10 Ways to Make Your Boss Love You

The stock market’s been climbing. Housing prices are on the rebound. But the job market? Like a bum on a bender, it still hasn’t hit bottom. Even as the Dow continued its impressive run-up in recent months, Americans were still losing jobs at the rate of 2,500 an hour. Looking for work? At last count, there were 14.5 million workers competing for just 2.6 million openings, and the average job hunt lasted six months. All of which means there’s one piece of advice that holds true for just about every employee: Keep your job.

Even the most ambitious Americans are playing defense when it comes to career planning—hanging on to their jobs as tight as they can. For most workers, that includes paying extra attention to their relationship with their direct supervisor, who, not surprisingly, is under quite a bit of pressure lately. According to a recent survey of U.S. managers by global HR consulting firm BPI, 82 percent feel stressed on the job, and 75 percent say the stress has hurt their relationship with their teams. “If a boss was indecisive, controlling or temperamental in good times, he’s probably twice as bad now,” says Manhattan psychotherapist Katherine Crowley, who specializes in workplace relationships.

The fact that many managers these days lack the skills to lead a team only adds to the challenge. Twenty years ago most supervisors received formal training from their companies, learning how to set goals, settle disputes and reward good performance. But companies are increasingly focusing that time and money elsewhere. According to a study by Bersin & Associates, spending on leadership development as a share of employee education budgets fell 20 percent last year. Translation: Your manager is probably making it up as he goes along.

But you don’t have to. Career consultants say the current office environment offers outstanding opportunities for employees who—far from lying low—are increasing their role at work by actively supporting their boss. There’s a term for this, of course: It’s called “managing up.” What does this mean in practical terms? To come up with a surefire plan for job retention, we talked to a slew of management gurus and, to keep it real, to corporate leaders who are bosses themselves (boy, did they give us an earful). Here, 10 strategies that employees in almost any job can use to help keep their bosses happy—and keep themselves off the street.

The choppy economy has us spending more time at the office; according to a survey by the Society for Human Resource Management, 50 percent of workers say there’s more pressure to work long hours now than there was a year ago. Roughly half of all workers also say they’re increasing their hours to impress the boss and shore up job security. But bosses say they don’t actually care how many hours employees work, as long as the job gets done. Yes, managers expect late nights or a sacrificed weekend in a crunch. But when it’s just for show, you’re wasting your time. Shai Littlejohn, an entertainment lawyer, says there’s nothing more annoying than an employee who brags about his long hours—it strikes her as self-serving. Plus, she can’t help wondering, “Why can’t you finish your job in a normal amount of time like everyone else?”

Another reason to pace yourself? There’s actually evidence that working long hours can hurt your performance. A study published this year in the American Journal of Epidemiology found that middle-aged workers who consistently worked at least 55 hours a week scored lower on reasoning and vocabulary tests than counterparts working 40-hour weeks. A second study found that medical residents working 90 hours a week showed the same impairment level as those who drank 4 ounces of vodka.

Most bosses understand that a work-life balance creates a happy, productive employee; they appreciate a worker who paces herself to maintain peak performance. Crowley, coauthor with Kathi Elster of Working for You Isn’t Working for Me, suggests that employees tell their bosses exactly what they need: “I have to leave tonight at 7” while explaining, “I need some rest because I want to do the best job possible.” And if you happen to get caught goofing off on the job, don’t pretend you’re not. Steve Richard, CEO of Arlington, Va., sales outsourcing firm Vorsight, says it’s annoying to approach an employee and watch him switch from Facebook or a sports site to a spreadsheet. “I’m human—I look at ESPN too,” he says. “Don’t hide it from me.”

David Via, vice president of sales and marketing for D’Addario, a Long Island music-accessories manufacturer, offers unusual words of praise for his national sales manager: “He reads between the lines.” For instance, Via recently CC’d this sales manager on an e-mail to another employee who wanted advice on a big contract. “I’ll see if I can do it over the weekend,” Via wrote. The unspoken message? “I’m totally swamped!” Via was delighted when the manager immediately offered to review the contract himself.

Putting yourself in your manager’s shoes can earn favor, but it also takes the sting out of bad boss behavior, says management consultant Lynn Taylor, author of Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant. In interviews with 200 bosses and employees, she found one factor underlying practically all the supervisors’ most annoying behaviors: fear. Whether a boss is being demanding, critical, stubborn or needy, chances are she’s scared of failing or looking bad to her own boss. “It’s not about you,” says Taylor. The employee can turn things around by addressing the underlying problem. If the boss is stressed about a big presentation, for example, the employee could offer to help.

Of course, the source of a manager’s freak-out isn’t always readily apparent. Tim Reeves, CEO of Philadelphia advertising firm The Neiman Group, says employees don’t realize how lonely it can be at the top. They tend to depersonalize their boss and forget he has his own burdens. That isolation creates an opportunity for the thoughtful employee who sincerely cares for his boss’s well-being—and is confident enough to ask about the boss’s concerns and priorities. On the other hand, any boss can tell when it’s just self-centered brownnosing, says Reeves: “A gratuitous inquiry into ‘How are the kids’ is not what I’m talking about.”