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 →
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 →
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 helped a fired coworker get a new job … and lied to me about it by Alison Green on February 5, 2024 A reader writes: I own a small business and a year ago hired an employee on a work visa, “Meg.” While at my company, she met another employee, “Belinda,” who I ended up firing a few months later due to numerous problems. Knowing that they remained friends, I did not discuss with Meg my reasons […] Read the full article →
how can I make our on-site perks fair for our remote employees? by Alison Green on January 30, 2024 A reader writes: I manage a team that’s a mix of on-site employees and remote workers. I’m intentional about keeping my remote workers included in both regular work-related and social/sidebar conversations. However, we’ll sometimes order lunch for everyone in the office or have an occasional pizza party. What’s something related I can do for my […] Read the full article →
the problem with jobs that claim they’re “like a family” by Alison Green on January 29, 2024 The next time you’re interviewing for a job, there are five words your interviewer might say that should send you running in the opposite direction: “We’re like a family here.” While a family-like company might sound pleasant on the surface, that framework tends to be a flag for a strikingly dysfunctional work environment. At Slate today, […] Read the full article →
my employee faked an email by Alison Green on January 24, 2024 A reader writes: My employee lied and said she cc’d the payroll department on an email about another employee, but payroll didn’t see it in their inbox. When I followed up with her about this, she forwarded the email to payroll “again,” but in fact just typed in “payroll@mycompany.com” in the cc section of the […] Read the full article →
how to get severance pay when you’re fired or laid off by Alison Green on January 23, 2024 If you’re fired or laid off, can you expect or negotiate severance pay? What about if you’re resigning? You probably know that severance pay is an option in some situations, but you might not know when gets it, when, why, or how to take full advantage of your options. At New York Magazine today, I’ve […] Read the full article →