Ethics Case Study - Handling a Abusive Boss at Work

Table of Contents

Ethics Case Study Practice

Category – UPSC General Studies Ethics Paper 4 – Ethics

Pawan is working as an officer in the State Government for the last ten years. As a part of routine transfer, he was posted to another department. He joined in a new office along with five other colleagues. The head of the office was a senior officer conversant with the functioning of the office. As a part of general inquiry, Pawan gathered that his senior officer carries the reputation of being difficult and insensitive person having his own disturbed family life. Initially, all seem to go well. However, after some time Pawan felt that the senior officer was belittling him and at times unreasonable. Whatever suggestions given or views expressed by Pawan in the meetings were summarily rejected and the senior officer would express displeasure in the presence of others. It became a pattern of boss’s style of functioning to show him in bad light highlighting his shortcomings and humiliating publically. It became apparent that though there are no serious work-related problems/shortcomings, the senior officer was always on one pretext or the other and would scold and shout at him. The continuous harassment and public criticism of Pawan resulted in loss of confidence, self-esteem and equanimity. Pawan realized that his relations with his senior officer are becoming more toxic and due to this, he felt perpetually tensed, anxious and stressed. His mind was occupied with negativity and caused him mental torture, anguish and agony.
Eventually, it badly affected his personal and family life. He was no longer joyous, happy and contented even at home. Rather without any reason he would loose his temper with his wife and other family members. The family environment was po longer pleasant and other family members. The family environment was no longer pleasant and him in the office, comfort and happiness
(a) What are the options available with Pawan to cope up with the situation?
(b) What approach Pawan should adopt for bringing peace, tranquility and congenial environment in the office and home?
(c) As an outsider, what are your suggestions for both boss and subordinate to overcome this situation and for improving the work performance, mental and emotional hygiene?
(d) In the above scenario, what type of training would you suggest for officers at various levels in the government offices?

पवन पिछले दस वर्षों से राज्य सरकार में अधिकारी के पद पर कार्यरत हैं। नियमित स्थानांतरण के तहत उन्हें दूसरे विभाग में तैनात किया गया था। वह पांच अन्य सहयोगियों के साथ एक नए कार्यालय में शामिल हुए। कार्यालय का मुखिया एक वरिष्ठ अधिकारी होता था जो कार्यालय के कामकाज से परिचित होता था। सामान्य पूछताछ के एक भाग के रूप में, पवन ने पाया कि उसका वरिष्ठ अधिकारी अपने स्वयं के अशांत पारिवारिक जीवन वाले कठिन और असंवेदनशील व्यक्ति होने की प्रतिष्ठा रखता है। शुरू में लगता है कि सब कुछ ठीक चल रहा है। हालांकि, कुछ समय बाद पवन को लगा कि वरिष्ठ अधिकारी उसे कम आंक रहे हैं और कई बार अनुचित भी। पवन ने बैठकों में जो भी सुझाव या विचार व्यक्त किए, उन्हें सरसरी तौर पर खारिज कर दिया गया और वरिष्ठ अधिकारी दूसरों की उपस्थिति में नाराजगी व्यक्त करेंगे। यह बॉस की कार्यशैली का एक पैटर्न बन गया, जिसमें उसे अपनी कमियों को उजागर करने और सार्वजनिक रूप से अपमानित करने के लिए उसे गलत तरीके से दिखाया गया। यह स्पष्ट हो गया कि यद्यपि कार्य संबंधी कोई गंभीर समस्या/कमी नहीं हैं, वरिष्ठ अधिकारी हमेशा किसी न किसी बहाने से उसे डांटते और चिल्लाते रहते थे। पवन के निरंतर उत्पीड़न और सार्वजनिक आलोचना के परिणामस्वरूप आत्मविश्वास, आत्म-सम्मान और समता का नुकसान हुआ। पवन ने महसूस किया कि उसके वरिष्ठ अधिकारी के साथ उसके संबंध अधिक विषाक्त होते जा रहे हैं और इस वजह से वह हमेशा तनावग्रस्त, चिंतित और तनावग्रस्त महसूस करता है। उनका मन नकारात्मकता से भरा हुआ था और उन्हें मानसिक यातना, पीड़ा और पीड़ा का कारण बना।
आखिरकार, इसने उनके व्यक्तिगत और पारिवारिक जीवन को बुरी तरह प्रभावित किया। वह अब घर पर भी हर्षित, प्रसन्न और संतुष्ट नहीं था। बल्कि बिना किसी कारण के वह अपनी पत्नी और परिवार के अन्य सदस्यों के साथ अपना आपा खो देता था। परिवार का माहौल अब सुखद और परिवार के अन्य सदस्यों के लिए था। परिवार का माहौल अब सुखद नहीं रहा और उसे ऑफिस में आराम और खुशी

(a) पवन के पास स्थिति से निपटने के लिए क्या विकल्प उपलब्ध हैं?

(b) कार्यालय और घर में शांति, शांति और अनुकूल वातावरण लाने के लिए पवन को क्या दृष्टिकोण अपनाना चाहिए?

(c) एक बाहरी व्यक्ति के रूप में, इस स्थिति से उबरने और कार्य निष्पादन, मानसिक और भावनात्मक स्वच्छता में सुधार के लिए बॉस और अधीनस्थ दोनों के लिए आपके क्या सुझाव हैं?

(d) उपरोक्त परिदृश्य में, आप सरकारी कार्यालयों में विभिन्न स्तरों के अधिकारियों के लिए किस प्रकार के प्रशिक्षण का सुझाव देंगे?

Q. Options Available with Pawan?

Options Available with Pawan-

1. Learn to Ignore his Boss’s behavior and avoid his boss as much as possible – But it is not a long term solution.
2. Seek transfer out of department and until then, go on leave.- Again there is no guarantee that he will not face such issues in his new position.
3. Talk to his fellow employees and if they also face the same issue, gather them all and confront the boss.
4. Complain against the boss to senior administration.
5. Handle the situation with maturity and politely talk with the boss to resolve the matter

(Q.b) What approach Pawan should adopt for bringing peace, tranquility and congenial environment in the office and home?

In such situation it is pertinent to have Emotional Intelligence to handle the things effectively.
First of all Pawan should talk to his family and explain them the whole situation at work.
This will help his family understand his situation and he will get emotional support of his family.
Thereafter he need to introspect his own actions and try to understand that why his boss gets annoyed of his actions.
He may take help of his colleagues in this exercise.
To reach to the root of the problem he may have a polite and frank conversation with his boss to understand what offends his boss.
If he finds a problem in his behavior, he should do course correction.
Also, he may try to change the negative attitude of the boss towards him by persuasion.
Even after this whole process, if nothing changes, now he can escalate the matter with the senior administration.
In the complaint, he can also mention the steps taken by him to improve the situation.

(Q.c) As an outsider, what are your suggestions for both boss and subordinate to overcome this situation and for improving the work performance, mental and emotional hygiene?

Suggestion to the Boss-
He should work on his emotional intelligence and should not be biased against any of his employees.
He should be polite and patient with his juniors.
He should listen to his employees even when he does not like their advice and correct them gently where-ever they err.
His language should be polite and respectful.
He should encourage participation of all the stake holders.
Advice to employee-
Should develop Emotional Intelligence. His professional life should not impact his personal life.
Do Not escape or give up in difficult, accept the situation as it is and deal with it tactically.