What to do if you are constantly overlooked by your boss
Your relationship with your boss is an important one. If you have a positive relationship, you will feel motivated and will hopefully be encouraged to go for promotion sooner rather than later. However, if is it negative, you may quickly lose interest in the job and could even end up losing it completely. If your relationship is negative because you feelyour boss ignores you, there are a number of ways you can deal with the situation.
It is worth doing some investigation to find out why your boss ignores you. It could be that he is a poor boss and ignores everyone for whom he has responsibility. It could be that he has issues in his private life that, once resolved, will mean he has more time to concentrate on you. Ask other colleagues if they know why he behaves as he does. Alternatively, it could be a personal clash, in which case you will need to come to some form of compromise. Point out that you are feeling uncomfortable and overlooked and that you are willing to work with him to overcome this.
Your boss can't ignore you if you arrange regular one-to-one meetings. They don't need to be long; just ten minutes once a week should suffice. Make sure you don't waste time by making a note of what you want to discuss. If you don't get an answer to any questions you have, then follow up by email and, if necessary, in the following week's meeting. You don't want to be seen as a troublemaker, but at the same time, your boss owes you the courtesy of a response. Make him aware that you will not just let things lie.
It may simply be that your boss is too busy to do anything more than sign your holiday requests. In that case, if you feel you really need some additional guidance, you could talk to human resources about finding you a mentor. If you have a good mentor, he should be able to guide you in the right direction and, if necessary, support you when you need it. You may want to discuss the matter with your boss first, or at least attempt to, just to ensure no offence is taken. It may just galvanise him into action and ensure that he doesn't ignore you anymore.
In some circumstances, your boss ignoring you may be a very good thing for your character. It could teach you to get on with the job and work out ways of delivering without someone standing over you all the time. Some managers want workers whom they can leave to their own devices and you will certainly grow in experience. Just make sure that you don't waste time by messing around. Just because you think that your boss ignores you doesn't mean that he can't tell when you aren't performing to the best of your ability.
If you have tried everything else and still don't appear to be getting anywhere with your boss,mediationis an option. You could speak to human resources and ask them to set you up formally, or you could go down the less formal route and ask a senior colleague to help out. The idea of mediation is that both you and your boss get the chance to put forward your views and the mediator tries to help you come up with a compromise. That way, you should be able to find a way of working to suit you both.
A last-ditch solution is simply to find another boss. You could ask to work in another team or department. If you can show human resources that you have tried to get through to your boss to no avail, human resources should be willing to help move you, or, at the very least, to explain to your boss that his behaviour is just not acceptable. However, if you cannot change your boss for some reason, you may want to start looking for another job. This is particularly important if your relationship with your boss is making you unhappy.
A good boss should never ignore you for long periods of time. If he does, don't ignore the issue; you deserve the courtesy of inclusion.
