For The New Boss, Reasons Why Your Staff Hate You.

For The New Boss, Reasons Why Your Staff Hate You.
Being the boss comes with some great perks- a better bank account, corporate benefits, and a fancier title — but why, before you even hold your first meeting, do you get the sense your employees hate you?

Unfortunately, more power comes with more problems. Here are the top 10 reasons your employees hate you before you even settle into your office:

1. Someone else had aspirations for your job, didn’t get it, and concluded that the selection process had serious flaws.

2. Blame MUST fall on someone, and, because you’re the biggest beneficiary of the company, you are the biggest target.

3. Your style of leadership or rumored future plans could be the problem. Even if you made NO indication of any future plans, rest assured the rumor mill is alive and well.

4. Someone in the company knows you from another company situation or from within the company, and got to know you during your climb up the ladder. His or her memories of you are more like nightmares.

5. There are concerns you will bring in a new team and replace current management, which could involve new hires or people from your old company.

6. Your real or rumored lifestyle may offend certain people in the company.

7. You seem so different from their beloved previous leader that you can’t be any good.
8. You come from another industry and don’t understand what “our industry” and “our culture” are all about.

9. No one really knows what you’re going to do, how you’re going to act, or what policies you will follow, but everyone “knows” that in spite of that, it will be and has to be stopped.

10. You may already know a director in the company and you may not think very highly of them. In all probability, they will know this, too, and be part of an “undercurrent” problem you experience with them because they will be concerned that you will readily replace them.

The first step in solving a problem is knowing that you have one. And as a new CEO or manager, it is possible to have this problem, no matter how competent, respectful, likable, intelligent, and accomplished you may be. You may think you are coming into the position to do the usual things like battle the competition, perhaps reorganize things, and expand the market for your products and services.

Trusting in your nice persona, you may think that your personality’s contribution to achieving victories in those areas will win over the recalcitrant members of your new staff. The reality may be totally different: You may already be at war with some of your people.

And they may not care what you do. By accepting this early on, you can begin to do damage control. Keeping an eye out for the above problem areas is the first step towards solving them.