should I hire a coworker’s fiancé to work on my car, using a work email address to apply for jobs, and more by Alison Green on June 20, 2015 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Should I hire a coworker’s fiancé to work on my car? I have a question about having a business transaction with a coworker. My car needs some body work done to it and I had mentioned it to her in casual conversation. She mentioned that […] Read the full article →
4 updates from past letter-writers by Alison Green on June 19, 2015 Here are four updates from people who had their questions answered here recently. 1. My assistant let us believe she has a key certification that she doesn’t actually have Since I wrote, my boss at the time (Old Boss) announced her retirement (and has since retired) and a new person (New Boss) was hired. During the […] Read the full article →
what to do when a bad employee asks for a reference by Alison Green on June 19, 2015 Most managers love being able to give references for good employees. It feels good to help someone land a job, and to help an employer land a good worker. But what do you do if you’re asked for a reference for an employee who you can’t honestly recommend? At Inc. today, I talk about how handle […] Read the full article →
open thread – June 19, 2015 by Alison Green on June 19, 2015 It’s the Friday open thread! The comment section on this post is open for discussion with other readers on anything work-related that you want to talk about. If you want an answer from me, emailing me is still your best bet*, but this is a chance to talk to other readers. * If you submitted […] Read the full article →
5,000th post by Alison Green on June 19, 2015 This is the 5,000th post on Ask a Manager since the site launched in 2007. When I started the site eight years ago, I thought I had about six months of posts in me, and had no idea if anyone would send in any questions. Today, the site gets 50+ questions a day, 2 million visits a […] Read the full article →
I overheard a coworker making hateful comments, I’m having trouble focusing in a shared office, and more by Alison Green on June 19, 2015 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. I overheard a coworker making hateful comments about Caitlyn Jenner Today at lunchtime, I overheard the front desk worker in my office discussing with a member of our HR team the Arthur Ashe Courage Award that is being presented to Caitlyn Jenner. The front desk […] Read the full article →
internal visitors are booking up all our conference rooms by Alison Green on June 18, 2015 A reader writes: Our team just recently relocated to a new facility which is an open office environment, and I’m looking to get some advice on visitor space (all of the visitors are internal employees who still work at our old building). We don’t have very many visitor cube spaces, so I’m running into the […] Read the full article →
how to get employees to take vacation — and why you should by Alison Green on June 18, 2015 When’s the last time you pushed an employee to take a vacation and meant it? Too often, managers cringe when they see employees will be out on vacation for a week – who will cover their work, what will get delayed as a result, and what about that meeting scheduled while they’re gone? But if […] Read the full article →
employer wouldn’t interview me unless I authorized an invasive background check before we even talked by Alison Green on June 18, 2015 A reader writes: I recently was invited for an in-person office manager interview with a large, non-finance company in the private sector. I was genuinely interested in the company, but I was surprised when I arrived for the interview and was asked to fill out an application that requested my social security number and date […] Read the full article →
helping someone get better at thinking on her feet, did I bomb my phone interview, and more by Alison Green on June 18, 2015 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Should my former peers write a letter in support of my candidacy as their manager? I applied for a management position within my department. This is in a group where I was a team lead previously, but left that role for a promotion to another […] Read the full article →