With Halloween just around the corner, many Canadians will be donning masks and making themselves look like monsters – but how many will have to face a true nightmare when they return to work?
A recent survey commissioned by jobsite Monster Canada found that 42 per cent of Canadians have left a job at one point purely because of their boss.
“People seek new roles for a variety of reasons, but quite often people don’t leave their jobs, they leave their bosses,” says Monster spokeswoman Sheryl Boswell. “These poll findings indicate that this isn’t an isolated phenomenon – a significant amount of Canadians have pursued a new position as a direct result of a bad boss.”
The survey also showed that there isn’t just one monster boss terrorizing the workforce from his or her corner office – there’s actually a whole host of tyrannical personalities employing a multitude of scare-tactics.
Here’s Johnny – 31 per cent of respondents said they’d experience a Jack Torrance (from The Shining) type boss.
Brain-dead zombie – 27 per cent said they’d put up with an incompetent leader who is clueless, ineffective and unable to make strategic decisions.
Jekyll and Hyde – 27 per cent of Canadians said they’d known bosses to say one thing and mean another, getting angry when employees misunderstand.
Phantom of the Opera – 23 per cent revealed they’d had a boss who hogged the limelight, taking credit for anything they could.
Cruella de Vil – 22 per cent of respondents said they’d been subordinate to an abusive tyrant like de Vil who constantly yells and is never satisfied.
Werewolf – 21 per cent said their boss could never accept that anything was their fault.
The Invisible Man – 14 per cent said they’d had to deal with a missing-in-action executive who rarely answers emails or even shows up at the office.
Dracula – 12 per cent said they’d had a boss who expected them to be available in all hours and even on their vacation.
Beetlejuice – Nine per cent said they’d had to endure boss’ unsavory and offensive habits like crude jokes and chewing with their mouth open.
Freddy Krueger – Four per cent said they’d suffered at the hands of an inappropriate boss who couldn’t comprehend the “no-touching” rule.
The biggest ogre in the office
Some nightmare leaders are more common than others and some strike a far deeper fear in the hearts of the employees they rule.
According to the survey, Canadians are most likely to find Cruella de Vil-type leaders terrifying (54 per cent), followed by Jekyll and Hyde managers (36 per cent) and Werewolf leaders (35 per cent.)
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