Ask a Manager

A reader writes: The company I work for strongly encourages establishing a career development plan, and includes career goals and skills as elements to be discussed as part of our annual performance evaluations. Both my direct supervisor and a number of other managers who I do work for have regularly been asking me questions about […]

A reader writes: For nearly two years I’ve been a self-employed independent sex worker (mostly an escort, but I’ve also sold photos and videos and done some cam work). I’m registered self-employed in the UK, have an accountant who knows exactly what I do, and pay my taxes, and I chose this line of work […]

Last week we talked about how companies can build more racially equitable workplaces — including an excerpt from Authentic Diversity: How to Change the Workplace for Good and an interview with the book’s author, Michelle Silverthorn. Michelle and her publisher are giving away two copies of the audiobook version of the book to Ask a […]

I’ve long been an admirer of Laurie Ruettimann, since her days running Punk Rock HR, a hilarious blog where she called out the BS of HR. (The blog is no more, but she now has a podcast of the same name.) Laurie has always called it like she sees it without pulling any punches, and […]

Here are the posts that interested people the most this year, via two lists: the most read posts and the most commented on posts. Most read posts of 2020: 10. Our boss told us to camp in tents when we travel for business 9. The Leap Day employee finally gets her birthday off this year […]

Here are my favorite posts of 2020, in no particular order: 1. I messed up at work and I’m so ashamed Because so many people deal with this, and fixing it can bring you so much peace. 2. Update: my coworker is blackmailing me not to take time off for my honeymoon Because this was […]

Last year, someone shared what I consider to be the best holiday date story of all time, and it must be shared here again. Enjoy: When I was fresh out of college, a dude in my social circle invited me to his fancy work Christmas party. He was a teacher, so I’d kind of assumed […]

Warning: contains mention of suicide and other traumas. A reader writes: 2020 has been a rough year in so many ways for me. There was COVID — which let me stay home and work, and it was really more of a blessing for that than for so many others, which I feel a bit guilty […]

All year long, I’ve made a weekly book recommendation when kicking off the weekend open thread. These aren’t work-related books; they’re just books I like, mostly fiction. Sometimes they’re books that I’m in the middle of reading, and other times they’re just long-standing favorites. Here’s the complete list of what I’ve recommended this year (maybe […]

It’s the finals of the Worst Boss of 2020 voting. This week you’ve narrowed the pool from 12 nominees to a final two, who go head-to-head today. Voting is now over. See the winner here.