Yahoo finance listed 5 of the most overpaid CEO’s of 2008.  Some of these companies performed well while others didn’t. But still, it chaps my hide to read these figures.  At what point is compensation just too much? 

• Michael Jeffries, Abercrombie & Fitch – total compensation of $71.8 million with a base salary of $1.5 million.
• James W. Stewart, BJ Services Company  – James Stewart’s $34.6 million windfall came from value realized on stock options, which resulted in a $30 million jackpot.
• Brian Roberts, Comcast Corp. – total compensation of $40.8 million (and I can’t get Comcast to come when they say they will.)
• John Faraci, International Paper – total compensation of $38.2 million.
• Eugene Isenberg, Nabors Industries – total compensation of $79.3 million.

How many employees did these guys lay off last year? How many of their remaining employees have affordable health insurance?  When I hear that universal health care is going to cost this country “too much” and then I read stuff like this, I want to spit.

I was talking to a friend of mine this week who is, as so many of us are, frustrated at the unreasonableness of her boss.  My friend missed a day of work last week. She hadn’t taken a “mental health” day and hadn’t spent the day getting a mani-pedi. What she did have was, what most would consider, an exemplary record with her employer.  She hadn’t made it to work because the worst storm in decades had shut down all possible routes to her place of employment.  Highways were flooded, buildings were underwater, and when she tried to drive into work that morning, she was forced to turn around and head back home.  Even so, to make up for the lost day of work, her boss made her use one of only a handful of personal days she had coming to her.

I find that unreasonable.  Really unreasonable.  I’m sure some HR heads out there will point to established policy that indicates that my friend’s boss was simply following the rules when she made her take that personal day.  I suppose she was. But at what cost?  The road closings were well documented and had been a national news item for days.  There was no question about my friend’s inability to get to work.  And, as I said before, she was considered an exemplary employee. What employers don’t get is this – when great employees are only marginally happy with their jobs, things like making them taking personal days for a natural disaster, only increase the likelihood of them jumping ship at the first possible opportunity.

I had a similar situation with a previous boss who read me the riot act when I let her know (a week in advance) that I’d be unable to work a NON-MANDATORY weekend event due to a prior commitment.  On speaker phone, from the comfort of her own home and with an assistant manager in the room, my boss proceeded to tell me how “very disappointed” she was in me. She went on to question my “commitment” to my job.  I reminded her that in my review earlier that year, she’d commended me on my work ethic and my willingness to work whenever asked, even on weekends.  Her response was to stutter a loud “are you disobeying a direct order?!?” and then to ask whether or not I knew “there’d be consequences” to disobeying that order. I took her words as the threat she intended them to be, and it shook me. Read the rest of this entry »

What the blogosphere’s saying about bosses this week…

• When bad bosses happen to good people – The title says it all in this piece from The Examiner.
• How to keep your boss from driving you crazy – MSN says the secret to dealing effectively with difficult bosses is to approach them from their point of view rather than yours. It could work, if your boss is sane.
• 3 things to do if you hate your boss – Cubicle Warriors gives us three tips on dealing with a boss you hate. I especially like number one, outlast them.
• Tips & Tricks for hedging against a bad boss – eBosswatch blog thinks you need about 9 months to see what kind of environment and culture you have joined. We agree.

Did you know there was a blog called Cake Wrecks?!? Neither did I! Their tag is “When professional cakes go horribly, hilariously wrong.” And as you can imagine, it is hilarious. So what, you might ask, does that have to do with Really Bad Boss?  Take a look at this…

No word on whether or not it worked, but it was a brilliant strategy. Sugar shock has probably thwarted more that its fair share of bad boss meltdowns. If you know the origins of this cake, please drop us a line and let us know if this tactic works. If it does, we’ll add it to our arsenal of surprising, but effective bad boss weapons. If it doesn’t, we’ll shove it in Mary’s HR’s face on our way out. Not really. Really.

I found a great site the other day, Pissed Consumer. Pissed consumer is exactly what it sounds like, and after leaving a couple of strongly worded letters myself, I ran across this warning about a company called Warren Properties…

Warren Properties is a bad employer. I worked for Warren Properties for about 2 years. During the time that I worked there I saw all the partying pals of the area supervisors getting promotions, while the people that never layed out of work never got anywhere. They also have little consideration for the tenants, they have even been sued for keeping deposits. The pay rate is so low it is no wonder, most of the employees are low scale laborers at best. Warren Properties is a bad place to work for. There are no ethics, the bosses can scream at you and write you up at will. You can not retaliate, or talk to the boss, or you get screamed at some more, and belittled. Being belittled in front of co-workers, and tenants is the normal activity when working for this company. If you like to party with the boss, then this is the place for you. When i worked there I felt like I was in jail. So glad to be free.

It’s amazing that companies who routinely mistreat employees stay in business, and even thrive.  Does the way a company treats its employees impact its bottom line? If so, why do so many bad employers do so well?  Tell us what you think in the comment section after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Last week, I shared my tales of falling in love with jobs, only to have them turn on you. I call it the “Sweet Deceit.” And while I do take some of the blame for not asking enough of the right questions during the interview process, I certainly didn’t expect to be lied to during my interview. We’ve all heard the stories about people with fantastic credentials being busted years later.  They lie about the schools they graduated from, the grades they got, and the positions they’ve held. But what happens when the shoe is on the other foot? What happens when the job lies to you?

Six months out of college, and desperate to be working in my field, I took the first job that was offered to me.  Never mind it required me moving cross country within a matter of weeks and paid far less than I’d ever imagined I’d be working for.  I was just happy to have a job in my field.  During the interview, the owner of the small, family owned business promised me that within six months, if I’d proven myself as a fast learner and hard worker, I’d receive a pay increase.  By all accounts, including his, I’d done that and more within those first six months, but I got nothing from the owner. Not an “at a girl,” not a “good job,” and definitely not a pay increase.  It was at this job that I got one of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever gotten about bosses.  An older woman who’d worked at the company for years pulled me to the side one day and told me, “anyone who hires as impulsively as this guy does, behaves just as impulsively in every other area.”  In other words, as quickly as he hired me and promised me a pay increase (I was interviewed and hired on the same day) was as quickly as he could and would be likely to renege on his promise. Of course she was absolutely right. It was the first time I’d experienced a boss lying to me.  It wouldn’t be the last.

As I mentioned last week, the HR Manager at another job answered my questions about turnover rates by telling me that there were individuals still working with the company, even after 20 years.  Technically, she didn’t really lie to me.  She employed what a friend calls, “selective omission.” By focusing on the individuals with tenure, she kept the focus off of the rest of the staff who’d been part of an ongoing procession through the company’s revolving front door for years.  She also didn’t mention Read the rest of this entry »

This week in Really Bad Boss…

• Sweet Deceit – It’s the act of convincing yourself, despite warning signs to the contrary, that the job you’re about to take is the best job in the world.
• Kanye is still a jackass, even after the apology – Slightly off topic, but relevant nevertheless. He’s the head of a multimillion dollar brand and doesn’t know when to keep his mouth shut.
• Consent won’t necessarily get you off the hook. The courts agree.
• How do you survive a really bad boss.  Share your stories with our readers.