, but in a climate of low morale and fear, such surveys are not particularly effective.

You may also want to check whether a more senior manager, who both your manager and his boss would respect, might be able to intervene and provide some coaching and feedback to the new manager and/or to fearful staff.

And be sure to assess and manage your own stress; constantly hearing about problems that you can't do anything about can be quite stressful. You might consider identifying a resource to refer people to, and then step out of the loop.

If you can't just step out and you really feel that they should stand up for their interests, then wait for them to finish their tale and then ask them what they are going to do about it, rather than just offering sympathy and support.

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* Dr Marie Wilson is associate professor of management at the University of Auckland Business School, research director of the ICEHOUSE business accelerator and a veteran of 20 years in corporate management and small business.