Overly demanding bosses kill productivity

Whether you like it or not, all jobs are demanding - that's the nature of the modern world and it's often the boss's responsibility to get his staff to rise to the occasion - but some bosses go too far by putting excessive pressure on their employees.

While the right level of pressure can inspire workers to rise to the challenge, people who work for overly demanding bosses usually feel frustrated that their efforts are not rewarded, and as a result, they are unlikely to continue to pump out quality work.

A bad boss can also cause co-workers to turn against each other as they try to appease management, and there's a big difference between healthy competition and infighting in the workplace.

Demanding bosses might ask you to work beyond the regular schedule even when the volume of work does not need it.

He might insist on extra reporting that never even gets read, order lots of 'special projects', or wants to approve every decision you make.

An overly demanding boss is someone who sets extremely high standards and expectations on work deliverables or goals, which may be unrealistic or unsustainable.

If you find your project list growing and changing rapidly and performance targets increasing and you do not get the necessary resources, you may have an overly demanding boss.

Negative implications

When employees are constantly pressured to perform at an unsustainable level or to run every action through a higher-up, productivity drops.

It's also common to find that overly demanding bosses end up having high-turnover workplaces and when team members quit or are driven out, it puts more burden on the remaining staff, which leads to even more employee burnout.

Overly demanding bosses regard employees as dispensable commodities, rather than assets.

With that being said, it can be extremely difficult to help solve a problem or prevent one from occurring when an employee feels bogged down by his overly demanding boss.

Employees of an overly demanding boss may also feel that nothing they accomplish is ever enough.

Another possible outcome is that you may be more upset with yourself than you are with your boss because you're caught between the conflict of wanting to perform and avoid appearing incompetent - and upsetting your boss by speaking up, which is bothersome because you feel you can't ignite confrontation and ask for reasonable explanations.

You may fear retaliation, passive-aggressive fallout, loss of job status or exiting projects, or even being terminated, which is a conundrum, until you muster the ability to face the problem head-on.

Root cause

There can be a multitude of reasons for bosses to behave in such fashion, to impress his bosses for a promotion, to demand respect which they don't really deserve, fear for his or her own job status, a yearning for perfection, or a sense of entitlement.

Whatever the root cause may be, these types of bosses are often like unruly toddlers who act as if the world revolves around them. Asking nicely doesn't always occur to these bosses, and so the onus is on you to break your silence and be the voice of reason.

Eventually the inner conflict you have with an overly demanding boss can consume you.

It detracts from you doing your best work. You end up with the double whammy of an intense workload, combined with a behavioural clash, sinking your productivity.

Overbearing, insensitive bosses are counterproductive to the very goal they seek: more output from you. Next week I will tell you how to deal with such bosses for the good of both.