How to survive a bad boss, when hard work doesn’t pay off, and more top insights

What’s happening in the world of work: The Saturday edition of the Daily Rundown highlights the business trends, perspectives, and hot topics you need to know to work smarter. Read on and join the conversation.

Your job may be scanning your email for clues. A growing roster of startups have begun to offer text analytics services that allow employers to scan email and instant messages to gauge how workers are feeling, The Atlantic reports. Such technology can parse several years’ worth of messages for key words or language shifts that suggest morale has dipped or employees may have committed violations. While many text analytics firms display their findings without singling out individuals, critics warn of the potential privacy risks of such tools. ? Here’s what people are saying.  

Bad bosses: A survival guide

Bad bosses come in many varieties. You have those who are never around ("ghosts"); the kind that swoop in, make a mess and fly off without offering aid ("seagulls"); and then, of course, you have incompetent managers. ? Here’s what people are saying.

• Before you throw your hands up and quit, author Mary Abbajay recommends that you consider the possibility that the problem may have to do with your perception of your manager's behavior, rather than the reality.
• Abbajay suggests you sit down with your boss and ask them how they prefer to communicate, what their priorities are and what annoys them.
• If you can clear the air, perhaps you can salvage the relationship after all. If not, it may be time to start looking for another assignment or another employer.

Go ahead, tell your employees how much you make. The knowledge is likely to make your staff more productive, according to research by UCLA’s Ricardo Perez-Truglia and Harvard’s Zo?  Cullen. In a study of 2,060 workers at a bank in Asia, employees who discovered that their managers’ salaries were higher than they thought spent more time at work and increased their sales. Rather than discouraging workers — which often happens when you discover your colleagues’ pay — the transparency gave employees reason to seek a promotion. ? Here’s what people are saying.  

You Asked: “How should an employee handle situations when they are being held to higher standards than their co-workers doing the same tasks?” — Marcy Koontz, legal secretary at Bowles Rice LLP

• "Sort through two possible explanations for those higher standards. In the Marcy-rocks explanation, you are seen as exceptional and thus, you are being held to a higher standard. That is a positive signal — however poorly expressed — from your managers. In the unfair-treatment explanation, you are being over-penalized and under-rewarded. Are you frustrated because this work is not being asked of others, or because it’s not meaningful to the mission of your firm? We are wired to rage against unfair treatment (my favorite example) but tread carefully if what you are being asked to do is actually central to the firm’s mission. Strategize about how to ask to be rewarded for the extra value you are delivering, rather than asking for lower standards. If it’s not central, then it is smart to propose different approaches to the work with your managers." — Dolly Chugh, NYU professor and author of “The Person You Mean to Be: How Good People Fight Bias”
• “Few things are more frustrating! But try not to assume justice or injustice. Ask for feedback from your boss and listen with the intent to understand, not to respond. Understanding your boss’s perspective may change yours — or, it may help you argue your case. Don’t allow your frustration to blind you to what’s good. This will help you offer your perspective in a way that gives your boss the opportunity to fix the problem. Make sure you have a shared understanding of the standards. If your boss doesn’t fix the problem, polish up your resume. If you feel the injustice is actionable, talk to a lawyer and document the conversation. But remember, if you talk to a lawyer before the conversation, make sure the legal advice doesn’t get in the way of your ability to listen and have a real conversation and fix the problem.” — Kim Malone Scott, co-founder of Candor, Inc. and author of “Radical Candor: Be a Kickass Boss without Losing your Humanity”

Looking for career advice from the pros? Submit your questions in the comments with #YouAsked and we’ll take care of the rest.

All that hard work may be hurting you: Working hard may sound like an ideal path to success, but such exertion is liable to backfire, according to research to be published by the Industrial and Labor Relations Review. The researchers found that work intensity — consistently tight deadlines and hefty workloads — is more likely to lead to poor wellbeing and professional setbacks than even excessive hours. The study’s authors suggest that giving employees more control over how, where and when they work can help matters. ? Here’s what people are saying.

One last idea:  It’s easy to get caught up in the quest for recognition to the point that we forget what inspired us to a start a project or pursue a particular path in the first place. But author and podcast host Srinivasan Rao reminds us that we are likely to do our best work when we stop fixating on winning others’ approval.

“When our work feels like a gift to others instead of an obligation, it gives us something to look forward to every day. It inspires us as much as it does the audience we create it for.”

What's your take? Join the conversations on today's stories in the comments.

— Scott Olster