It’s important to consider that in all careers, we must defend ourselves. We must defend the decisions we have made, the ideas we put forth, or the initiative we take. We must always be realistic in our approach. No matter how much training and investment our current boss might put in us, for example, we mustn’t be so loyal as to completely disregard the chance to work for a better company with much higher pay, or to refuse to break the safety rules in pursuit of better productivity.

Many of us hold good working relationships with our colleagues and managers. It’s a formal relationship, but that doesn’t mean feelings of camaraderie and appreciation aren’t truly felt. However, it can sometimes be that these feelings blind us. It might be that we’re allowing a colleague to dump their share of the workload on us because they know we’re unlikely to complain. It could be another problem completely. In fact, the boss you think has your back in all circumstances? They might not, and could in fact be manipulating you into adverse action for the ‘good’ of the company.

Of course, it’s rare your boss will be like this. But what’s the harm in ensuring they aren’t? We would say nil. So, let’s give you some useful tools in achieving just that:

His Needs Always Come First

Of course, you are employed at a firm. That suggests that you owe, under contractual obligation, your effort within the terms of said contract. You cannot simply decide if you want to turn up to work that day or not, pending a good reason. You attend, or you are given a warning. It happens again, and you’re let go. Most people understand that. However, sometimes, things can get a little close to the line of what might be considered good practice from your boss. For example, let us say that your relative has been injured in a car crash this morning. You frantically call your boss in order to tell them what has happened and how you need to go to the hospital. Their first response, despite afterwards seeming caring, is when you’ll make up the time of that missed morning.

Of course, you needn’t be best friends with your boss, or even close to them at all. But sometimes, professional courtesy does dictate standard practice and care, especially on a human level. If you are not afforded this right as a human being, then it might be worth looking for a better place to work.

They Make Excuses for Issues

If you are injured at work, there could be many reasons why. It could be that you utilised bad practice during whatever task you were working on. But if you are certain that you had acted properly, as you had thousands of times before, perhaps another issue is there. Perhaps the safety equipment was not cared for, or a product was faulty, or a range of other issues. Let us be frank, it would be better for all employers to be able to chalk this up to your fault. When their systems were at fault, they open themselves up to legal and insurance claims. This is not good for them. Most bosses forgo that and hope to get to the heart of what really happened.

Some employers try to obfuscate this process, perhaps laying the blame immediately, perhaps making excuses for a lack of CCTV footage or coming to conclusions without reviewing the evidence. This can show they have an ulterior motive and are feigning ignorance. This could be where finding a service truly versed in providing experienced legal representation to all could be your best bet going forward, if only to get the evidence and facts straight.

They Rarely Invest in Your Development

Some jobs, such as subcontracting work, is often based on a certain freelance or contractual basis. We do not expect our employers to train or help us on a daily basis, because we are the professionals supposed to be helping the firm. But if a certain full time employee at a business, your manager or employer should be concerned with your progress, and potentially helping you develop. Investing in training seminars can only help the business in the long run, so it’s worth it to them to do, and to decrease staff turnover.

If you’ve noticed that this investment is nowhere to be seen, and favouritism or nepotism seems to push people up the ranks more than anything else, then it could be that you should leave for somewhere with better prospects, or at least respectfully voice your concerns.

Let us conclude by saying growing a combative relationship with your boss will not help a thing. You should always justify your presence at a firm each day, and hope to better yourself through the work. And yet, that should never completely erode your ability to understand your concerns have weight. If you can achieve this, then you’ll be on a better, healthier professional path.