Ask a Manager

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…

1. Employee had a sour reaction when I gave him a raise

Recently I gave a part-time employee a pay raise. All our part-timers are paid pretty modestly, but he got a significant raise for his stellar performance. When I gave him the good news, his response was to be completely underwhelmed and say “thanks for the information” before skulking out of the room looking visibly sour.

As I would expect any of my employees to be glad to see an extra bit of money per hour, I am admittedly flummoxed. Should this be a red flag? Do I need to follow up with him, or is it possible I just caught him on a particularly bad day?

It’s possible you caught him on a bad day, but I’d follow up anyway, because it’s possible that something is going on that you should know about — that he’s miserable with the job, that he thinks (rightly or wrongly) that he deserves a far higher raise and is insulted by what you offered, or who knows what. I’d say something like, “I had trouble reading your reaction the other day when I talked to you about your raise. I’d hoped you’d be happy about it. Is everything okay?”

The key is not to say this in a tone that signals “you are now in trouble for not being sufficiently excited about your raise,” but rather “I’m concerned; how are you?”

Also, if you know this guy to be generally un-emotive and you could imagine him reacting this way even if you told him he had won the lottery, ignore all the above and just write this off to how he is.

2. My coworker has pinkeye and I don’t want to get infected

I just arrived at work today to find my coworker has a severe case of pinkeye – as in, oozing and swollen and visibly infected. He said he caught it from his daughter but that his doctor said he was not contagious.

He’s been touching everything in the office (restroom, fixtures, coffee machine). On top of my general concern is the fact that I’m 38 weeks pregnant and could go into labor at any time and theoretically transfer it to my newborn.

He has no plans to leave and keeps insisting he’s not contagious, so am I wrong to want to leave immediately rather than be in close proximity with such a contagious disease? What’s the most frustrating is that we all do a job that can very easily be done remotely for any length of time. What to do when someone insists on being a health risk?

That’s gross, but it’s actually possible that he’s not contagious; there are contagious and non-contagious forms of pinkeye. That said, I can see why you wouldn’t want to risk picking it up. Since your job can be done at home, why not tell your boss that if your coworker is going to be coming into work with his oozing eyes, you’d rather not take the risk that it is indeed contagious and will be working at home until his infection passes?

As for why people do this when they could easily stay home, it’s one of the three greatest office mysteries. (The second is: Why can’t anyone keep the office kitchen clean? The third is: Why are we all in this meeting?)

3. I’m being left out of important department communications

I’ve been in my position for just over a year, and while I like the work and my coworkers, there’s a nagging issue that keeps cropping up from time to time. I am the first new hire in the department in 6 years. The tenure of other staff in the department ranges from 8 years to 30+ years. I was hired to replace someone who took a lateral transfer to a new department that was created by the CEO. Thus, there has been very little change, apart from the occasional intern.

I’ve learned how to do my job, and got an excellent review and a raise, but I keep running in to the same problem. When a new regulatory issue arises (as it often does in our field), about a quarter of the time, I get left off the announcement or email discussion, and only find out secondhand. This has potentially serious implications for the organization. Last week, I almost sent out a report that incorrectly counted a particular group of people because I used the “old” rules I was trained under, and that our documentation still lists. The new rules had been sent to everyone on staff in January — everyone but me. I only found out when I made conversation about the project with a coworker, who said, “Oh, it looks like the boss forgot to include you on that email. Don’t count only x now, count x and y.” We don’t keep up well with documenting these changes on our internal site, and I don’t have the authority to insist on it, but this mistake could have resulted in a hefty fine and a lot of embarrassment to re-submit the reports. I’m now trusted enough to send these kinds of reports out without oversight, but am starting to really second-guess everything I do!

I have spoken to some of my coworkers personally and asked to be included, and they comply for a while, and then it happens again — and like I said above, even my boss does it! Any suggestions on how I can stay in the loop better? Everyone likes me, and I get along well with people. It seems like they are maybe just set in their ways and I slip off the radar.

