Professional reputation | How to fix a bad relationship with your boss

People fall out with their bosses for any number of reasons – the two most common being a specific disagreement over a work project, or a simple clash of personalities.

Bosses are, after all, only human and like the rest of us, they have preferences and people that they prefer over others. Whilst a good boss may conceal their prejudices, the temptation to give preferential treatment to workers who they believe to be more competent or dedicated can be overwhelming.

Regardless of the reason, a poor working relationship needs to be improved, and you can’t rely on your management to put in the effort to make it work; after all, mutual respect is far more beneficial for you than it is for them.

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Bad habits | 5 workplace habits that your colleagues hate

It’s hard to operate at full capacity knowing that you’re disliked by your management, yet most people automatically assume that laying low and staying off the boss’ radar is the right course of action. Whilst this isn’t a disaster, it’s never going to rebuild your relationship. In fact, a recent study conducted by Forbes discovered that employees who spend six hours a week interacting with their senior management are 29% more inspired, 30% more engaged, 16% more innovative and 15% more intrinsically motivated than those who spend just one hour per week.