June 2020

employee says “kind of” and “you know” constantly, requiring references at the application stage, and more

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. My employee says “kind of” and “you know” constantly I recently on-boarded a new team member who I’m very excited to have in a long needed role, “Jane.” Jane’s interviews went fabulously, with myself and other managers agreeing she was the best fit of the […]

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our CEO’s plans for re-opening are loony and stressful

Two questions — one on loony re-opening plans, and one about whether getting arrested at a protest will affect you professionally. My company’s re-opening plan is a disaster Even before the start of the COVID-19 crisis, our CEO has demonstrated questionable leadership, but it has taken center stage during our new mandatory bi-weekly Zoom calls […]

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my colleague wants to fire a domestic violence survivor

A reader writes: I work for a midsize office in a building that houses multiple businesses. We share reception and security, but little information flows between different businesses, as you would expect. Recently, there was a terrible incident where the ex-boyfriend of one of my reports, Sansa, got into the building by booking a job […]

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when is it OK to go over someone’s head?

A reader writes: I’m a millennial who spent most of my life believing everyone in the working world is hyper-competent. Silly me! I do administration work at a nonprofit, and we’re currently counting on another nonprofit to give us some grant money they’ve promised us, by contract. I have been trying to get in touch […]

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our employees won’t keep the office kitchen clean

A reader writes: We have a small office of 12 employees. Our company provides coffee, cereal, sandwich stuff, and snacks for the employees. We have a microwave, toaster oven, refrigerator, and dishwasher. We developed a “kitchen duty” schedule that schedules someone to provide basic housekeeping for a week on a rotating basis. This includes trash […]

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