Do you keep thinking that your job feels like an abyss lately? Are you thinking about job-hunting and leaving the company for good? Does your boss hold you back by saying that, he will give you bad reference if you resign? If any of these scenarios describe your dilemma, then you should be careful. You might be dealing with an vindictive employer.
Working under a vindictive employer isn’t easy for employees who find themselves as captives over a period of time. They could put you in a no-win situation, backstab, bully, or even hold the employees back from progressing in their careers by offering threat calls and vengeance.
While a vindictive boss can be of many types, however the commonalities are all of them will lead employees into misery. Holding bigger power and authority, this kind of employer could throw you out of job or fire you for no good reasons justified in purpose, only because they don’t like you showcasing defensive stance or cannot control you. They could even go to an extent of threatening you from resigning, using their influence and wide reach. A vindictive employer can intimidate you, of you not finding jobs elsewhere if you quit the organisation.
While most of us dread the idea of dealing with a vindictive boss, unfortunately, sometime life puts you through situations when you have to deal with a toxic boss. A survey on bullying at the workplace, conducted by Career Builder reveals that 45 percent main culprit responsible for seeding a culture of office bullying is the boss. The other, 25 percent state it’s the higher ups in the organisation’s top management positions who bully staff, but not the boss.
See: Clues that Reveal if Your Boss is a Psychopath at Work
What should you do if you find yourself trapped in such a worst-case scenario? Here are strategies to deal with an vindictive employer who treats you as a captive:
Regardless of any given situation, you should record everything related to your employer. Be it emails, memos, chat messaging, or other documents, make sure to keep the records of your employer’s statement and remarks. These documents will be your armaments, when you decide to retaliate against him.
If you find that the problem lies on your divisional manager, then you should focus on building upon relationships with other people in the department. Develop solid relationship with senior employees who acknowledge your quality and have fairer opinion towards your work.
If you find any difficulties or issues related to your job, boss, or co-workers, then HR office should be your first resort to consult. Let them know your current circumstance and see what they can do to help out.
When you choose to seek for new opportunities, don’t list your vindictive employer as a reference, even if they are your direct boss. Instead, you should ask someone else who works with you before the toxic boss comes on board. Make sure that the person you ask for, has fair opinion about your competences.
When you have confronted your boss and talked it out with senior HR managers, and see no change in behaviours or attitudes portrayed by your current employer, then it is time you quit and move on to seek greener pastures elsewhere. While you might want to stay back and fight to prove your point or the other wrong, or even keep wishing that someone from within your organisation notices their misconduct to finally fire your boss – this seldom happens in reality.
Rather than wasting your emotions on a toxic employer, it would be much wiser if you could be the medium of change, that you would like to witness – just pick yourself up from the dust and the grime settled through years of potential talent non-discovery, look beyond and move on.
Most of the time, employees leave their immediate senior manager or the employer, but not the companies. Towards the end, the best advice to deal with an vindictive employer is to reinforce your power and keep distancing from them. While it is true that you might be on a lower bargaining power than them, but you should show also realise your self-worth and know that you’re not a helpless captive.
Read also: Employee Turnover? Tell-Tale Signs of a Toxic Workplace Culture
