my employee cries when she’s frustrated by Alison Green on May 3, 2023 A reader writes: I have an employee whose response when frustrated by a problem is to cry. It started to happen last summer when we were working through her visa renewal process. It was extremely stressful for her so I tried to support her as much as I could. It was uncomfortable for me, because […] Read the full article →
how to gracefully decline a job offer by Alison Green on May 2, 2023 You’ve been interviewing for a job and now it’s paid off with an offer – but what if you want to turn the position down? There are lots of reasons why that might happen: maybe the salary is too low, even after you tried to negotiate, or maybe the manager seems awful or the work […] Read the full article →
how can I get our employees to arrive on time? by Alison Green on May 1, 2023 A reader writes: My organization operates in a very traditional office setting: business professional dress code, strict lunch hours, and a strict 9-5 day. In theory, this is for efficiency and to allow employees to feel more separation between their work and personal life. However, new staff tend to struggle with it when they first […] Read the full article →
what are the minimum benefits an employer needs to provide? by Alison Green on April 25, 2023 A reader writes: What do you think are the absolute minimum benefits an employer should provide? I’m a business development consultant, and work with a lot of start-ups assisting in total compensation development. I, of course, try to work with my clients to develop the most competitive benefits package they can afford. However, I’ve often […] Read the full article →
your coworkers are stealing from you by Alison Green on April 24, 2023 You’d like to think that you can trust the people you work with all day – that coworkers who know you by name, hear about your kids, and trade jokes with you before meetings wouldn’t brazenly steal items that clearly belong to you. But in reality – at least judging from my mail – it […] Read the full article →
is it time to put my employee on a formal improvement plan? by Alison Green on April 19, 2023 A reader writes: I inherited an employee who was never held accountable by his previous manager (for example, he completed a major web software overhaul nine months past the deadline with no consequences). As a result, I’ve been vigilant about giving him feedback every time he doesn’t do something he says he’s going to do […] Read the full article →
a vendor pushed religion at a work dinner by Alison Green on April 17, 2023 A reader writes: I’m still Monday morning quarterbacking my response to this one in my head, I’d love your opinion. This past week, a colleague (let’s call him Sam) and I traveled to visit a vendor out of state. The first night, the vender’s (super enthusiastic and talkative) head of sales, Bill, took the two […] Read the full article →
my employee isn’t doing her job … but I think she’s being abused by Alison Green on April 11, 2023 A reader writes: I manage a very seasonal business, one where I can only retain one person in the off-season, as we can’t afford (nor have the work for) anyone else during that time. In my six years here, we’ve built up a good core staff who return most years, and I’ve promoted one person […] Read the full article →
should managers ever push back when employees call in sick? by Alison Green on April 10, 2023 A reader writes: Should there ever be limits on someone using their sick leave if they have it available to use? We’ve had employees tell us “my allergies are acting up today” or “I have to stay home to make sure my pipes don’t freeze.” I don’t want to be in the business of questioning […] Read the full article →
my new employee fell asleep in a meeting by Alison Green on April 5, 2023 A reader writes: I have a new employee who started this week. So far she seems great. But we were just in a kind of boring but important meeting with internal colleagues and she kept nodding off to sleep. She was trying to fight it, but it happened multiple times. Is this something I should […] Read the full article →