Can you suggest that a group email address be set up for this sort of thing, so that you’re not being left off of these emails? You should also mention this to your boss so that it’s on her radar as an issue to watch out for, but really, it sounds like a group email address would solve a lot of this.

4. Can I ask how I can become the type of candidate this company wants to hire?

There is a freelance position I really, really want that is continually reposted on a company’s website. I think I may be qualified, but if I’m not I’d like to know how to become the kind of candidate this company wants. Is it appropriate to email the woman doing the hiring and ask her what I’d need to do to become qualified for the position, in a polite way? Or to just ask for advice? What about reaching out on LinkedIn? I’ve searched through all my contacts for someone who’s connected to the company, hoping to get a step closer, but to no avail. Is there anything I can do to get closer to this job beyond just (obviously) applying? I’m a new grad and new to this whole job search thing, and I have trouble with the line between what’s considered typical networking and what’s considered irritating (I really don’t want to be that guy).

Sure, you can do that. Email the hiring manager something like this: “I’m a recent graduate and I’d love to do the type of working you’re hiring for with your X position. I wonder if you’d be willing to give me some feedback on how I can become better qualified for this type of role. I’d love to set up a 10-minute phone call at any time convenient for you and get your insight on to how I can position myself for this work in the future. Or, if email is easier for you, I’d be grateful for that too.” (Attach your resume so that they don’t have to ask for it.)

However, I wouldn’t do this at the same time that you’re applying for the job; these are two separate endeavors, and if you combine them, you risk getting less helpful information because you’ll look like you’re just seeking a back-end way into their interviews.

5. Can I resubmit my resume for a job I applied for a month ago?

I applied for a position advertised by a recruitment agency over a month ago. Since then, I’ve noticed that the original ad is still up, and was actually reposted a few days ago. I’ve reworked my resume to better demonstrate my ability to meet the demands of the position. Do you think it would be advisable to submit my new resume again? Also, in your professional opinion, what would you think about this ad being renewed? The world of the recruitment agency is new, fascinating, intimidating, and infuriating all in one go, and I’m up to my neck in opinions!

Nope, don’t resubmit. You’ll look disorganized, like you didn’t realize you’d already applied for it.

Don’t read anything into the ad being reposted. All it means is that the position is still open, nothing more.

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…

1. My manager doesn’t want me to tell my new coworker that I resigned and this is my last week

Last week, I gave my two weeks’ notice to my company. At the same time as I gave my resignation, they were preparing to bring a new hire into our department. I realize that my resignation might be badly timed for them, but I’ve held firm even when presented with a counter-offer.

The new guy started today, and my boss has told me to speak to him as if I wasn’t leaving. My last day is Friday, and apparently they haven’t told him I won’t be there next week! What makes this worse is that the company was planning for the two of us to work fairly closely. I feel bad for this guy, because this company has a fairly consistent pattern of dishonesty. Apparently he was told he’d be working closely with me and they chose to let him keep believing it even when they knew I was out the door. Now I’m supposed to keep my mouth shut while they “get their story right.”

I’m not willing to lie to a coworker, and I’m sure not going to lie for this company, but I’m not sure it’s my place to tell him I won’t be around next week. Any thoughts?

Whoa. Not only is your manager wrong to ask you to lie by omission, but they’re not doing themselves any favors with the new guy either — come Monday, he’s going to figure out what happened and he’s going to be pretty damn unnerved to discover that your manager hid this from him. (Unless your manager’s “story” is going to involve you leaving without notice, either voluntarily or involuntarily — which is another thing I’d be worried about.)

How about saying to your manager, “I don’t feel comfortable misleading Bob about the fact that I won’t be here after this week. I need to let him know now. I realize you don’t want to freak him out so I’m glad to coordinate with you on messaging if you’d like, but I do want to tell him today.”

