I saw a private text about my intern having sex on her desk by Alison Green on September 12, 2023 A reader writes: I have a question about something that happened to me earlier in my career and what I should have done. I worked in a very small office: the executive director, myself, and an intern (who I managed). Often people would be in the office alone if others were out at meetings or […] Read the full article →
how to tell my employee I made a mistake with a client by Alison Green on September 11, 2023 A reader writes: My employee, Joe, met with a client, Alice, who had previously met with me before Joe started in his role). I know that my meeting with Alice went poorly — she was making unreasonable requests and displayed a level of inflexibility that I knew would not get her where she needed, but […] Read the full article →
my employee wants to go part-time in summers but we really need her full-time by Alison Green on September 6, 2023 A reader writes: I own a small business with six full-time employees. One of my employees, my bookkeeper Leah, has grandchildren and has recently asked to work part-time (two days off, three days on) in summers so she can spend more time with them. She is a good, long-standing employee. However, this really presents many […] Read the full article →
my manager told a coworker to write an apology letter to a higher-up by Alison Green on September 5, 2023 A reader writes: I’m semi-close with a coworker, Jasper, outside of work (friend of a friend), but I keep my distance at work because he has a pretty bad attitude problem that has gone relatively unchecked by management for a long time. We are not on the same team but work in the same area […] Read the full article →
my employee’s reading and writing skills aren’t good enough by Alison Green on August 30, 2023 A reader writes: I have an employee who is chomping at the bit for a promotion that she’s not currently qualified for. Luckily, my company has processes in place for that: I wrote up a plan, outlining what she’s already doing well and where I need to see improvement in order to recommend her for […] Read the full article →
my employee disappeared with our data and won’t answer any messages by Alison Green on August 23, 2023 A reader writes: My team employs several part-time remote employees who conduct field research and submit data summaries back to us so that we can report out to our clients. Recently one of them has fallen out of communication before finishing his work — he completed the required field visits but has not turned in […] Read the full article →
my 2 dating employees are cuddling in staff meetings by Alison Green on August 23, 2023 A reader writes: I’m a youngish retail manager and I have two staff members about my age who are in a relationship. I worked with one at a prior location, and then she just transferred to my new location to work with her partner. (This decision was above my level.) It’s only been a few […] Read the full article →
our employee retired … but now she won’t leave by Alison Green on August 22, 2023 A reader writes: Our employee, “Fiona,” decided to semi-retire after 20 years of working with us. She asked to reduce her hours and work mostly from home, which was approved. Since the start of her official semi-retirement date, however, she still comes to work almost full-time. Fiona hasn’t asked to go back to her full-time […] Read the full article →
my employee keeps making meaningless edits to my work by Alison Green on August 21, 2023 A reader writes: I am a new manager who is quite a bit younger than my employees. One employee has developed an annoying trait of “doctoring” all my documents that I send out. For example, if I write a policy and procedure for one of our tasks, he’ll go through and make minor changes — […] Read the full article →
can I ask my employee not to put papers on my desk? by Alison Green on August 3, 2023 A reader writes: My desk is (shamefully) extremely messy, both with crumbs and stray papers. I clean it once a week, but I’m not a naturally neat person. However, my direct report, Lauren, is very neat and loves physical media. If I send her a Slack message, she’ll show up at my desk with a […] Read the full article →