my younger employee doesn’t know professional norms by Alison Green on August 1, 2022 A reader writes: I’m a 30-year-old female manager. We recently hired a new employee who is 25 who came highly recommended and will be building out a role that we haven’t had filled in years. Despite the fact that our age difference isn’t large, I am kind of amazed by the generational difference between us […] Read the full article →
a dispute about customer skills is tearing apart my agrotourism business by Alison Green on July 26, 2022 A reader writes: My two business partners (and their spouses) and I operate a successful agrotourism business, including an inn where guests come to enjoy delicious food, luxury accommodations, and the chance to do light agricultural work while being outside in the sunshine and fresh air. I own 70% of the company and they split […] Read the full article →
should I tell my boss my coworker is working a second job? by Alison Green on July 13, 2022 A reader writes: I am in a very weird spot with a coworker, I’ll call her Bella. We both work the same job, the only two who do it at a very large corporation. I like adding coworkers to LinkedIn as I work in HR and have kept in touch with many people over the […] Read the full article →
dealing with domestic abuse in the workplace by Alison Green on July 11, 2022 This is a reprint of a post from 2012. Someone recently suggested reprinting it annually and I think it’s a good idea. In a post about what to do if an employee is being abused at home, commenter Marie left the following comment, which I thought was so powerful that I wanted to post it here […] Read the full article →
my coworkers are asking if my pregnancy was planned by Alison Green on June 30, 2022 A reader writes: I’m a 23-year-old woman. I work as a teacher, but I have a second job that I work two or three nights a week. It’s a food service job, where most of the staff are 20-25-year-old women. I am 12 weeks pregnant. I told my boss at the restaurant a few weeks […] Read the full article →
my coworker is living in my boss’s house — and we all work there too by Alison Green on June 29, 2022 A reader writes: I have bizarre and sensitive situation, and I just don’t know what to make of it, and what (if anything) I should do! I work in a very small business. There are five employees (three part-time, two full-time) plus our owner, and our work happens in our boss’s house (which has been […] Read the full article →
the new hires at work are driving me up a wall by Alison Green on June 28, 2022 A reader writes: My team has been going through a lot of changes over the past couple of months after years of very little turnover. The changes are not necessarily bad: the company has been giving lots of promotions out, although a couple of people have left the company for better opportunities. They certainly have […] Read the full article →
coworkers and clients won’t stop commenting on my arms by Alison Green on June 23, 2022 It’s the Thursday “ask the readers” question. A reader writes: I am a program director for a very public-facing, often-busy, and somewhat-high-profile mobile health services program. Half of my day is spent mostly outdoors at rotating pop-up sites for which I have long-term relationships with the host, and half of my day is spent in-office. […] Read the full article →
I started a business with two coworkers and I’m doing all the work by Alison Green on June 8, 2022 A reader writes: Two years ago, two coworkers (Sam and James) and I quit our jobs and began our own business doing something similar. We decided to keep operations as equal as possible: we would each be billed as co-founders, receive the same amount of money each month, and collaborate on tasks as much as […] Read the full article →
do I care too much about email style? by Alison Green on June 7, 2022 A reader writes: I’m a freelance copyeditor for a firm, and emails are the only interaction I have with their communications team. I find myself appreciating the everyday fillers like “good morning” or “I hope you’re well” or “have a great weekend.” I know these are totally generic, yet it helps the interactions feel a […] Read the full article →