2. I’m mentoring someone who sometimes sounds like a know-it-all

I have been in my position for about 2 years now and have a “mentee.” There’s nothing official about this relationship; it’s just an informal setup our team does to help onboard new people who get hired. From an HR perspective, me and my mentee are the same level and position. I am not his superior, nor do I pretend to be. I am just a person who is more experienced and acts as his “guide” to the company and the job.

I actually think his attitude overall is great and thus far, he is meeting the job’s expectations just fine. No complaints from me in terms of his work ethic, quality, or general demeanor. However, (and I have had multiple peers confirm this) he has a habit of being, basically TOO helpful and it seems to come off like he’s a know-it-all. I know it sounds childish, but it’s actually very off-putting when other peers come to me or other senior analysts on the team with questions and he will interject with an answer, and not always correctly. I genuinely appreciate that he wants to help, but I also somewhat wish he knew his place (as dictatorial as that sounds).

Now he’s asking for a mid-year review and I hope to provide some kindly worded feedback. Do you have suggestions or do you think I’m way off base here?

“It’s great that you’re always so helpful when people approach our team with questions, but make sure that you’re not always so quick to answer that no one else has an opportunity to respond.”

And about those times when his answers have been incorrect — does he realize that afterwards? Hopefully someone is correcting the information in the moment, so he’s realizing that he’s not always getting it right, but can you pick up on any patterns in when he’s incorrect? If you can point out that he should double-check procedures he hasn’t used before, or proceed more cautiously when something involves another department, or suggest he get more experience in X before advising on it, that could be helpful too.

3. Managing people with higher risk tolerance than I have

I work for an adventure travel company in the pacific northwest, managing a group of guides who run sea kayak trips. I was formerly a guide with the company, and was promoted to a manager position about a year ago. Once our tours leave the beach, our guides are at that point running their trip totally independently as far as deciding whether or not to divert from their usual itinerary if sea conditions, weather, guest health issues become an issue. It’s a lot of responsibility; we hire experienced people and invest a lot of time into their training. Last season (my first as a manager), I dealt with a number of incidents involving several guides continuing with trips in situations where they patently should have cancelled, or at the very least greatly changed their itinerary (for example – continuing with a trip after one guest became so seasick he was throwing up, or paddling a large open-water crossing in bad weather with a group that included young children). I addressed the incidents with the guides in question; the feedback I got from one guide, whom I’ll call Paul, was that while he understood that I took issue with he did on the trip, Paul felt in control of the situation, personally knew he had the ability to keep the group safe if things went wrong(er), and hey, everything turned out fine in the end, and won’t the guests have a great adventure to talk about when they get home?

Paul is guiding for our company again this season. Being an attentive reader of your blog, the first lesson learned is that I need to be absolutely, crystal sparking clear on my expectations regarding in what situations the guide needs to get his or her group off the water ASAP. How do I do this without giving the impression that I don’t trust my staff to handle themselves in certain situations? I am a very risk-averse guide (probably has something to do with why I’m now a manager) and while I think I did an OK job of giving good risk assessment advice to the risk-adverse guides on my staff, I feel like I haven’t figured out how to be a good manager to the guide who, like Paul, are more risk-tolerant, and in most cases, much more skilled kayakers, than I am. I know that varying amounts of risk tolerance among staff must come up in other industries – banking comes to mind – do you or your readers have any advice for how to manage very risk-tolerant employees in a productive, non-micro-mangey sort of way?

This sounds like it comes down to what you (and the company) ultimately want to leave to guides’ own judgment and what you want to provide firmer direction on. Right now, it sounds a little bit like you want to leave this stuff to their own judgment, as long as their judgment matches yours — which is a recipe for frustration on both sides. So step one here is to get clarity for yourself around where guides do and don’t have leeway, and then make those parameters clear to your staff. If you want them handling situations a certain way, tell them that. If they have some freedom to judge for themselves, but only within certain parameters, tell them that and be explicit about what those parameters are.

