I manage someone who wants more praise from his own employees by Alison Green on January 2, 2024 A reader writes: I’m an executive. One of my direct reports (a manager) is frustrated that his team doesn’t acknowledge his input/skills/expertise. It’s as though he wants his team to give him positive feedback and validation. My feeling is that it’s very unlikely to happen. Even great managers don’t often hear their team say, “Thanks […] Read the full article →
I manage a habitual phone checker by Alison Green on December 19, 2023 A reader writes: One of the people I supervise is a good, solid employee. He does his work on time and to deadline, juggles multiple projects, and supervises some temporary workers. I have no complaints! However, he has a terrible habit of being on his phone during larger presentations and trainings. On two recent occasions […] Read the full article →
my junior employee won’t stop sharing his “expertise” by Alison Green on December 11, 2023 A reader writes: I run a seven-person office. One of my direct reports is both not very experienced and not very good at his job, which requires extremely specific legal knowledge and a strong attention to detail. Despite this, he’s got an irritating habit of positioning himself as a subject matter expert around the office […] Read the full article →
I have a crush on my employee by Alison Green on December 7, 2023 A reader writes: I’ve worked with a male colleague who is close in age to me (I am female) for several years, and last year I was promoted to manage him and others. We have a great working relationship and complementary skill sets; people have remarked on what a great team we make. We have […] Read the full article →
when your new hire is in jail on his first day by Alison Green on December 6, 2023 A reader writes: My company hired a new person on my team. He was scheduled to start on a Monday but he pushed back a week at the last minute, and he didn’t notify us until minutes before he was expected in. The next Monday he didn’t come in, and no one could get in […] Read the full article →
45 gift ideas for every type of employee on your team by Alison Green on December 4, 2023 If you’re the boss, finding the right gifts for your employees can be fraught with questions: How much do you spend? Should you spend the same amount of money on each person? And if you don’t know someone well, how do you make sure they like the gift while still keeping it professional? For the […] Read the full article →
my employee is being difficult … but I think it’s the stress of illness by Alison Green on November 21, 2023 A reader writes: I am a manager for a team of 11 people. One of my long time employees, Zed, has stage 4 cancer. When Zed was first diagnosed about three months ago, I asked if he might consider taking FMLA leave (we have very generous medical leave policies). Zed refused. I think it’s because […] Read the full article →
my employee times her bathroom breaks to avoid the tasks she doesn’t want to do by Alison Green on November 20, 2023 A reader writes: I own a business and have noticed recently that my receptionist, Lisa, has been going to the bathroom at really inconvenient — and suspicious — times. We have people coming in by appointment, and especially in the last several weeks, she has gotten up to go to the bathroom right before a […] Read the full article →
does using humor risk undermining me as a manager? by Alison Green on November 16, 2023 A reader writes: I am a brand new manager at a rather small company and have one employee who reports to me, my first ever report. Typically in the past I’ve built relationships with coworkers and managers with work-appropriate humor and puns, with a decent amount of my jokes being self-deprecating (Think jokes about the […] Read the full article →
my employee identifies proudly as a grump by Alison Green on November 15, 2023 A reader writes: I manage a small team of creative people and we all have different work styles (as defined during a company-wide professional growth workshop.) One team member has so strongly identified with her more aggressive and direct work style that I find she is using it as a crutch to excuse bad behavior […] Read the full article →