Handling sticky situations with your boss
The worst kind of sticky situation is being your employer’s personal slave and then also their punching bag in front of co-workers. Standing up for yourself can become a very difficult task if you’re not one to generally speak up. How would you even begin to confront the person who is paying your salary? Many people fear that they may lose their jobs if they speak up, but it is better to be respected than to look down upon.
The sticky personal assistant situation
You are not a personal assistant, but your boss continually asks you to pick up her dry cleaning and make her cup of coffee. Sure, there is nothing wrong with being courteous, but there is only so much an employee can handle from a boss. Whenever your boss requests you to something non-work related then express your desire to work on important job-related projects. It is up to you to decide if you’re willing to accept that their requests are part and parcel of your workload –even if it is not in your job description.
The sticky ranting in front of co-workers – situation
Let’s say you are working on a huge company account that involves debit order collection in South Africa, there is a simple slip during the management process, and then the next thing you see is your boss flaming into the office, heading straight for you.
If your boss always picks on you without reason or always flares up without question, then it is time to speak up. Keep calm and openly discuss his behaviour with him. Ask your employer if he can identify examples of things you do that trigger his mood, that way you will know whether or not you do something that aggravates him. You will then need to decide if you want voice your concerns to a supervisor.
Once you have gathered the courage to say how you feel, you will gain more confidence. But while you wallow in your situation there is no moving forward.