my employee keeps coming to work sick by Alison Green on May 8, 2024 A reader writes: Now that the pandemic is “over” ( /s) and all the rules and restrictions have pretty much been lifted, I have a question: as a manager, what can I do to make people stay home when they’re sick? I’m the director of a mid-sized public library, and we have a librarian, “Brian,” […] Read the full article →
I made a bad joke about my new hire by Alison Green on May 7, 2024 A reader writes: I have a new hire who’s coming to the end of his probationary period. Chris is conscientious, smart, and has gelled well with the team. He’s completed his probationary objectives with time to spare, and in our most recent catch-up, I suggested that he start considering his longer-term goals for career redevelopment […] Read the full article →
do I have to fire someone due to his lack of child care? by Alison Green on May 6, 2024 A reader writes: I have an employee who is unable to obtain childcare when he is on call, which is an essential part of his job, and the job is not safe to take a child to. Therefore, we may not be able to keep him on. I supervise a team of maintenance technicians who […] Read the full article →
someone emailed me about my employee’s behavior outside of work by Alison Green on May 6, 2024 A reader writes: I recently got an email from someone with screenshots concerning an employee of mine. They were of a personal nature directed to an organization outside of work using her personal time and her personal equipment. They didn’t concern work at all. They weren’t racist or hate-filled rants or anything of that nature. […] Read the full article →
I spent a ton of time helping 2 employees who hate each other … now they’re dating by Alison Green on May 6, 2024 A reader writes: Over the last few months, one of my people (Alice) has repeatedly come to me about conflict with a neighboring department’s person (Mary). Both are at the same fairly junior level — they’re a few years out of school. The conflict has always seemed odd, and fairly amorphous, but both Alice and […] Read the full article →
my team keeps working unauthorized overtime by Alison Green on April 29, 2024 A reader writes: I oversee a team of employees who used to be my peers. I understand this can be a hard transition, but it’s been over a year and the staff are still having a hard time with this. That is not the question but I feel it’s relevant. The bigger issue is the […] Read the full article →
I think our intern prank-called us by Alison Green on April 29, 2024 A reader writes: I’ve found myself in an odd situation and would love some thoughts on what to do. I work in fundraising at a nonprofit and today, following a donor event, I got back to my desk and saw that I had five missed calls from the same number. The first four had no […] Read the full article →
former employee is lying about her job with me … to cover up her time in jail by Alison Green on April 22, 2024 A reader writes: A couple years ago, I managed an employee who was arrested at work for stealing from a former employer, among other charges. She was put in jail for a considerable amount of time. She is apparently now out, because I received her resume. I’m no longer at the previous company. I did […] Read the full article →
my employee shuts down when I give her feedback by Alison Green on April 17, 2024 A reader writes: I manage “Mandy” and have needed to give her feedback a few times on the same topic. Think something like, “When you present a proposal, you need to avoid vague explanations of the client problem your proposal addresses and include detailed, quantified specifics of its impacts on the client.” I usually then […] Read the full article →
I promoted one employee instead of her coworker, and now my whole team is upset by Alison Green on April 15, 2024 A reader writes: I am a long-time manager, but promotions are a rarity on my team. When an unexpected opportunity for a promotion arose earlier this year, there were two obvious candidates: Annie and Beth. Annie was more of a star individual contributor than Beth, and also had more experience covering the open position. But […] Read the full article →