Taking Corrective Action - With Your Boss

Every supervisor has to take corrective action with their direct reports from time to time. But what do you do when your boss … even a good one …crosses the line? Most people simmer in quiet anger, which can build up and boil over into destructive actions over what are usually insignificant matters. To be certain, it’s a scary endeavor to take corrective action when you believe your supervisor (or supervisor’s supervisor) is in the wrong and you need them to change course. But there are incidents that if left unchecked will decrease your job satisfaction and performance. In these instances, you owe it to yourself and your organization to take corrective action with your boss. Here’s how you can approach it so you, your boss and the organization get what they need.

Can You Live With an Undesirable Result?

That is the first and most important question you need to answer before you approach your boss. What will be the result of this? What is the worst result possible? Can you live with that result? Just because the issue is a problem to you, doesn’t mean your boss will agree. They have their own perspective on things so you should be ready for differences of opinion. If you will feel better for having addressed the issue even if the outcome is not desirable to you, then go ahead and talk to your boss about what they did that you think needs correcting. If you think the worst possible outcome will lead to bigger problems, you may need to wait for a better time to make your opinion known.

Try to See Things from Their Perspective

Once you’ve decided to take corrective action with your boss remember that they probably will have different perspectives and even different motivators than you. If their greatest intrinsic reward for working is to be in control while yours is taking on new adventures, you will have quite different viewpoints. If their greatest workplace extrinsic reward is money and yours is security, you have differing values and you will need to speak from their most important value to relate. Show them how the issue not only affects you, but by them changing the way they would approach it in the future, they will be better able to meet their important work rewards, in this case greater control and greater pay.

Be Cause and Effect Oriented

Feelings are valid, but dwelling on them too much while taking corrective action, especially with a superior, will come off as personal and emotional. It’s okay to say that what the boss did made you feel angry or hurt, but don’t stop there. Focus on the business need. Talk about what this issue could have or did cause in business dealings and the negative effect it generated or could have. Your emotional reaction to the situation will come off as more justified and more professional because it’s related to business success, not personal feelings.

Offer a Solution

Nobody likes a whiner. Especially at work where a challenging economy puts stress on everyone. How you approach the situation is a big determinant to how it will get resolved. Keep your cool and after explaining why the boss’s words or actions are unacceptable, offer what you believe is a solution that will benefit everyone. That requires forethought before you speak. Thinking about what you need will also put the focus on resolution, not on anger. Your boss may have a new appreciation for you as a team member and hold you in higher professional esteem. That may be the best solution of all to your situation, because you will have turned a negative into a positive.