Is it ever appropriate for a boss to yell at an employee in front of other employees?
My friend is feeling “singled out” and “humiliated” by the way his boss treats him. I agree that it would be more appropriate for the boss to discuss these issues behind a closed door, but all offices are different. I told him if he really felt like he was being harassed then maybe he should talk to HR, but he’s afraid that HR will just make it worse (which I can’t really argue against…)
What would you do?
Is there actual yelling? Raised voice?
Yes, actual yelling, on several occasions, and for things that either he was not responsible for or things that other employees have also done, hence the “singled out” feeling.
I do agree that his boss sounds like an awful person and he should find a better job, but barring that…
Definitely get HR involved immediately, is my advice in that situation.
My WAG - I’m no expert here.
Your friend better be able and willing to prove that the boss is creating a “hostile work environment,” which has a legal definition, otherwise HR probably won’t do much more than make it worse for your friend. On further reading, unless your friend is a member of a protected class and is being discriminated specifically on those grounds (race, gender, age, etc.) it looks like it’s very difficult to make a claim of a hostile work environment.
Is the boss so bad that trying to talk it out with him is completely off the table?
What I think I would do, if my boss or anyone in authority were actually yelling at me in front of other people at work, would be to stand up (If I were sitting), turn on my heel, and walk out of the room. Where I went after that would depend on the details of the circumstances: either to my desk to pack, to HR, or outside to cool off before I considered what to do next.
I am fortunate that I have never worked in that kind of environment, so I can’t be sure. It’s easy to say I would do that without ever having had it put to the test.
The trouble with HR in a lot of companies, or with the particular HR person with whom you might have to interact about something like this, is there is no knowing where their loyalties are. Often there are personal relationships, or company cultures, where they are tight with the bosses and the employees are 2nd-class citizens. I have worked in that environment, and in that case HR is the last place I would go. I have also worked for the opposite, where HR was always the friend of the employee, sometimes even when the employee was in the wrong.
Roddy
What is he yelling about?
So your friend is innocent? How do you know this? Do you think he is being “set up” by others? Or is his boss simply mistaken?
HR is there to protect the company, not the employee. Repeat: Their purpose is NOT to protect the employee. As said above, unless he is being treated differently because of race, sex, etc., HR will do nothing. Complaining to them otherwise is a good way to be labeled a troublemaker, not a team player, and so on.
If he’s a member of a union, that might be one place to start. Otherwise, there are a couple of tactics that might help. One, when the yelling starts, request that this be handled in private. “Could we talk about this in your office, please?” Two, when the boss has calmed down, request a private conversation and explain that it is not helpful to be scolded in front of the other workers, and ask that future such reprimands be done privately. Three, privately discuss specific issues. Explain, calmly, precisely when he was reprimanded for something he had not done. “It appears that you believe that I did X. I actually did not do that. I did Y.” Or “You have forcefully indicated that X is not permitted, and I am fine with that. I won’t do so any more. However, I frequently see others doing X. Perhaps I am misunderstanding. Can you please explain?”
Unfortunately that legal definition does not include simply “raising your voice”.
It really depends on the culture and policies of your company. Simply being a jerky boss isn’t cause for legal action. However, if you work at a place where that sort of behavior isn’t acceptable, the company may choose to pursue disciplinary action against him.
It’s not appropriate in any business. No manager should manage employees in that fashion.
Does the boss have a boss? If that’s the case, this is who they should talk to first, before going to HR.
I worked at a small family owned newspaper, and the boss and his dad would single out one or two poor saps and yell at them on a regular basis in front of everyone. It became almost entertaining. The one guy took it for 20 years, and counting.
This. Praise in public. Reprimand in private. That was even true when I was in the military although I broke that rule a couple of times. Felt bad about it later.
As others said, HR is there to protect the company’s interest. Of course having a good working environment leading to productive employees is in the company’s interest.
The best bet for the person getting chewed out is to start looking for another job either within the company or elsewhere. The best time to look for a job is while you have one.
I would go to HR, but, I wouldn’t act as if the rudeness/unprofessional behavior is the issue. They don’t give a flying flip about that. I would tell them about the bosses behavior, and then I would ask if there were some sort of studies as to whether it was a signal of upcoming workplace violence, and what I should do to protect myself and/or co-workers if the boss went postal. HR doesn’t mind screwing over a supervisor, either, if it protects their interests and the company’s.
Who cares? The OP has no say in how this is handled by the company, and is looking for advice based on the facts as she knows them. Nobody is on trial here.
Standard advice here, in case HR does become involved for any other reason, you need to get all your facts down.
Keep a diary, start with time date and place, list witnesses, what was stated, how it was stated, in front of whom, what was the issue and the recipients’ responsibility for the events that led up to the verbal reprimand.
I personally would seek clarification, in front of all those people, but not before you have a series of such events noted.
The diary notes must be dispassionate, with no opinionated views - if possible.
Check your own company HR grievance policy or code of discipline.
You are receiving this all second hand - things may well not be as you have been told.
As for being singled out, it is not appropriate to do this at all - even if all staff are treated in the same way.
HR is rarely, if ever, your friend.
No, you actually do know where HR’s loyalties lie. HR departments exist to protect companies from their employees. That’s it. HR is never a friend to employees. Never on the side of an employee as opposed to management.
Never, never, never, never.
The only time an HR department will side with an employee against a manager is when that manager’s conduct will result in a lawsuit against the company. Even then, that will only happen after the HR department and management have tried and failed to intimidate the employee into withdrawing the complaint.
And, after the HR department has been forced to deal with the offending manager, the employee who brought the complaint to them will be punished. Maybe not immediately (they don’t want to be too obvious), but he or she will be punished.
I’m always inclined to keep HR out of anything involving employee/boss relations unless it is a widespread problem where lots of people would report the same thing and will do so once he/she gets the ball rolling, or unless the violation is so extreme (e.g. sexual or violent) that it would open the company up to a legitimate lawsuit and/or lots of witnesses would otherwise assist you the employee in making that claim. As others have noted, never forget that HR is there to protect the COMPANY, and not the employee in most cases.
You haven’t told us what industry this is or what the background of the boss is. I mention this only because in the military, it is common for the higher ranking officer to both discipline and praise those under them very loudly and publicly, often with excessive swearing. So if you tell me the boss is a former drill sergeant and you work at a military contracting organization, that behavior by the boss almost seems normal. I have worked for such people and hated it.
The other question to ask is, is the individual in question being unfairly singled out relative to their job? If I am the supervisor of A, B, and C, and every time they screw up they get yelled at individually by the boss, but I ALSO get yelled out for not catching the mistake, then I’m going to experience three times the yelling, assuming they all screw up some of the time. This individual may also have a job where their screw ups, while seemingly the same to you, are far more damaging to the company or their reputation based on what they do. Still a third alternative is that they really do screw up more or more severely, but because you are their friend, you aren’t observing it in an unbiased way. That said, I still think the boss should discipline the person in private, because doing that publicly just makes everyone afraid of the boss, and that’s not a good situation no matter what the job is.
I don’t know if HR is NEVER going to side with an employee. They may not “side” with the employee, but if it’s a large enough corporation they can certainly assist in getting the lower ranking employee transferred somewhere else.