Feeling Invisible at Work: What Should I Do When My Boss Ignores Me?

Respected Sirs/Seniors,

I have been working in an organization for the last two years. I was performing well, and my image was good. However, for the past six months, my boss has been completely ignoring me. I have no work, and no one is talking to me about work or anything else. I am the Manager of HR, and I receive my salary on time. However, this is not enough. How can I receive a salary without any work? I have emailed and personally talked to all my bosses about this, but no reply has come. It indirectly implies that it is time to go home.

Kindly suggest to me, please. I want to change my job, but I am still not getting any opportunities.

Regards

Understanding Your Industry and HR Challenges

What is the nature of your industry? How many employees are employed in your company? Overall, what are the HR issues that your company faces? What is the employee attrition rate? In the HR field, what is your exact strength (like statutory activities, employee relations, talent management, etc.)?

Understanding Your Boss's Behavior

You have written that your "boss" is ignoring you. Who exactly is your boss? What is his designation? If for the last six months, the boss is considering you as persona non grata, then there must be some compelling reasons. Did you have an affray with some fellow manager? What is your performance level? What are your KRAs, and what is your score? When did you get your last salary increment, and what was the percentage?

Self-Motivation and Career Strategy

I can understand the sense of guilt you need to carry when the boss sends feelers of you being de trop. But then this is the challenge to your self-motivation. Do not let it get you down. This is the time to reaffirm your strengths.

Against this backdrop, find out what the most compelling HR issues are that you need to address. Work on them and find out what changes you can make to quote in your next quarterly report.

At the same time, hedge your career by looking for a change. That anyway, you are doing. Go a little further and find out covertly whether the boss is also looking for your replacement. If yes, then be prepared for that contingency as well.

Thanks,

Regards

You were performing well? Try to think about what event or series of events could have led to the indifferent attitude from your immediate boss and other employees. Sometimes, one does not recognize the hurt they have caused to others by some action. Is there any action from your side that has put people against you? Mr. Divekar has given food for thought. Meet your immediate boss when you have free time and are in a happier frame of mind. Try to find out from him what went wrong and what is needed to restore things to order. If this meeting does not succeed, look around for another job.

Please provide the detailed inputs as mentioned by Dinesh & Nathrao—they will be needed if any member has to give you actionable suggestions. However, I find your line "...I mailed and personally talked to all my bosses about all this, but no reply came..." a bit confusing. Is it that they just cut off the topic whenever you raise it, or do they give evasive answers, or give outright "don't-you-know" looks without any verbal communication? Please elaborate on this aspect.

I can clearly see one more aspect in the situation you mentioned. Whatever the reason(s) for it, it surely is not performance-related. Otherwise, you wouldn't be getting your salary regularly and would have been thrown out by now. I am not sure of this, but nevertheless a thought... what's your boss's gender? Please provide more details as suggested.

Regards,
TS

Respected Sir,

Thanks. I talked to him; my boss is the company chairman. I am in the construction sector. He doesn't want to talk to me and he is not firing me from the company. I am hopeless.

I want to change this job but have failed to do so yet.

Hello Amit Jaiswal,

How did you get into this job - meaning through some reference known to the Chairman, or are you the boss's relative, or through general applying and getting selected?

And did you speak to anyone at a senior level who has a good rapport with the Chairman? Usually, they know about the undercurrent situations.

Regards,
TS

If you are from the construction sector, then you may be aware that the "Thekedar-Munshiji" culture still exists in this industry. Construction is not just a brick-and-mortar business; it is just the tip of the iceberg. The acquisition of land is a major challenge. After acquiring the land, getting the sanction for the plan is a herculean task. One has to wade through a lot of government hurdles or regulations. Then comes the brick-and-mortar activities. There, one has to deal with fraudulent contractors. Lastly, the sale of the product. Piling inventory erodes profitability.

If your company is involved in contracting, then accounts receivables are a major challenge. All the major companies deal with contractors or suppliers as adversaries. Margins get wiped out because, for one reason or another, real estate or infra companies impose penalties. It could be due to fake reasons as well.

This is not all. Occasionally, there are fights at the construction site or safety issues. Last but not least, there are site-specific issues as well. Sometimes fallacious activities of the managers are discovered, imposing one more challenge on how to avoid the fence eating the crop!

Against this backdrop, if your boss is turning a cold shoulder to you, it could be because of the above reasons. He could be considering that HR is a secondary department and therefore deserves a back seat. When he was talking to you, what was the project status? Possibly the project could be at the ab initio phase. As the project progressed, his attention was diverted to too many other issues, hence less time for you!

Your sector is famous for the quixotic ways of the bosses. I know a boss in your industry who thinks everybody must work for 24 hours. Sometimes he calls his managers for meetings at 2200 or 2300 hours. By chance, if you had worked under such a boss, possibly you would have raised a post in this forum on how to deal with a quirky boss!