But it’s absolutely okay to say, “While I realize that you have a higher risk tolerance in this area, the company does not, and in XYZ conditions, you need to change the itinerary.” The problem, I suspect, is with wanting them to operate that way but not saying it directly. (On the other hand, if you really do want them making those decisions themselves, then you have to get comfortable with that yourself. But even then, one way to do that is to get aligned on philosophy — if X happens, then we do Y because Z.)

Read an update to this letter here.

4. My manager gave me unwanted and unhelpful help with the copier

I was adding toner to the copier as indicated clearly on the copier, which alerted me in the first place, when my site manager standing over me at the time attempted to assist me. Her instructions were definitely aimed at helping me, but she also did not allow me my process and made a mistake at the same time. Her instructions for putting toner in the copier were to slide the toner in, while clearly I know not to force in the toner canister. She’s behind me over my shoulder and I clearly said that if it does not fit, one should clearly not force it. She said I should say thank you for her help. I replied I would if I had asked for it. I took this position as I work independently in my position here. What to do?

Well, what you said could be either outrageous rudely and out of line or perfectly reasonable, depending on the tone you said it in. If you said it snottily or angrily, you were out of line. She’s your manager; you can’t be overtly rude to her. On the other hand, if you said it humorously or you have the type of relationship where you could point out that you hadn’t requested help without her getting offended, this could be fine. There’s no way to know which it was without more context.

Either way, as for what to do … I would suggest moving on with your day. This isn’t a huge deal.

5. When an online job application won’t let you move forward if you can’t complete a section

What do you do when an online application won’t move forward if you can’t complete a section? I’m sure I’m not alone in this one – the section asks for current employer and this section is marked with red stars as a “must fill in” item. The application won’t progress to the next section, which is job history, unless this first section is completed. Many people are unemployed and don’t have a current employer. So, what to do?

Write in “currently not employed” or “not applicable.” If that’s not enough, write in whatever other details you can make up (without outright lying) just to get through the form. (For instance, if it also requires your current employer’s address, it’s fine to write in something like 123 Main St., because when coupled with “not currently employed,” it will be obvious why you did it.)

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…

1. Convincing a company to let me work long-distance

I applied to a job based at the other side of the country (I live in Canada). The job posting specified that for the right candidate, they’d be willing to have someone work long distance, which is why I applied. During my second interview, they asked if I’d be willing to relocate to their city. I explained that I’d rather stay put but wouldn’t want this to affect their final decision. They explained that they do prefer having someone in their offices.

I’ve moved around all over the world for the past 10 years and finally am ready to have a base, in my current city. How do I make them understand this? Can I use their original job ad as a negotiation tool?

Well, you can’t really “make” them understand it. You can explain where you’re coming from and see if they’re willing to hire you in your current location, and you can explain what you’d do to make a long-distance employment work smoothly with a minimum of inconvenience for them. From there, it’s up to them to decide if it’s worth it to them or not. And keep in mind that while they might be willing to have a telecommuter in very specific circumstances, that can mean that the bar is much higher for a telecommuting candidate (i.e., they’d let a perfect unicorn of a candidate telecommute, but otherwise they might want to hire locally).

Also, it’s not necessarily in your best interests to push them into allowing it if they’re not comfortable with it on their own, because that increases the chances that they’ll decide down the road that the arrangement isn’t right for them.

2. Should I explain that I took six months off due to stress?

I have been a team leader/trainee manager for a little over three years, and on the whole I became fairly good at it and enjoyed many aspects of the job. However, a combination of the working environment and company policy was not healthy, and over those three years the stress mounted up to having a major impact on my health — I was depressed, suffering panic attacks, and physically run down. Six months ago, I decided to step down from the management team, relinquish responsibilities, and work part-time whilst looking after my mental health.

Now I feel like I’m gaining perspective on my career again and want to go back to a management position elsewhere, but my confidence has taken a blow. I also don’t know the best way in which to explain this six-month break to potential new employers, as no doubt future interviewers would ask. Should I be open, and tell them how my mental health was affected by a workplace with a negative culture? If so, how do I convince future employers that I will be able to handle similar pressures in the future? I believe I could do so and be an effective leader, but my confidence is not what it once was.

