my employee eavesdrops on me by Alison Green on February 21, 2024 A reader writes: At first I thought I was being paranoid, but on three separate occasions, I’ve wrapped up a closed door conversation others in our C-suite, only to discover my employee directly outside my door. Our office set-up is odd; we’re essentially one huge office that was cut into thirds–one side is her office […] Read the full article →
my employee is hassling coworkers about their clothes by Alison Green on February 19, 2024 A reader asks: I hired a new team member, “Jane,” six months ago. She’s competent and diligent, but now that she’s coming out of her shell, her rigidity around her idea of professional norms are alienating her team members as well as other people on staff: * She complains about women colleagues’ workwear for being […] Read the full article →
my former employee lied to get a new job — should I do anything? by Alison Green on February 14, 2024 A reader writes: Recently I became aware that a former employee of mine had landed a new job with a new employer. Kudos to him! But the job he got is well beyond his abilities and experience, by about 10 years. He jumped about three levels, to an equivalent level to mine. Curious, I checked […] Read the full article →
employee wants a higher raise than she earned by Alison Green on February 13, 2024 A reader writes: I have an employee whose yearly review I am working to wrap up. After the initial review, we usually discuss a raise, based on what was discussed in the review. We typically would expect a 2-5% raise for this person. I got an email from her requesting a 13.15% raise. I don’t […] Read the full article →
is it normal to cancel days off for a resigning employee? by Alison Green on February 13, 2024 A reader writes: I am a new manager, though I’ve led individual contributors on project-based work for a large part of my career. My direct manager, “Sam,” said something puzzling to me last week and I’ve been chewing on it all weekend. One of my direct reports, “Drew,” put in their two-week notice on Monday. […] Read the full article →
my assistant keeps arguing with me by Alison Green on February 12, 2024 A reader writes: I’m a new manager. My assistant was close with the previous manager who I took over from, and it’s been a bit of a challenge creating a good relationship with her. Any time I make a decision for our team, she constantly asks why and she quite often says, “That’s not how […] Read the full article →
my boss and my employee won’t stop asking me to spend the night at their houses by Alison Green on February 12, 2024 A reader writes: I am a mid-level manager at a medium-sized company. I have worked here for four years now, and this problem has been happening since I started. About six months after I started, my boss invited me to a Halloween party at her house. I felt like I should go because she is […] Read the full article →
what are the ethics around asking an employee not to talk about her raise? by Alison Green on February 8, 2024 A reader writes: I have an employee, we’ll call her Mariah, who worked at our company in a different department for over a year before she applied for an opening in my department. She was stellar in her original role, so I was thrilled to take her. When the transfer was final and she showed […] Read the full article →
I ramble nervously when I give employees feedback by Alison Green on February 7, 2024 A reader writes: Whenever I have to give any challenging feedback to someone I supervise, I tend to ramble on and repeat myself. I want to be sure that I am clear and direct, but then I worry that I was too harsh so I soften things a little. Then I want to give examples […] Read the full article →
my employee meets deadlines … but is much slower than the rest of us by Alison Green on February 6, 2024 A reader writes: I started managing my first direct report a year ago, let’s call her Sondra, and am pleased to say that thanks to my devoted reading of your blog, Sondra recently shared with boss that I did not seem like a first-time manager. There is one issue that I have been wrestling with […] Read the full article →