I have trained 200 procurement/store professionals of a major infra company. I have also provided consulting services to establish the Performance Management System (PMS) for one of the major real estate companies in Pune. Both assignments have given me insight into the working style of the construction or real estate industry.

Nevertheless, human resources in the company need to be developed irrespective of HR's affiliation with the boss. To learn how to do that, call me on my mobile, and I will suggest a remedy. Let us see whether that remedy works.

All the best!

Regards,
Dinesh Divekar

Factors which the learned member, Shri Dinesh, mentioned are quite true. Many factors arise in the real estate business. Analyze all factors that you are aware of, and then try to correlate the sudden state of neglect currently taking place. Look out for alternatives on the side. If no clear factor can be deciphered, then, as Shri Dinesh pointed out, HR is a secondary concern in the real estate industry, and many construction bosses are reluctant to invest in HR resources. Either way, one needs to look out for better opportunities.

Respected Sir,

TS Sir, I am getting my salary on time. My boss is male. When I started talking to him, he just said to do your work. However, there is no task given by anyone. A new Sr. Manager HR has joined, and he is also treating me like I am nobody in the organization. I have tried a lot, but the situation persists.

Dear Amit,

Signs are clear. Look around for another job. However, you need to honestly and deeply analyze why the change in attitude occurred. Nevertheless, these things happen, and one must move on.

Thank you.

Whatever you have described indicates that the management is deliberately trying to send you out. The fact that they have not given any reason is not surprising in the Indian context. Humiliation is unfortunate. Therefore, you have to quickly look for alternatives as you now mention that even a Senior Manager has been appointed. As long as your conscience tells you that you have not done anything wrong, do not mind or worry about anything else. True merit has many ways to shine. I wish you good luck in your search.

Regards,
V. Raghunathan

If they are ignoring you, that means there is no place for you in the company anymore. Their behavior indicates they want you to understand and start looking for a new job as soon as possible. Don't get disheartened or frustrated. Keep searching for a new job since they are not responding to you. Therefore, don't care about them anymore. Just give your time to the company as a normal employee; meanwhile, search for a job and leave the company respectfully.

Rise Above Ignorance and Hate

There is no need to unnecessarily stress your mind. There must be a better opportunity waiting for you, and that opportunity will knock on your door soon. Don't lose hope.

Hi,

Maybe they want you to leave the company on your own. It is better to look for another job and leave the company on a good note. Don't waste time trying to find the reasons.

Regards,
R. Rajasekaran

Dear Amit,

As advised by M/s Divekar and Nathrao, things are clear. The best way is to search for another opportunity and leave at the earliest. If you sincerely search, you can get a good opportunity as there is always a scarcity of good hands in the market. The more you delay leaving, the more shabby your position becomes.

Best wishes,
K. Rajasekaran Iyer

Dear Amit,

If salary is not an issue and if you have good colleagues in the company, then don't leave the company unless you have secured a new job. Let time heal the wound, and keep trying hard to find a new job.

Best of luck!

Discussion with the Chairman

My Chairman asked me to meet him yesterday, so I met him. He said, "If you are not interested in work, you may leave my company. Everyone is complaining about you, that you are taking a salary without doing any work."

I replied to my Chairman, "Sir, if you want to, I'll leave the organization within five minutes." Then he said, "I don't have any reason to say that you have not done any mistake to be fired from the job."

I said, "Sir, you are avoiding me, that's why everyone is avoiding me. I have been getting a salary for the last six months without work, which I also don't like."

Then he said, "Okay Amit, you made some little mistakes. You have to rectify all. Let me come back from Delhi, then I'll decide what work you have to be assigned."

Regards,
Amit

The chairman is giving you a clear message that they do not require your services.

If you were taking a salary without work for the last many months, why did everyone keep quiet?? If there were complaints, why were you not informed of the complaint?? Little mistake, many mistakes—what is the fact??

There is an undercurrent which is flowing against you. You need to sort it out and keep your eyes open for other jobs. I would suggest looking actively for an alternate job as early as possible.

This is certainly a case of a serious communication gap between you and your boss. Otherwise, both of you wouldn't be carrying the same view of the situation, that you are taking a salary without doing any work, but for different reasons. Can you please elaborate on a few issues/points?

1. How often did you meet him earlier (until 6 months back)?
2. Were there any situations where you refused to cooperate with other managers or ignored addressing their concerns?
3. Please recap the past events and see if you can figure out any arguments with others.

Since your Chairman has asked you to wait until his return from Delhi, I suggest waiting. When you discuss this issue with him, be open-minded and present your side of the story if needed. Avoid getting into arguments asserting, "I am right." Lastly, keep looking for new jobs; one never knows what your Chairman meant by "...then I'll decide what work you have to assign."

All the Best.

Regards,
TS