Talk to HR about your jerk of a boss

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This article was published 21/10/2015 (4002 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Dear Miss Lonelyhearts: I’m crying at work in the washroom and writing you. My boss always picks on me, especially after I complete a big project and he’s jealous of how good it is. I’m a businesswoman with a lot of experience and he resents the fact the bosses who hired me this year might some day want to promote me over him, so he shoots me down every chance he gets. I don’t know what to do anymore.

— Totally Stressed Out, North Kildonan

Dear Stressed Out: Do three things at once: 1. Complain about this to human resources if your company is big enough to have one. 2. Look for a new job where you can go straight into the level of work your critical boss is doing, or aim even higher. 3. Talk to the people who hired you and are impressed by your work to see if there’s another position they might give you that’s in a different department because your current supervisor is making it so difficult to work where you currently are. (You’ll feel more confident if you do this once you already have a job offer elsewhere.)

The kind of stress you are enduring is dangerous to your health. Even if you hate for this critical boss to succeed at pushing you out, take the sting out of it by finding an even better job. Insist on an “exit interview” if you leave, and tell the people who hired you exactly what is going on with this middle damager.

Please send your questions and comments to lovecoach@hotmail.com or Miss Lonelyhearts c/o the Winnipeg Free Press, 1355 Mountain Ave., Winnipeg, MB, R2X 3B6

Miss Lonelyhearts
Advice Columnist

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