Narcissist Company Owner

[thedoghousedweller]

I have been on other threads dealing with an issue at home,  but now I need guidance on dealing with a workplace NPD monster.

I took this job 5 months ago and thought the owner was an upstanding man in the community.   I saw yellow flags, like he was digging for personal information about me and my wife, always talked about loyalty. 

But he went to my church,  was a deacon even.   The job was a pay cut for me with a heavy incentive for bonus if the company profited.

Then I studied the turnover.   Hardly anyone in a management position stayed a year.  He said we didn't have a good screening system for new hires.

Well, it's not profitable now , so my pay is terrible.  As the company goes through a downturn,  the owner is pointing fingers.   He wants seven people to sign a document authorizing him to deduct our pay for the company's losses. 

We all refused,  so he directed HR in a live meeting to post our positions online.   Wrote our names on the board and next to each, he wrote "replace."  He said if we don't want to solve his loss issues with urgency-according to his definition- we can walk.

Then his wife barged into the meeting with a question completely unrelated.   He openly asked her if he should dismiss us. Of course she said yes.

Then he said to the group how he could get a better return on investment by shutting down the business  and investing in the market.   

No concern about the people who have to work for a living.

He called me into his office and acknowledged my anger.  Said I needed to offer him "grace." Bull! 

I need to find another job and have some leads. 

Question,  what do I do in the meantime?

[LemonLime]

This person sounds truly terrifying.
As in psychotic-ish.

My advice is to run, not walk, out of there and don't look back.  Figure out what to do once you're safe.

[square]

Damn. Yeah, that's a run-don't-walk situation. While you are getting your parachute on, also put your game face on. You do your job and no more. You stop feeling anything about the job. You put on a pleasant poker face over the wall you will put up. Sorry this happened, it's nuts but also you're not alone.

[didntsignupforthis]

This sounds like a good time for "quiet quitting" - doing the bare minimum required for the job and not an ounce more. When you studied turnover, did you notice a lot more quit vs were fired? Does your local labor law require severance pay for terminations? I had a boss once who hated having to pay severance, so whenever he wanted to get rid of someone he would do things like your boss did to drive them to quit instead, saving him money. It worked in almost all cases, but every so often someone would refuse to be intimidated and just became permanent "quiet quitters."

[moglow]

I'd keep pleasantly doing the job I was hired to do until I had the next firmly in hand, then id be gone. I wouldn't burn bridges but let him do that on his own. Group humiliation mtg with "replace" staked out in that manner? That tells me exactly who he is, loud and clear. Pay attention, that IS who he is.

Bullies can go elsewhere and stay there. Nobody has to live like that.

Back story - years ago I was scraping for a job and took one I had reservations about from day one. Within weeks I realized the man had been through (at least) four assistants in the previous year. I  was having to piece together basic client information and status from one minute to the next, phone calls from irate clients wanting status - while he sat back and blamed "this girl who doesn't know her butt from a hole in the ground." His files were utter chaos, just a big scrambled mess. Plus hed just changed office locations, he claimed they sabotaged him. Blamed everyone else for the implosion of his business.

Within a few months I was offered a return to a former job with a raise, accepted and gave notice same day. Then it REALLY got ugly. He was nasty to me one time too many - I left for lunch one day and threw up halfway through. I went back to his office, sent him an email and left my key. I'd never walked out on a job before but I knew i'd hit my limit. (FYI - he was disbarred a few years ago. Why? Failure in his fiduciary obligations - took money from clients and didn't do his job. Justice!!)

[thedoghousedweller]

Thank you moglow, Square,  didnt, and LemonLime. 

Your advice is in line with my thinking.   I'm avidly searching for something else,  but plan to get by in the meantime. It bothers me that my team (I am a manager) will lose their buffer,  but this is for the birds!

Mr. NPD scheduled a meeting with the group he said he would replace.  Complete litany of how "rich" he was (who says that?) and how people needed to understand his position.  Barf.  Barf.  No remorse for putting our names on the board.  Everyone in the company could see them.  In fact he took a picture of the board when he walked in like he had discovered the formula for relativity on a chalkboard!

I wish I could leave tomorrow but I can't make it work financially.  I will instead keep my head down and avoid contact. 

[moglow]

Tdhd - if I may, please try to keep records. Get instructions [and permissions] in writing where you can, to support yourself in the event of future accusations of wrongdoing. He may genuinely not remember telling you xyz, and it never hurts to have something to refer back to when something's not clear.