10 Passive Aggressive Behaviors of Bosses

Passive aggressive behavior is never the best way to communicate with others especially in a workplace environment. It fosters an environment of tension and for most an uncomfortable situation that appears to get worse when not called to the attention of an offensive boss. Employees must be able to recognize the passive aggressive behavior of his or her bosses especially when it comes to meeting performance expectations. The following are examples of passive aggressive behaviors exhibited by bosses in workplace environments and the impact it has on employee morale.

1) A suggestion is given to an employee to do something a certain way for a task or particular assignment. The boss's suggestion is actually a hidden requirement that the employee must meet exactly the way instructed by the boss through the initial suggestion. The result of not following the specific suggestion can impact the employee's performance goals and accomplishments ratings. Overall, the employee must always ask for clearly defined expectations.

2) Communicating through hierarchical management channels depending on the structure of the organization an employee may have a supervisor and head boss. The head boss chooses to dictate to an employee through the supervisor and the employee is expected to follow these directions without questioning anyone in management.

3) E-mail communication only no face to face time in terms of assignments. A boss may choose to save criticism for e-mail only while acting as if everything is fine during face to face time with an employee.

4) Telling an employee he or she is completely in charge of projects but constantly changing the project's structure and requirements resulting in constant scope creep.

5) Focusing only on what the employee does wrong instead of right.

6) Blocking career growth when the employee rightfully deserves it. An employee may express interest in taking on more challenging assignments or taking career development courses. However, the boss may say the employee is not ready despite always exceeding expectations in terms of performance.

7) Setting an employee up to fail and not supplying key information and support for success in projects assigned.

8) Criticizing employees in meetings in front of customers by devaluing the employee's opinion and efforts to positively impact the team.

9) Overworking the employee and not recognizing him or her for working above and beyond the requirements of the assignment.

10) The boss blames everyone else for mistakes and holds everyone accountable except his or her self. This creates an environment where employees do not trust that his or her boss will provide guidance in critical situations.