8 horror stories for Administrative Professionals’ Day by Alison Green on April 26, 2023 Administrative Professionals’ Day is today, so please enjoy these horror stories submitted by readers in the past. 1. The dance lesson For Administrative Professionals’ Day (a “holiday” that must die), my company used to order snacks and cheap wine and give us a little token like a mug with the company name on it. One […] Read the full article →
HR jokes about firing people, I want to stop giving reasons for my time-off requests, and more by Alison Green on April 26, 2023 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. HR jokes about firing people This is less a question and more a grievance. HR at our podunk local government has a framed 12×12 meme that reads, “I came here to watch cartoons and fire people. And I’m just about out of cartoons.” I find […] Read the full article →
is it unprofessional to get a tattoo on a work trip? by Alison Green on April 25, 2023 A reader writes: Last week I had to travel for work. My boss lives in one state, I live in another, and we met in a major metropolitan area in a third state for three days of meetings. On the third day, Thursday, we carpooled from the hotel to the airport. We arrived about an […] Read the full article →
what are the minimum benefits an employer needs to provide? by Alison Green on April 25, 2023 A reader writes: What do you think are the absolute minimum benefits an employer should provide? I’m a business development consultant, and work with a lot of start-ups assisting in total compensation development. I, of course, try to work with my clients to develop the most competitive benefits package they can afford. However, I’ve often […] Read the full article →
how do I avoid “mom energy” with my younger employees? by Alison Green on April 25, 2023 A reader writes: I’m a 40-year-old woman managing a team of 10 in a tech company, where several of the team members are 10-15 years younger than I am. How do I avoid “mom energy”? Specifically, my employee Annie and I met in-person for the first time last week at a workshop. In a group […] Read the full article →
interviewing with a service dog in my lap, boss thinks I’m a stoner because I called out on 4/20, and more by Alison Green on April 25, 2023 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Interviewing with a service dog in my lap I have a job interview this Thursday! I haven’t really worked since March 2020, so this is my first time in any sort of professional environment since becoming a service dog user. My dog is trained to […] Read the full article →
I desperately need breaks between my back-to-back meetings by Alison Green on April 24, 2023 A reader writes: I’m looking for some practical advice to create breaks between meetings. I started a new job about six months ago and the meeting culture here is slowly killing me. My old workplace had done some improvement work that resulted in, among other things, hour-long meetings being scheduled from :00 to :50 instead […] Read the full article →
your coworkers are stealing from you by Alison Green on April 24, 2023 You’d like to think that you can trust the people you work with all day – that coworkers who know you by name, hear about your kids, and trade jokes with you before meetings wouldn’t brazenly steal items that clearly belong to you. But in reality – at least judging from my mail – it […] Read the full article →
I manage a gay employee … and our company is homophobic by Alison Green on April 24, 2023 A reader writes: I think my company and, honestly, I have managed to make rather a colossal mess out of a relatively easily resolved situation and I’m a bit lost on how to get back to how we were before. I’m a middle manager for a third sector organization in the UK, and one of […] Read the full article →
a coworker told me I talk too much, I’m still ruminating over a job I didn’t take, and more by Alison Green on April 24, 2023 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. A coworker I barely know told me I talk too much My friend “Mark” and I work for the same large company. It’s large enough that we rarely encounter each other at work and don’t know many of each other’s colleagues. We recently had a […] Read the full article →