The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham), an apex industry body, is a group of bosses. It is odd, therefore, that it should choose the occasion of Boss Day to point out that not all is well in Indian bossland. Employees leave an organisation because of bad bosses, not money, says an Assocham survey.

The survey also found that almost 56 per cent of the sample said that they were bullied by their boss. Bad bosses lead to employee health problems. Workplace stress of this sort increases the risk of heart disease, strokes, cancer, insomnia, depression and anxiety. It weakens the immune defence and can cause chronic muscle pains and migraines. According to Assocham, industry doesn’t yet realise the damage bad bosses can cause.

Surveys in other countries tell a similar story. Psychology Today says that a Gallup poll in the US found that a bad relationship with the boss was the No 1 reason for quitting a job. “Employees leave supervisors, not companies,” says Gallup.

Expectedly, there is a large amount of literature on how to deal with a bad boss. WikiHow has a 19-point recipe which includes items like Keep a copy of every document your employer asks you to sign; Meet a private, independent counsellor or religious leader; and Update your resume and begin a job search. But the moment you start looking for a job, you have lost the battle. In the western world Mammon always wins.

Erika Andersen, author of Growing Great Employees, sums up the reasons for bosses being bad. First, they focus only on themselves. Second, other people are viewed from this matrix. Third, anyone with talent is regarded as a threat.

The trouble with bad bosses is that most of them think that they are behaving the way everybody does. Once you join the rat race, you are expected to be a self-seeking rodent. Buy him a copy of Bad Bosses, Crazy Coworkers & Other Office Idiots: 201 Smart Ways to Handle the Toughest People Issues. But read it yourself first; the victims of bad bosses often become worse bosses.

But bad bosses don’t have it all their own way. According to a working paper by three US business school professors, bad bosses don’t last. Their study separated good bosses from bad bosses by looking at employee productivity and other related parameters. They found that bad bosses – who don’t get the best out of their workers – last only half the period good bosses do. They either quit or are given the boot.

The best bosses are the teachers and the cheerleaders. Employees place most value on skills that the boss imparts to them. If this is accompanied by team-building and high morale, remuneration becomes a secondary factor. Loyalty works when you are getting something — even intangible — in return.

So why do bad bosses become bosses at all? The answer does not say much for the corporate world. Bad bosses are expendable. They are brought in to extract as much as they can from the employees. When their tactics stop working, you can replace them with another bad boss. It takes six months to a year for employees to decide if a boss is really bad. (Though money and promotions are subsidiary factors, they do count. Employees need to wait for a full increment cycle to correlate returns with rewards.)

If you want to get rid of your boss from hell, don’t get into a fight or an antagonistic situation. Sing his praises and start lazing. If several of you do it, he will be out before you get labelled a pernicious influence. The danger of that is that you might be made boss in his place.

WHERE BOSSES FAIL

Top reasons for worker dissatisfaction (%)

Supervisor does not keep promises 49

Supervisor does not give credit when due 43

Supervisor gives “silent treatment” 32

Supervisor makes negative comments 25

Supervisor invades privacy 21

Note: respondents were allowed to give more than one answer

Source: Assocham survey of 2,500 executives