a fired employee still wants to attend the office holiday party by Alison Green on December 22, 2017 A reader writes: Our office recently let an employee go for numerous reasons after several warnings. It for was for minor things such as frequent lateness, too many personal calls and emails on company time, and general friction with other coworkers, to more serious things such as a very sharp decline in his work quality, […] Read the full article →
my employee can’t accept that his performance is bad by Alison Green on November 28, 2017 A reader writes: I’ve put a staff member on to a formal performance improvement plan, but despite me providing feedback and taking multiple approaches to get through to him, he doesn’t seem to be able to grasp just how poorly he is doing. I do want him to succeed and have supported many conversations, participation […] Read the full article →
with teen employees, where’s the line between reprimands and firing? (and a niece weighs in) by Alison Green on July 20, 2017 A reader writes: This is not a question about something I am dealing with, but there was something in the news in my community that is really generating a lot of discussion. I was wondering what you thought about it. A bunch of lifeguards (largely teens) were fired from our community pool. The director of […] Read the full article →
how to avoid being pulled into drama when someone is fired by Alison Green on July 12, 2017 A reader writes: I am part of a very small department where I have worked part-time for the past few years. I just learned that I will be made full-time this summer as part of a restructuring process that includes firing my current boss (for both behavioral issues and restructuring reasons). She does not know […] Read the full article →
I feel awful about firing someone by Alison Green on June 9, 2017 A reader writes: This past month, I fired someone for the first time (background, I have been in a management position for less than a year after being suddenly promoted). It was certainly warranted — poor performance, lying, and never-ceasing argumentative behavior. Despite the fact that I documented the behavior and performance (HR even called […] Read the full article →
how to fire an employee who’s trying hard by Alison Green on May 3, 2017 A reader writes: I was recently promoted to oversee a team of 3. One woman who was hired before I started is not able to fully perform her job responsibilities. The employee readily admits that is true, and is very receptive to training and coaching but I am certain it will take years to get […] Read the full article →
I accidentally sent my boss to Italy instead of Florida by Alison Green on April 3, 2017 A reader writes: My boss asked me to make travel arrangements for herself and a C-suite executive. I have done this before, but this time I made a huge mistake. The travel was supposed to be to the American city of Naples, in the state of Florida. I accidentally booked a flight and hotel for […] Read the full article →
I got fired for attending a conference that I wasn’t invited to by Alison Green on March 7, 2017 A reader writes: I started working at my job eight months ago, not long after I completed college (thanks in part to your write-ups about cover letters, resumes, interview questions and job searching). A few months ago in the elevator, my manager’s manager and someone from upper management in another department were talking about an […] Read the full article →
how to fire a volunteer by Alison Green on January 18, 2017 A reader writes: I serve on a board for an alumni association. We are all volunteers, and we have various committees that other alumni serve on. It’s hard to get much help sometimes, so we try to find something for anyone who wants to help to contribute. However, we have one volunteer who seems to […] Read the full article →
is it okay to fire an employee by phone or email? by Alison Green on January 4, 2017 A reader writes: I have wanted to fire a full-time employee for the past two weeks, but she hasn’t been in, despite telling me on numerous occasions that she definitely will be in the next day. I manage a small business and need to fire her so I can start looking for her replacement as […] Read the full article →