today is the weirdest day of the year for workers by Alison Green on October 16, 2023 Today is officially Boss’s Day, and sensible workplaces should pretend it doesn’t exist. At Slate today, I wrote about why this made-up holiday is downright offensive, shared some of the most ridiculous accounts I’ve heard from workers about how their offices handle it, and advised managers on how they can stop the practice in their […] Read the full article →
we ask job candidates, “what salary would it take to turn up happy every day?” by Alison Green on October 11, 2023 A reader writes: I work for a law firm and have significant input in hiring (including interviewing candidates). I have a question about how we talk about salary with candidates. None of the job ads we publish specify a salary range. They say something like, “We have no fixed salary for the position, but intend […] Read the full article →
should I suggest my employee with mobility issues get a different job? by Alison Green on October 10, 2023 A reader writes: I run a small call center, which is on the third floor of a building without an elevator. Due to the nature of our phone system and the job, we cannot offer employees the option to work from home, nor do we have any other locations. We have an employee who, from […] Read the full article →
did my intern frame my coworker for credit card theft? by Alison Green on October 9, 2023 I’m off today, so here’s an older post from the archives. This was originally published in 2017. A reader writes: This past summer, the section I supervise had some interns working here. All of them were offered jobs here once the internships were over. However one of them has created a situation where she lied […] Read the full article →
my team member has too many ideas and can’t prioritize by Alison Green on October 4, 2023 A reader writes: One of my team members is responsible for figuring out how we can manufacture new designs and making sure our old designs are still durable. And he’s great at it — he’s super-smart and keeps on top of the latest technology. He’s so great at this, in fact, that every month or […] Read the full article →
I manage a horrible micromanager by Alison Green on October 2, 2023 A reader writes: I am having great difficulty with one of the managers who I manage, “Fern.” Fern leads a team of 16 people. Her tactics have led to poor morale and wasting time. Nearly every time a team member makes a mistake, she assumes it’s indicative of a larger problem and re-training/new processes ensue. […] Read the full article →
my intern asked if my pregnancy was planned by Alison Green on September 27, 2023 A reader writes: I’m pregnant with my first child. I’m just finishing my first trimester and have been sharing the news with colleagues. I’m wondering what, if anything, I should do in response to my intern’s reaction. Like everyone else I manage, I told her one-on-one behind closed doors. Her response was really odd — […] Read the full article →
why don’t we do a better job of training managers? by Alison Green on September 26, 2023 Why don’t we do a better job of training managers? How effectively a team is managed has a huge impact on what results it achieves … so it’s bizarre that we routinely throw people into management roles without any training whatsoever or with training that’s woefully insufficient. At Slate today, I wrote about why it’s […] Read the full article →
my client is always late paying me by Alison Green on September 25, 2023 A reader writes: One of my clients, a creative agency, has always had issues paying my invoices on time, but it’s getting worse. Every single time I send an invoice, I have to go back and remind them to pay me. It’s a great company, but I’m starting to get frustrated that I can’t send […] Read the full article →
my team keeps complaining about someone I don’t manage by Alison Green on September 20, 2023 A reader writes: I direct a department that’s on a different floor than the rest of our office. A portion of my team’s workflow has to go through an administrative person in another department, Jane, who reports to another department director. Jane is new — she started six months ago — and she seems overwhelmed. […] Read the full article →