my new employee is the parent of my child’s bully by Alison Green on June 27, 2023 A reader writes: I received a promotion last month after several stressful years. The money will be life-changing. I’m working out of a different office much closer to home, I’ll be doing work I care about, and I’ll have more time with my family. The company filled an open role at my new location just […] Read the full article →
a consultant complains about our meetings … but doesn’t want to skip them by Alison Green on June 14, 2023 A reader writes: I have a team with locations throughout the U.S., both in office and remote, comprised of full-time associates and contractors. Because we need to be very collaborative, we have off-sites everyone is expected to attend and participate in, live, in person. In a typical day of an off-site, there will be meetings […] Read the full article →
employee keeps pushing for a promotion we’ve already said we can’t give him by Alison Green on June 7, 2023 A reader writes: I have a direct report who is regularly (every three to six months over the past 18 months) asking to be promoted to a position he has created for himself. While there is merit in his idea, the company simply does not want to move forward with this position at this time […] Read the full article →
employee gave me a scathing letter when he resigned by Alison Green on June 6, 2023 A reader writes: For the last three years, I have been running a consulting company which grew off the back of a long career in my industry. Last September, I hired an account manager to free up my time for business development. He is new to my industry but has relevant experience in another field […] Read the full article →
our employee wants constant reassurance that he’s good enough by Alison Green on May 30, 2023 A reader writes: I’m a partner in a small firm. There are three partners working full-time, three additional full-time employees, and one part-time employee. We provide support and training for a niche software, so our workdays are heavily customer facing. The industry we support is also heavily customer-facing. All of us came out of the […] Read the full article →
my employee’s controlling spouse won’t let her travel for work by Alison Green on May 30, 2023 A reader writes: I work for a company with multiple offices nationwide. Our team is based in City A, but we have one employee (Sally) who works remotely at our offices in City B. For the past 12 months, we have required Sally to travel to our city every other week for an overnight stay. […] Read the full article →
my former employee is badmouthing me to my staff by Alison Green on May 24, 2023 A reader writes: I recently hired an employee in a pinch because we thought he could fill a gap quickly and efficiently, but it turns out he was terrible and either dishonest or in denial about his own skills. He did not listen or follow instructions, and his customer service skills were awful. Many times, […] Read the full article →
my business partners won’t fire their problematic family members by Alison Green on May 24, 2023 A reader writes: Our company has three partners: me, Lou (my husband), and Sarah (our best friend). Lou’s sister, Leah, and Sarah’s younger brother, Bobby, have worked here for over 10 years and basically feel untouchable and do as they please. Leah has made some effort to correct her actions and she primarily works with […] Read the full article →
my employee has to deal with men constantly getting crushes on her by Alison Green on May 22, 2023 A reader writes: I’m a woman who owns a very small company and rent time/space in a shared environment with many other small business owners. We are all there whenever we are — first come, first served. Open space, open territory, sometimes sharing space. The only person I oversee is my employee, I have no […] Read the full article →
I poured all my time into helping an employee … and I’m so discouraged by how it ended by Alison Green on May 17, 2023 A reader writes: I’m new to managing people and am actually writing this email on the one-year work anniversary of my first job that had managerial duties. It was a learning curve of a year for certain, and I know there were times I made mistakes, but the feedback from my bosses and HR has […] Read the full article →