April 2023

weekend open thread – April 22-23, 2023

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: Pineapple Street, by Jenny Jackson. Three women — two sisters and one the sister-in-law who has married their brother — navigate their 20s, old […]

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it’s your Friday good news

It’s your Friday good news! 1.  “For the past few years I’d been at a job that, for the most part, was fine. It was easy and low-stress and I had a great relationship with my direct manager, but the pandemic definitely brought out the ugliness in upper management. While all my friends’ organizations jumped […]

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open thread – April 21-22, 2023

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 […]

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updated commenting rules

I’ve updated the commenting rules for this site — please give them a read below if you comment. (You can always find them here as well, and they’re always linked right above the commenting box.) If you don’t comment, here is a live feed of some newborn kittens to look at instead. First, I will note […]

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can we talk about GOOD companies for a change?

It’s the Thursday “ask the readers” question. A reader writes: I work for a large company that, when I started, I thought was going to be really great. It isn’t. It is the opposite of great. On an almost daily basis, I am blown away by how cruel this company is to its workforce. What […]

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is it time to put my employee on a formal improvement plan?

A reader writes: I inherited an employee who was never held accountable by his previous manager (for example, he completed a major web software overhaul nine months past the deadline with no consequences). As a result, I’ve been vigilant about giving him feedback every time he doesn’t do something he says he’s going to do […]

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