Training Industry Magazine - July/August 2020 - 35

* Reproductive organs: Increasing
likelihood of sexual dysfunction and
infertility in men and women.
* Lungs: Exacerbating symptoms of
asthma and any obstructive pulmonary
disease.
* Skin: Worsening skin problems, such
as acne and psoriasis.
Over the course of just one year, costs
can easily exceed $5,000 in treatment
or medication per direct report. Multiply
that by five direct reports per boss and
you're already up to $25,000 per bad
boss - not counting long-term health
problems. Multiply that by the number
of bad bosses in one large organization,
and you're now in the millions.

IMPACT ON WORKPLACE
PERFORMANCE
Beyond mental and physical damage,
what about the obvious and devastating
effects a bad boss has on your work
performance? What could a bad boss be
doing to things like employee creativity,
motivation and productivity?
how much energy you'd expend if you
were to experience even a fraction
of this response every day at work?
Imagine your body has to ramp up for
conflict every time you go to a meeting
or talk to your boss. These smaller, more
frequent sympathetic activations over
time are worse for your health than the
big bad tiger! This negative and chronic
stress response will affect your:
* Immune system: Making you more
susceptible to viral illnesses and
infections.
* Heart: Raising your risk of hypertension
and chances of a stroke or heart attack.
* Stomach and digestion: Increasing
stomach acid and problems, such as
gastroesophageal reflux disease or
peptic ulcers.
* Blood and liver: Producing extra
blood sugar to give you a boost of
energy (to fight) increasing your risk of
developing Type 2 diabetes.

IMPACT ON CREATIVITY
AND INNOVATION
Your decision to channel all your creative
and innovative thinking into making your
company better will only happen when:
* You feel you have a future with the
company, and you want to be there
long enough to see your ideas
become reality.
* You genuinely want your company to
succeed, and you want to see everyone
in the company reap the benefits.
* You feel confident and safe enough
in your environment to suggest new
ideas - even if some end up failing.
If these three criteria are fertile ground
for creativity, do you think bad bosses get
the creative juices flowing? Exactly the
opposite. Bad bosses create a negative
psychological state that stifles creativity

and innovation. Instead of thinking about
helping the company succeed, employees
are busy thinking of ways to handle a bad
boss. Can you imagine how many great
ideas throughout history have been stifled
by bad bosses?

IMPACT ON MOTIVATION
AND PRODUCTIVITY
When it comes to our work, we build
a pretty big part of our identity by how
hard we work and how we "show up." A
bad boss can quickly drain motivation
and nosedive productivity. Impact on
productivity research suggests that
employees with bad bosses waste
between 10% and 52% of their time at
work. Instead of working, they spend
time withdrawing, avoiding the boss,
networking for support and ruminating
about their situation. And the time
wasted when they're physically at work
is just the half of it.

Bad bosses create a
negative psychological
state that stifles creativity
and innovation.
The other half of the productivity loss -
conservatively estimated at $150,000
per boss per year - comes in the more
direct and quantifiable time away from
work, increasing absenteeism, sick
leave and eventual turnover. When
employees do show up, some recent
workplace productivity statistics found:
intentionally decreased their

48% work effort.

intentionally decreased the

38% quality of their work.

lost work time avoiding

63% the boss.

said that their commitment to

78% the organization declined.
admitted to taking their

25% frustration out on customers.

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Training Industry Magazine - July/August 2020

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