Nooooo, do not do that. It will raise too many questions. No matter how warranted your reaction to your previous office, prospective employers will wonder if your reaction was more about you than the workplace, and whether you won’t be able to handle stress or occasional dysfunction somewhere new. Instead, say that you were dealing with some health issues that have since been resolved (which is true). There’s no need for any more detail than that.

3. I’m pregnant and might need to avoid a coworker’s radiation treatment

I am 6 weeks pregnant and would prefer to keep it a secret. However, a coworker of mine is about to begin undergoing cancer treatment. She will be off work for a period of time, but I have heard this will involve an “implant” for radiology treatment. I do not know what type of implant (according to the internet, there’s a difference) and if she will have this in while she’s at work before the procedure, or not. If so, I believe there would be some restriction on my proximity to her while I am pregnant and her implant is active. How do I handle this? Should I approach the employee directly to try and ask the details of her treatment, so I can discuss with my doctor? Should I explain my concerns to my supervisor and ask her to do it on my behalf? All of this would involve telling someone I’m expecting sooner than I would like to, but in this situation it’s probably inevitable. Of course, I feel bad for my coworker, and awkward having to do this as we are not close, but I think my concern is valid. Any suggestions?

I’d start by asking your doctor about this, because it’s possible that you’ll hear that there’s not going to be any medical impact on you (although I do see from a quick Internet search that some cancer patients with specific types of radiation implants are advised to keep away from pregnant women). But if your doctor does think it’s something to be concerned about, then I think you’ll have no alternative other than disclosing your pregnancy earlier than you wanted to someone — either to your coworker herself, if you don’t sit near her and can simply work this out discreetly with her, or to your manager and/or HR if you need to move where you’re seated.

4. I’m a nanny and my employer is illegally paying me through their company payroll

In May, I started working as a nanny for a family that owns a business. They put me on their company payroll. I thought nothing of it, and they told me that is what they have always done with their nannies. Recently I have found out that it is illegal to pay a household employee with your company payroll. I am not sure what to do. I am afraid that if I go to them with this information they will fire me. Am I at risk with getting in trouble with the IRS? Please help, I am unsure where to go from here.

It’s your employer who would face penalties from the IRS, not you. However, if you’re getting health insurance through their company, that could potentially put you at risk — if you filed a major insurance claim, the insurance company could end up refusing payment on the grounds that you’re not truly an employee of the company and therefore not legitimately covered by its health plan.

Your employer probably doesn’t realize that they can’t legally pay you through their company payroll; they probably simply assumed that was an easier way to do it. You could bring it to their attention by saying something like, “I recently read that the IRS doesn’t allow nannies to be paid through a business payroll, since they’ve ruled that household employees aren’t direct contributors to the success of the business and so the business can’t take tax deductions for their wages. I was surprised to read it, and figured you probably didn’t realize either.”

5. Supervisor wants morale surveys turned in directly to her

Everyone in my department has just had a performance review within the last week. One of my coworkers who relationship with our supervisor has become quite tense over the past few weeks quit because our supervisor had nothing but disparaging remarks to make about her.

When I went to work the other day, I found our supervisor had placed a questionnaire in every department employee’s box. Attached was a note typed on the director’s letterhead asking for feedback regarding morale. At the bottom of the page was a handwritten note from our supervisor asking that completed questionnaires be placed in her box. Shouldn’t these go to someone in human resources or to her supervisor? Although we do not have to sign our names, it seems that placing them in her box removes any anonymity, especially since there are are only a few of us and several do not work full time (meaning she can most likely determine who returned a questionnaire to her based on the day and time it was turned in).

Yep, that’s silly. I’d mention it to the director or HR and ask if they can intervene and make it clear to the supervisor that it’s not okay to do it this way — that it will inhibit candor and do the exact opposite of helping morale.