Five Ways To Reason With A Miserly Boss

He likes to hold back words of appreciation for you. He loves to give you miserly ratings during your appraisals. His 'miserly' attitude is often a reflection of low risk high control behaviour.

Having such a tightwad boss in an organisation or a team can easily snowball into a problem at a larger level where his/her style considerably reduces the risk appetite of the company, sometimes, even in business decisions.

ET Bureau lists some ways to deal with such a boss.

Learn to Rationalise

The attitude of such people can prove to be a major roadblock in the progress graph of the company, says Manish Sinha, director, HR, BD India. "Often, new products, new technologies, new markets, innovations can take a back seat and thereby affect the growth potential of the organisation," says Sinha. "Reason out with him and negotiate well to intellectually satisfy him. Offer him some advice in a non-threatening environment and explain to him the impact his approach has on the organisation," he adds.

Use Feedback as aTool

Employees across organisations are becoming more empowered. While bosses may appraise their teams, they should not forget that in the end, they are also employees and not owners of the organisation. It is advisable to use such empowerment and give the tightwad boss data based on feedback through tools like 360-degrees appraisal. "Numbers and facts always create that impression, more so when it is evidence-based," says Mr Sinha. If an employee has performed, he can take up the case quite conveniently, proving that he did his bit, while the boss was busy flaunting such attitude.

Focus on Returns

Alok Jain, EVP & COO of ASPIRE Human Capital Management faced a similar situation in the initial years of his career. "My boss didn't recommend my proposed project as it was high on capital investment in the beginning. But without losing my confidence, I firmly explained the value of returns and convinced him. When the project started, the results were impressive. My boss appreciated my vision and the project finally became a milestone of my career." It is important to emphasise return on investment. "Articulately explain to your boss that money invested on recruiting talent or in office infrastructure would reap manifold returns in the long run," he adds.

Explain Value of Skills

Because of their attitude problem, tightwad bosses often under estimate skills of many performing employees, which may lead to immense demotivation over a period of time. It is imperative that they realise the importance of performing employees and their contribution in the organisation's growth. "He should understand that recognition and monetary appraisal go a long way in motivating employees and deliver their best to the business," says Mr Jain.

Delegate Tasks

According to Mr Sinha, a miserly boss often works on the premise that scarcity leads to innovation. He won't be liberal enough in helping his team access better resources, healthier marketing budgets and better infrastructure. Therefore, it is important to ask him to delegate and give some control to his team. "Complementing such bosses , who have a more liberal style, is often useful in improving the overall environment," he adds.

(The Economic Times, Mumbai, 19-07-2011)