my employee is level 10 drama all the time by Alison Green on February 24, 2021 A reader writes: I’m the assistant director for a very small company that provides vocational training. Our classes are heavily regulated by the state, and there are a number of additional rules in place due to Covid. We are doing the best we can overall, and thus far it looks like we may be able […] Read the full article →
how can I convince my employee not to work until 2 AM? by Alison Green on February 23, 2021 A reader writes: I am a manager who has a great team and several high-performing employees. We are all working from home these days due to COVID. One of my employees in particular will often stay up late into the night working on assignments I have given her. I know this because she will send […] Read the full article →
our staff aren’t underpaid but think they are by Alison Green on February 23, 2021 A reader writes: I work at a nonprofit with about 200 staff. Staff constantly bring up how underpaid they are and ask for bonuses, cost-of-living increases, better benefits, everything. They take up a lot of meeting time talking about it, send all-staff emails, badger the board, send nasty emails to any committee that has anything […] Read the full article →
what to do when a low performer asks for a massive raise by Alison Green on February 22, 2021 A reader writes: One of my employees has handed me a letter asking for a promotion and a 30% pay raise, detailing their desired new job title and new job description! This letter has shocked me, to say the least, as this person is underperforming in his current role and only last week he and […] Read the full article →
how to manage an employee with anxiety by Alison Green on February 17, 2021 A reader writes: I have a talented employee who gets paralyzed trying to do new things. When there is a roadmap and it’s something he’s comfortable with, he does a great job. He’s smart and his ideas are usually great. To move into the next step in his career, he needs to start driving new […] Read the full article →
my employee keeps criticizing my food by Alison Green on February 17, 2021 Dear AAM, We had a pandemic baby and we decided for safety reasons it was better to be exposed to one person (a nanny) versus the potentially hundreds in a daycare setting. The expense for even 40 hours of her time is a tight squeeze for us, but we’ve found someone who is overall fantastic. […] Read the full article →
my employee debates every assignment by Alison Green on February 15, 2021 A reader writes: I have a direct report who argues every change or new task that is assigned, including changes the entire team is being asked to comply with. She frequently argues that she feels some other team should be responsible for the task or complains no other team is having to do it and […] Read the full article →
should I re-hire an employee with a bad attitude? by Alison Green on February 10, 2021 A reader writes: I briefly worked at a terrible company where I was brought in to help fix problems with a team that had been underperforming. Soon after I was hired, it became obvious to me that the company was a mess and I chose to move on after six months. One person on my […] Read the full article →
my employee told me “I prefer not to” when I tried to give him a new project by Alison Green on February 10, 2021 A reader writes: I am a senior manager in an industry highly affected by the pandemic (performing arts). Because we are affiliated with a parent organization, we have not suffered the same budget cuts as many of our peer institutions, and have been lucky to retain all of our benefits-eligible staff throughout at their pre-pandemic […] Read the full article →
our new hire started another full-time job the same week he started ours by Alison Green on February 3, 2021 A reader writes: We recently brought on a new hire in a full-time role. Let’s call him Drew. Drew has been here for about a month now, and while I haven’t explicitly checked in with his supervisor, I haven’t heard any complaints about his onboarding or early performance. (I’m the HR manager.) Today, I got […] Read the full article →