Ten things we'd love to tell the boss According to Sam Day, it takes guts to give honest feedback. Ever wanted to tell your boss what you really think? You're not alone. Many a frustrated employee has dreamt of giving their boss an earful. In fact, 78 per cent of employees have told their boss to "go shove it," a survey of more than 300 people by corporate training firm Happening People has found. Seventy-eight per cent of employees have told their boss to go shove it. Giving honest feedback is a courageous act, says the firm's managing director Sam Day. Justin Babet says the best bosses are those who recognise they're not perfect. "The most common resistance is people don't know how to word it, set it up and structure it," Day says. There is often a power differential between the employee and the boss. But the organisation has a responsibility to make the workplace a safe place for the employee to give feedback. So what do most workers want to get off their chests? What would you like to tell your boss? Have you ever told the boss exactly what you think? What did you say? With the help of employer review site JobAdvisor, Fairfax has found the most common things employees would like to say to their bosses. Don't be a bully. Command and control management style is not effective or inspiring. Be inclusive, back your staff and it will bring out the best in them. Delegate! Trust your staff to take on more responsibility - that's what you employed them for. You won't be as stressed and you will actually engage and empower your staff to make really positive change. Remember to say thanks for all of the hard work. It really makes a difference to be recognised. Your staff will feel a lot more motivated if they know their efforts will be acknowledged. Be decisive and stick to your decisions. There's nothing worse than managers who constantly second-guess themselves. Step up and be a leader. Please think before you speak. Don't make promises you can't keep, don't make small talk for the hell of it and if you don't know the answer to a question, be honest and say so. Don't say 'leave it with me', if that's where it stays. Assuring your staff you are on top of their requests when you clearly are not is a sure sign of a lazy and disingenuous boss. Do not ask for staff opinion and then ignore us! Pretending to be a collaborative manager just drives everyone crazy. Only ask for suggestions if you plan on properly considering them. Have a heart. Try to encourage a culture that fosters a work-life balance. Be flexible and allow your staff to work from home, or make late or early starts where appropriate. Your reward is happier and more loyal employees. Don't treat me like a number. Know your employees' names, ask how they are occasionally and remember you're on the same team. Basic people skills go a long way towards creating a happy workplace. Own up to your own mistakes. Don't blame an employee for not reaching a goal when they didn't have the right support and leadership behind them. Part of taking on the responsibility of management includes taking the fall for your team's shortcomings. Employees may not have the nerve to give their bosses a piece of their mind in person, but now there is a way to do it anonymously. JobAdvisor invites employees to review their employers, much like TripAdvisor publishes holiday reviews by travellers. JobAdvisor founder and chief executive Justin Babet says the site has collected more than 2000 reviews since it began 18 months ago. "The interview process is like a blind date where the employer gets to do background checks on you, but you don't have the same advantage and that's where JobAdvisor helps," he says. Babet says giving users the protection of anonymity allows them to give full and frank feedback without fear of demotion or payback. "A lot of employees won't give this kind of feedback in exit interviews because there's a fear that it's not anonymous and what they say may come back to them," he says. Employees on JobAdvisor have reviewed more than 600 companies. Babet says the reviews are handy for people looking for a job but also serve as a way of companies obtaining and using honest feedback to improve their systems. "I think a lot of employers would want to know if their staff don't think they've been treated fairly and aren't happy," he said. No company is perfect and I think the best ones are those who recognise they're not perfect.