our CEO is demanding we return to the office but people don’t want to — and I’m a manager stuck in the middle by Alison Green on January 15, 2025 A reader writes: In 2020, due to the pandemic, my entire company started to work from home. I enjoyed a much better work-life balance and know many others did too, especially because so many people moved further away for more space. Sadly, we’ve been asked to come back into the office. At first it was […] Read the full article →
my employees’ juice cleanses are disrupting their work by Alison Green on January 14, 2025 A reader writes: I manage a team of five. One of my staff, Helen, does some variation of a week-long juice cleanse or other liquid diet about once per year, and has for the four years she has been on my team. During that week each time, she arrives late or leaves early for three […] Read the full article →
employee runs to work and drips water and mud everywhere when he arrives by Alison Green on January 13, 2025 A reader writes: One of our staff, Leonard, runs to work. Given our local climate, this often results in him arriving damp and/or cold, which has caused issues: • Our offices/meeting rooms have glass walls, so he uses the shared washroom to change on arrival – tromping through in muddy shoes or bare feet, washing […] Read the full article →
junior employee sends rude emails by Alison Green on January 13, 2025 A reader writes: A junior employee I manage writes rude emails. He will send three emails in 15 minutes, and then respond rudely when I answer the first one, as I haven’t gotten around to the other two or hadn’t seen them in my inbox yet. He’ll respond quoting his previous emails I haven’t had […] Read the full article →
my employee is too accommodating by Alison Green on January 6, 2025 A reader writes: I am having a very backwards problem with one of my employees, Jill, being too accommodating and self-sacrificing. We have regular hours that we work, but it’s not uncommon for hours to need to change when something comes up. Everyone is aware of this when they come onboard, and we do our […] Read the full article →
should I demote an employee who can’t do her job? by Alison Green on December 18, 2024 A reader writes: I have a staff member who was promoted beyond her capability. I have tried coaching her, and she simply does not have the skill or aptitude required for the job. I do think she could work in her original role — but to have the budget to replace her, she would need […] Read the full article →
my employee is vaping on video calls by Alison Green on December 12, 2024 A reader writes: I manage a team that has moved to remote work. We are now holding all of our meetings through virtual interfaces. Recently I have noticed one of our employees vaping during our meetings with me and during all-staff meetings. Do you think this is appropriate or should I say something? I answer […] Read the full article →
my employee never apologizes for mistakes by Alison Green on December 11, 2024 A reader writes: I manage an employee who’s in his first year out of college. He’s a great employee and has impressed people at all levels of the company and has received recognition for his good work. But there is one thing recently that has been driving me up a wall and I can’t tell […] Read the full article →
my assistant doesn’t know how to prioritize by Alison Green on December 4, 2024 A reader writes: My team recently hired a part-time assistant, Jane, to help with my work. The problem I’m running into is that Jane either doesn’t know how to prioritize or doesn’t understand that certain things need to be prioritized even if I explicitly tell her “this task needs to be completed before you do […] Read the full article →
I feel exploited by my employees by Alison Green on December 3, 2024 A reader writes: I lead a manufacturing business that I co-founded over a decade ago. It turned its first profit recently, but all this time, we as the owners have taken care of everyone by taking colossal personal debt and making incredible sacrifices, including working ourselves an average of 60 hours a week. We have […] Read the full article →