my employee gets huffy when we play music in the office by Alison Green on February 24, 2025 A reader writes: We work in a completely open plan office, and are a PR/ creative services agency. There are separate meeting rooms, and two banks of unused desks round the side of the kitchen which feel slightly separate from the main seating area and are often used for hot desking or ad hoc meetings. […] Read the full article →
employee’s girlfriend visits him at work every day by Alison Green on February 19, 2025 A reader writes: I manage a small independent business. We recently brought on a young new hire, “Jim.” There are usually only three of us working. Jim’s girlfriend works from home and has been coming in every day to bring him lunch. At first it was fine, but they started to be very affectionate towards […] Read the full article →
my new employee feels excluded on a well-meaning but cliquey team by Alison Green on February 19, 2025 A reader writes: I am a manager on a team where there are two managers and five individual contributors: Buffy, Cordelia, Xander, Willow, and Anya. Buffy and Willow are very good friends. They joined the team at around the same time, about two years ago. Cordelia joined the team just under a year ago and […] Read the full article →
my employee loves his job — but is bad at it by Alison Green on February 12, 2025 A reader asks: I manage a team and have run into a problem with “Bob,” one of my employees. Bob loves this job. Tells me almost every day how much he loves being at this company. But as much as he loves his job, he’s not very good at it. He’s gotten us incorrect information […] Read the full article →
my employee regularly forgets important details and entire conversations by Alison Green on February 11, 2025 A reader writes: About four months ago I hired a new employee, Arnold. He interviewed very well, and the other interviewers on the panel agreed he was the best candidate. However now I am starting to see some serious gaps in ability. The biggest issue is that Arnold totally forgets entire conversations we’ve had. Some […] Read the full article →
my employee is in obvious pain, but won’t get medical treatment by Alison Green on February 3, 2025 A reader writes: One of my employees, “Pam,” has been having pains that I won’t specify for the sake of anonymity. Her condition is degenerative but can be managed quite successfully through physical therapy and occasional steroid injections. I happily made several doctor-recommended accommodations and alterations to Pam’s workspace, at the expense of the company, […] Read the full article →
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 →