do I have to fire someone due to his lack of child care? by Alison Green on May 6, 2024 A reader writes: I have an employee who is unable to obtain childcare when he is on call, which is an essential part of his job, and the job is not safe to take a child to. Therefore, we may not be able to keep him on. I supervise a team of maintenance technicians who […] Read the full article →
someone emailed me about my employee’s behavior outside of work by Alison Green on May 6, 2024 A reader writes: I recently got an email from someone with screenshots concerning an employee of mine. They were of a personal nature directed to an organization outside of work using her personal time and her personal equipment. They didn’t concern work at all. They weren’t racist or hate-filled rants or anything of that nature. […] Read the full article →
I spent a ton of time helping 2 employees who hate each other … now they’re dating by Alison Green on May 6, 2024 A reader writes: Over the last few months, one of my people (Alice) has repeatedly come to me about conflict with a neighboring department’s person (Mary). Both are at the same fairly junior level — they’re a few years out of school. The conflict has always seemed odd, and fairly amorphous, but both Alice and […] Read the full article →
my team keeps working unauthorized overtime by Alison Green on April 29, 2024 A reader writes: I oversee a team of employees who used to be my peers. I understand this can be a hard transition, but it’s been over a year and the staff are still having a hard time with this. That is not the question but I feel it’s relevant. The bigger issue is the […] Read the full article →
I think our intern prank-called us by Alison Green on April 29, 2024 A reader writes: I’ve found myself in an odd situation and would love some thoughts on what to do. I work in fundraising at a nonprofit and today, following a donor event, I got back to my desk and saw that I had five missed calls from the same number. The first four had no […] Read the full article →
former employee is lying about her job with me … to cover up her time in jail by Alison Green on April 22, 2024 A reader writes: A couple years ago, I managed an employee who was arrested at work for stealing from a former employer, among other charges. She was put in jail for a considerable amount of time. She is apparently now out, because I received her resume. I’m no longer at the previous company. I did […] Read the full article →
my employee shuts down when I give her feedback by Alison Green on April 17, 2024 A reader writes: I manage “Mandy” and have needed to give her feedback a few times on the same topic. Think something like, “When you present a proposal, you need to avoid vague explanations of the client problem your proposal addresses and include detailed, quantified specifics of its impacts on the client.” I usually then […] Read the full article →
I promoted one employee instead of her coworker, and now my whole team is upset by Alison Green on April 15, 2024 A reader writes: I am a long-time manager, but promotions are a rarity on my team. When an unexpected opportunity for a promotion arose earlier this year, there were two obvious candidates: Annie and Beth. Annie was more of a star individual contributor than Beth, and also had more experience covering the open position. But […] Read the full article →
I manage my sister, and she overshares about her breaks and sick time by Alison Green on April 10, 2024 A reader writes: I’m hoping you can help me with this conundrum. This situation is complicated by the fact that this is a family business, and all employees are my relatives and/or their romantic partners, but we have virtual assistant team members (independent contractors or third party services) who are party to these conversations. Background: […] Read the full article →
my employee quit over a misdirected email by Alison Green on April 9, 2024 A reader writes: I have two employees who can’t stand each other but they’ve managed to be civil and professional. Sarah is a mid-top performer with a consistently good work product. She’s not a superstar but she is dependable. Dani is temperamental, doesn’t always listen to peers, and has created problems for her teammates when […] Read the full article →