Fighting back against bank's hostile managers

Newsday (MCT) - Q. I work as a salesman for a major bank. I like my work and am well compensated. But the management culture makes me question whether I should work for such a company. The managers rule by fear and intimidation. During my three years here I have had four branch managers who were either transferred or forced out of the company. The most common reason was hostile behavior. The newest manager has quickly displayed the same harassing tendencies toward the staff and has made the office unbearable. The stress from the job is affecting my health and personal life. Do I have any recourse other than resigning?

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A. While it sounds as if your company has a limit to its tolerance of aggressive managers, it also seems to breed them, judging from the number you have worked with. Few employees encounter such a procession of hostile managers.

"It sure seems that someone is hiring the wrong branch managers," said Alan Sklover of Sklover & Donath in Manhattan and the author or "Fired, Downsized or Laid Off: What Your Employer Doesn't Want You to Know About How to Fight Back."

"What ever happened to three strikes and you're out?" he asked.

Sklover represents employees who sometimes find themselves battling hostile managers. Society, though, is increasingly less tolerant of abusive bosses, he said, and those changes bode well for you.

"Society's views of management by fear, intimidation and harassment have changed a great deal in the last 25 years, and our laws, judges and juries have often led the way," Sklover said.

So he said you should go on the offensive, even though that strategy isn't always the easiest or most comfortable.

"There is simply no reason to tolerate that anymore, other than your own fear of retaliation, which can be reduced, if not eliminated, though, by taking your story to the top," he said.

And by "the top" he means the bank's board of directors.

Hostile management represents a failure of leadership and oversight, he said. And the bad management is a threat to shareholder assets because problematic managers demoralize employees, whose work performance then suffers. The board should put a stop to the problem if the bank's executives won't.

"Where does the proverbial buck stop in terms of failure of leadership?" he asked. "With the members of the bank's board of directors."

He suggests that you write a "respectful, honest, detailed" letter to the bank's board. You shouldn't name individuals you complain about, he advised, because you don't want to appear bitter or retaliatory. But you should ask for immediate relief, a prompt investigation and more long-term changes, he said.

"There's nothing like taking issues to the board to make things change and change fast," he said. "You do have recourse, you do have rights, and you do have a remedy," he said. "And it only costs 42 cents, that is the price of a postage stamp."

For your own peace of mind, he said, you should also "make sure that you ask _ again respectfully _ that you not be retaliated against for raising these important issues."

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However scary it may seem, taking matters into your own hands is the way to go.

"Your health, your personal life and your stress will be helped by your calmly, respectfully and effectively standing up for yourself," Sklover said.

In the end you may find that nothing changes. But at least you can say you made the effort and can cut your losses and leave without regrets.

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(Carrie Mason-Draffen is the author of "151 Quick Ideas to Deal With Difficult People." She welcomes questions for the "Help Wanted" column. Contact her at 631-843-2450 or carrie.draffen@newsday.com.)

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