weekend open thread – January 30-31, 2021 by Alison Green on January 30, 2021 This comment section is open for any non-work-related discussion you’d like to have with other readers, by popular demand. Here are the rules for the weekend posts. Book recommendation of the week: The Assistants, by Camille Perri. An underpaid assistant to a rich CEO finds a way to use her boss’s expense account to secretly pay off her and […] Read the full article →
it’s your Friday good news by Alison Green on January 29, 2021 It’s your Friday good news, with more accounts of success even in this weird time. 1. I’ve been loving the good news Friday columns and I was wondering if I could submit some good news of my own! I didn’t negotiate my salary when I started at my current job – it was my first […] Read the full article →
open thread – January 29-30, 2021 by Alison Green on January 29, 2021 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 (that includes school). If you want an answer from me, emailing me is still your best bet*, but this is a chance to talk to other readers. * […] Read the full article →
employee cursed at a coworker over politics, boss has weaponized her personality test, and more by Alison Green on January 29, 2021 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Employee cursed at a coworker over politics I’m an HR manager (department of one – me). One of the VPs of my company related the following event to me: In a meeting of eight managers and project managers, one project manager, Tom, said he’d voted […] Read the full article →
how do I adjust to not being the boss anymore? by Alison Green on January 28, 2021 A reader writes: I recently made a transition from being the executive director of a nonprofit and responsible for everything (very stressful) to middle management at a much larger government entity, with better hours, pay, benefits, etc. and I’m no longer in charge. This is a good thing overall and a good step for my […] Read the full article →
update: how can we get privacy with a live-in nanny? by Alison Green on January 28, 2021 Remember the letter from the person grappling with how to get privacy from their live-in nanny? Here’s the update. Thank you for your initial advice – I thought it was very sound! I would like to answer some of the questions that were brought up in the comments. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to be […] Read the full article →
sore winners: let’s talk about people who get weirdly competitive at work by Alison Green on January 28, 2021 Some people get strongly competitive at work, and about the weirdest things. Remember the manager who got strangely aggressive about winning what was supposed to be a friendly team-building competition? “Ethel (the boss) took it incredibly seriously,” our letter writer reported. “She got really aggressive, shouting that my team were losers and couldn’t keep up.” […] Read the full article →
my employee got vaccinated ahead of high-risk people, my boss says you can’t negotiate salary, and more by Alison Green on January 28, 2021 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Is it true you can’t negotiate your salary when you’re promoted? My boss insists that trying to negotiate a higher salary increase than what is offered with a promotion is just not a thing that people do. This recently came up with a coworker, advocating […] Read the full article →
my employee started a false rumor that two coworkers were having an affair by Alison Green on January 27, 2021 A reader writes: I am a manager of a handful of front line managers. One manager in particular, let’s call her Emily, approached me the other day to tell me that one of the receptionists, Jane, came to her office and told her there was a rumor going around the office that Emily was potentially having an […] Read the full article →
what to do when a top job candidate has another offer by Alison Green on January 27, 2021 A reader writes: I’m hiring for a an open position and conducted a phone interview with a great candidate (we’d already interviewed him once before in a prior round but didn’t hire him) and told him that in-person interviews would take place within a few weeks, with someone in place by early March. I got […] Read the full article →