my wife says my relationship with my coworker is inappropriate by Alison Green on May 17, 2022 A reader writes: I’ve been working fully remote for a large company since 2020, and work IM’s have become the new normal. I took a new position in April 2021 and a previous female coworker began directly reporting to me. She accepted a new position on another team in July. Once she accepted the new […] Read the full article →
rejected on a video call, meetings on Juneteenth, and more by Alison Green on May 17, 2022 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Hiring manager set up a video call to reject me I applied to an internal job at my current company that would be fully remote. I went through the first and second round interviews and felt I did pretty well, but continued to apply to […] Read the full article →
update: I’m a member of The Satanic Temple and got outed at work by Alison Green on May 16, 2022 Remember the letter-writer who’s a member of The Satanic Temple and got outed at work and her boss had become hostile to her? Here’s the update. So my update is better but a bit of a bummer. My manager got suspended pending an investigation. Not because of me directly, but this was I guess a cherry […] Read the full article →
my employee can’t accept that his work is bad by Alison Green on May 16, 2022 A reader writes: I’ve put a staff member on to a formal performance improvement plan, but despite me providing feedback and taking multiple approaches to get through to him, he doesn’t seem to be able to grasp just how poorly he is doing. I want him to succeed and have supported many conversations, participation in […] Read the full article →
is it unfair to give my best employee more work than everyone else? by Alison Green on May 16, 2022 A reader writes: I manage a small team of 6-8. Let’s say our work is auditing the use of office supplies — every single one that comes in the door. Not only are we auditing the upcoming shipment of pencils, but also going back and looking at copy machines, paper reams, desk chairs, and every […] Read the full article →
explaining why I’m not donating blood, boss flies first class but put me in coach, and more by Alison Green on May 16, 2022 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. How do I explain why I’m not donating blood? My medium-sized company is hosting a blood drive on site in a few weeks and HR has really been pushing for people to sign up. I would love to donate blood but because I am a […] Read the full article →
weekend open thread – May 14-15, 2022 by Alison Green on May 13, 2022 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: Old New York, by Edith Wharton. If you need to escape the current moment in time, these four novellas will let you instead worry about […] Read the full article →
it’s your Friday good news by Alison Green on May 13, 2022 It’s your Friday good news! 1. “I just got the ‘We are offering you the job!’ call I’ve been waiting for. I’ve been working two and more part-time jobs for several years, and it will be a huge relief to have just one employer and one set of goals, and benefits! And so much of my […] Read the full article →
open thread – May 13-14, 2022 by Alison Green on May 13, 2022 It’s the Friday open thread! The comment section on this post is open for discussion with other readers on any work-related questions 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 take your questions to […] Read the full article →
is it OK to expense drinks with a coworker, my ex-boss blew up when I accepted a different job, and more by Alison Green on May 13, 2022 It’s four answers to four questions. Here we go… 1. Is it weird that my coworker expensed drinks? I have a colleague, Fergus, who is very close to me in age but senior to me at our company (not my manager, though). We have interacted at a few work events and had a great time […] Read the full article →