The media hype about the new release in theaters this week kept teasing us that “Horrible Bosses†was going to be a funny adaptation of three guys all trapped in jobs with truly evil bosses. Newspaper coverage promoted it as a good time movie in spite of the fact that in most real life situations people usually don’t plan to kill their bad bosses. Early reviews were good. I saw an interview with Jennifer Anniston on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart and the clips shown looked good. She was good in another work related classic “Office Space†which took a somewhat different look on a similar topic. So when my wife and I discussed going to a movie this weekend, I convinced her that this our best pick. She was not as enthusiastic but went along with me because I told her I was looking at the premise from an HR perspective. Research, I called it (pretend I inserted a smiley-face here). I was not disappointed. I knew that this was a fantasy about situations that we all have faced at one time or another. Obviously, I settled into my seat not expecting to see an award winning performance either. Sometimes comedy works best when a common situation is taken to a ridiculous extreme. The bosses’ offenses are over the top and the victims’ plotting to overcome a bad situation tapped into a dark humor that gave way to the required comedy happy ending. Good once again triumphs over evil, or at least the least evil people came out ahead. The acting was good, the plot was outrageous and the sight gags were woven into the story so that they didn’t become the plot or detract from it. I laughed through the whole movie. My wife hated it. I will no doubt pay for this suggestion with our next movie date.
So what about my so-called “research†experience into the topic of horrible bosses? The exaggerated situations stem from possible real life transgressions. I believe, however shallow the logic, that there are some real life lessons to be learned from this story.
Overbearing Corporate Tyrant Bosses – Larger than life characters actually exist in the corporate environment who manage by edict and treat employees as property instead of contributors. “You’ll never work again†has a very believable tone when the threat is made to employees afraid to rock the boat. In the current economic situation, there are two sets of statistics which will leave a long lasting imprint on business: BLS reports that employees are staying longer with an employer, probably out of fear of unemployment or lack of alternatives, and surveys also find that the percentage of employees dissatisfied with their current jobs is increasing. Company bottom line results can be adversely affected by the cancer of discontent. Like most problems, recognizing that there is a problem is the first step toward a solution. If watchdogs do not exist in the upper levels of management then outspoken employee advocates need to effect change from within. Organizationally it can come from human resources or in the worst cases, whistleblowers who contact external enforcement officials.
Small Company Arbitrary Bosses – Management in smaller companies can sometimes be totally controlled by owners without regard to larger company policies of human dignity. Succession planning exists along family lines rather than promotions to the top earned by merit. Missing from these situations are the impartial arbitrators, whether in the form of human resources or unions, who can settle labor grievances without either side losing. Also in smaller organizations there is a higher risk/reward assessment that needs to be done by an employee in deciding to accept employment in the first place and continuing employment for the long term. Employment may be much more volatile when the whims of one person can control the ultimate destiny of so many. Discrimination because of physical attributes or disability can determine personnel actions rather than performance. The truth of the situation is that larger organizations are much more capable of absorbing downtime associated with illnesses or maternity leaves than smaller companies. In fact, the universally accepted notion that certain acts are illegal sometimes depends on the size of the company. For example, the EEOC does not enforce age discrimination laws unless the company has 20 or more employees for at least twenty weeks. In most cases the laws are enforced on companies with more than 15 employees. Again, solutions come from within and hits to the profitability of the company can be the result of high turnover and bad image.
Hostile Environment Bosses – In the movie, the stereotypical sexual harassment situation is reversed with the female boss being the aggressor to the male employee. This situation may appear to be opposite of the norm, but with an increasing number of female managers this is no longer such an unbelievable situation. To make matters worse, the trends of popular belief about such happenings are stuck in the past and may make harassment more difficult to detect and report. In the movie, while the three male friends are commiserating over their bosses, the one being harassed by his female boss was repeatedly told that he really didn’t have much of a problem and that they would in fact have taken advantage of the situation. Funny? Maybe, but recent findings of both reverse sexual harassment and same sex harassment have rewritten the way we look at things. The Supreme Court has ruled that men are capable of sexually harassing other men and women are capable of sexually harassing other women. In either case, this is without regard for the sexual orientation of the offender or employee. Sexual harassment is actually sexual discrimination and can result in legal action.
I give this movie thumbs up and if you can live with foul language, violence and sexual situations in a dark comedy then I can recommend that you see it. In my case, I will probably pay for my enjoyment by surrendering the TV remote to my wife for a week of Lifetime movies as punishment.
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