Toxic Manager Advice...

Looking for advice / guidance...Was at my company's SKO this week in Vegas. I work on a global team so we don't have the opportunity to see each other much. Upon getting together 7 of us, we realized that ALL of us are seriously struggling with our manager. Our manager was recognized as "manager of the year" due to our team performance and being the top performing team. Solely based on numbers. To our surprise, none of us were asked about her interaction / leadership / dynamic with the team. There are aspects of harassing, rude, cruel remarks that have left us all feeling in a rough place starting the year.


How would you handle? Bring it up to her (we've tried before... didn't work well) or directly to HR and anonymously?


We are fortunate to have one another, however if nothing changes we are gonna be in a worse place.

๐Ÿงข Sales Management
๐Ÿ˜ค Conflict Resolution
๐Ÿง  Advice
19
alwayzbizzie
Executive
17
Sales Manager
Start documenting. Going to HR wonโ€™t do much without proof. Also, there is strength in numbers, so if the team goes HR, that holds more weight vs one person.
saaskicker
Tycoon
11
Enterprise AE
+1 Document everything.
jefe
Arsonist
7
๐Ÿ
This is the way to do it.

I wouldn't want to be the one person to confront this manager on behalf of 7 people, nor do I think 7 people confronting would go well AT ALL.

HR will find it harder to argue with a bunch of documentation AND the entire team.
Kosta_Konfucius
Politicker
5
ERP Sales
Start recording your interactions for notes to help track down, so if anything bad gets said you have it
Gasty
Notable Contributor
3
War Room Community Manager
I wouldnโ€™t have said anything else. Great advice!
SalesJesus29
Tycoon
1
Regional Sales Director
Thank you for the guidance and support! the hard thing about documenting / recording is the fact that it will be odd / a weird request to ask her to start recording our team meetings / 1-1 / forecast calls out of the blue... she's just going to ask why??? We've all wrote things down, however hard to get the recordings... @alwayzbizzie @jefe @Kosta_Konfucius @Gasty @Sunbunny31 @MRK47
jefe
Arsonist
3
๐Ÿ
Try recording it from your end. Use your browser and something like AwesomeScreenshot or another screen recorder.
Gasty
Notable Contributor
1
War Room Community Manager
Make notes, use your phone to audio record, take screenshots. Anything thatโ€™s not alarming to the other.
MRK47
Tycoon
8
Head of Growth
100% agree with the documenting advice.....I'd also warn against bringing it up to her directly especially if there is an extended track-record of behavior vs a one-off lapse. In most cases, these individuals have attack as their defense mechanism....and as a global team without much in-person interaction, she will be able to divide / conquer without your knowledge....potentially managing you out (if seen as a ring leader)

Assume as a global org, there will be a somewhat sophisticated HR resource but they will be handcuffed without tangible evidence.....justified or not, she's a 'manager of the year' and probably highly regarded by leadership so you'll need clear evidence of any policy violations as well as power in numbers (entire team) before HR / leadership can react..which they will if revenue from the top performing team is threatened.
Sunbunny31
Arsonist
2
Sr Sales Executive ๐Ÿฐ
Absolutely this. Going directly to her hasn't worked before, and now she's emboldened because of the company's perception of her. It's admirable that you are thinking about this in a problem-solving manner, but this is most likely not the right approach anymore.
Documentation = evidence. You and your colleagues need to do this.
HVACexpert
Politicker
5
sales engineer
if you are going to talk to this person, don't corner her all 7 of you. Try having a private professional conversation again and communicate clearly what is not working for you, perhaps you can all do that separately and communicate your concerns in your own way.
Who does your manager report to? Perhaps a conversation with them? If the manager still has issues after this, then start documenting, your colleagues should follow suit. I agree evidence, and more than once complaint will make the most difference.
GreenSide
Politicker
3
Sales manager
Iโ€™m surprised you were surprised.
pirate
Big Shot
2
Account Executive
Document and go to HR, preferred all the same time
DollHairs
Good Citizen
2
Owner
Has anyone left the team and brought it up in an exit interview, juicy Glassdoor?
peachykeen
Politicker
1
hustler
Echoing all the documenting advice. If you can record your calls without recording the calls; voice recording them from your phone? If she knows you're recording the Teams/Google Meet/Zoom call she may not act out (or she might). Have your team do the same thing then present a case to HR. Sorry you're dealing with this. Best of luck, savage.
CuriousFox
WR Officer
1
๐ŸฆŠ
Paper trail. Make receipts. State facts only. Don't rely on others to back you up.
Rosie
Catalyst
0
Sales Director
Like everyone said document everything. And be prepared to leave any moment. Really hard to change organizations that allow for toxic leadership.
0
Director
Unless you are getting a pile of RSUs and SARs, you may want to start looking around. Your boss is NOT going to change and him getting that award will only make him more toxic. Good luck!
numbrsRfun
Executive
0
AE
Worked at a company where the 'Golden Child' Sales Leader was a pure nightmare behind closed doors. Eventually his ego and feeling of strength led him to act out on a recorded call. He was unemployed 48 hours later.

Sadly, having recorded behavior is the end all be all. HR won't care at all unless it's recorded. Remember, HR is there to provide legal protection and cover for the company. They aren't there to protect you, unless it's required by law. Recorded conversations are the smoking gun that they won't hide, because they can be found by discovery and a subpoena in a court of law. Any recorded document, meeting, audio, etc. of harassment works. Text messages work too. Text is trickier because it's more difficult to determine intention, unless it's overwhelmingly obvious. But recorded audio is the ticket to exit people like this from a company.
goose
Politicker
0
Sales Executive
Sometimes it takes an a-hole to run a sales team successfully. Not a popular opinion but Iโ€™ve seen plenty of successful a-holes.
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