company photoshopped makeup on our headshots, employee made an anti-Semitic joke, and more by Alison Green on May 5, 2020 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Company photoshopped heavy makeup on all the women’s headshots This is something that happened a few years ago but still confounds me when I think about it. I was working in finance for a small trading firm, and the managing partners hired two professional photographers […] Read the full article →
updates: the boss’s son who yells, the student who won’t take feedback, and more by Alison Green on May 4, 2020 It’s a special “where are you now?” season at Ask a Manager, when I’m running updates from people who had their letters here answered in the past. Here are three updates from past letter-writers. 1. My boss’s son constantly yells at him in the office First of all, I want to thank you for your […] Read the full article →
update: my ex-boyfriend is threatening to tell my new job I made adult videos by Alison Green on May 4, 2020 This is an update to a letter I never published. Last summer, I received a letter from someone who had just been hired for a new job that she was really excited about. But her abusive ex found out about it and was threatening to tell the new job that she had made adult videos […] Read the full article →
our new hires keep dropping out before they start by Alison Green on May 4, 2020 A reader writes: I work for a contractor; our primary industry is providing professional staff at locations around the globe. One of the locations where we have staff is far away and has an incredibly strong reputation as a place where you don’t want to get sent. Surprisingly, we don’t have a ton of trouble […] Read the full article →
my coworker sent a snotty message about me on a Zoom call by Alison Green on May 4, 2020 A reader writes: I was on a Zoom call recently with the president of our company and two junior staff members. My position is above theirs, but I do not manage them directly. I made a comment during the meeting, and suddenly a snarky Slack message about me from one of the junior members of […] Read the full article →
we made our new coworker cry, how to open and close emails to colleagues, and more by Alison Green on May 4, 2020 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. My new coworker cried when we gave her feedback I have a new coworker who started the day before our company went to full-time telecommuting, “Ann.” She’s in a different role, outreach, but our teams work together for certain territories throughout our county. I was […] Read the full article →
weekend free-for-all – May 2-3, 2020 by Alison Green on May 2, 2020 This comment section is open for any non-work-related discussion you’d like to have with other readers, by popular demand. (This one is truly no work and no school.) Book recommendation of the week: All We Ever Wanted Was Everything, by Janelle Brown. A mother and two daughters, all with secrets of their own, spend a summer grappling […] Read the full article →
updates: the car alarm, the editing coworker, and more by Alison Green on May 1, 2020 It’s a special “where are you now?” season at Ask a Manager, when I’m running updates from people who had their letters here answered in the past. Here are three updates from past letter-writers. 1. Car alarm keeps disrupting our office (first update here) After my neighbor’s father got involved (chief of police), the alarm […] Read the full article →
more success stories by Alison Green on May 1, 2020 Here are some more accounts of people finding success even in this weird time. 1. I’ve written in a couple of times with contractor-in-California questions. I just wanted to let you know that I have, finally, FINALLY been made permanent at the company I’ve been contracting for all this time. *happy dance* I am over the […] Read the full article →
have your kids take notes at your meetings, and other weirdly out-of-touch advice for the quarantine by Alison Green on May 1, 2020 I offer for your enjoyment this amazing email I received this week: I thought you and your readers might be amused by a meeting that my spouse’s company had recently. The topic was “Tips on Staying Productive While Working from Home with Kids” and the meeting was hosted by three people from their HR department. […] Read the full article →