Managers who abuse their power

In Corporate America, it is a trend to see more young managers who abuse their power. In my recent years of experience, working both in Corporate America and as a consultant for conflict resolution for Corporations, more cases are surfacing in relation to managers abusing their power. Yesterday, I had a case where the employee had a good rapport (i.e. hard working, no abuse of personal/sick time, etc) and the employee who was sincerely ill called in sick. The manager decided to question the employee and insinuate that the employee was lying. Clearly, the employee was physically ill. However, the manager continued to corner and harass the employee. By the company policy, employees have a right to their sick time. However, the manager decided to escalate the case without seeing the employee. The employee in turn was worried and also went to HR to report on their manager. Clearly, the manager was not only abusing power, but verbally abusing the employee.

So how was this conflict dealt with? Caucus was used to determine the hidden issues between the employee and manager. In addition, the conclusion was determined that the manager was young (first time manager) and needed additional training on communication and listening. The manager however, was given a warning about the desire to abuse their power.

Check out this article for additional tips on managers abusing their power.

http://www.enotes.com/management-authority-responsibility-reference/management-authority-responsibility