my boss told me I’m “not a good human” when I asked to be paid for my time by Alison Green on March 1, 2021 A reader writes: I work for a professional firm that has a long history of devaluing non-partner contributions. Let’s just say we have problems: • The pay structure for employees is all risk and no reward. Salaries are artificially low, below market, supposedly because of our bonus structure. • If clients don’t pay, that comes […] Read the full article →
trainer says I need to shadow her for a year, charged vacation days during a natural disaster, and more by Alison Green on February 25, 2021 It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. My trainer says I need to shadow her for a year before I can do my job I was lucky enough to recently land a new job in an organization I’ve long wanted to work for. While a lot of the position is new to […] Read the full article →
what are you doing to advance racial justice? (plus win a free copy of Authentic Diversity) by Alison Green on February 4, 2021 Last week we talked about how companies can build more racially equitable workplaces — including an excerpt from Authentic Diversity: How to Change the Workplace for Good and an interview with the book’s author, Michelle Silverthorn. Michelle and her publisher are giving away two copies of the audiobook version of the book to Ask a […] Read the full article →
how to become a slacker … with Laurie Ruettimann by Alison Green on January 14, 2021 I’ve long been an admirer of Laurie Ruettimann, since her days running Punk Rock HR, a hilarious blog where she called out the BS of HR. (The blog is no more, but she now has a podcast of the same name.) Laurie has always called it like she sees it without pulling any punches, and […] Read the full article →
most popular posts of 2020 by Alison Green on December 31, 2020 Here are the posts that interested people the most this year, via two lists: the most read posts and the most commented on posts. Most read posts of 2020: 10. Our boss told us to camp in tents when we travel for business 9. The Leap Day employee finally gets her birthday off this year […] Read the full article →
the hostage videos, the barfing owl, and other holiday gift debacles by Alison Green on December 25, 2020 Earlier this month, I asked you to share the worst and weirdest office holiday gift debacles you’ve seen. Here are eight of my favorites. (Not all are safe for work!) Also, if you missed the office holiday round-up earlier this week, it’s here, with tales of foraged mushrooms and a rare books department gone wild. 1. […] Read the full article →
my favorite posts of 2020 by Alison Green on December 22, 2020 Here are my favorite posts of 2020, in no particular order: 1. I messed up at work and I’m so ashamed Because so many people deal with this, and fixing it can bring you so much peace. 2. Update: my coworker is blackmailing me not to take time off for my honeymoon Because this was […] Read the full article →
the best office holiday party date story of all time by Alison Green on December 15, 2020 Last year, someone shared what I consider to be the best holiday date story of all time, and it must be shared here again. Enjoy: When I was fresh out of college, a dude in my social circle invited me to his fancy work Christmas party. He was a teacher, so I’d kind of assumed […] Read the full article →
do I really need to set personal goals after a terrible year? by Alison Green on December 10, 2020 Warning: contains mention of suicide and other traumas. A reader writes: 2020 has been a rough year in so many ways for me. There was COVID — which let me stay home and work, and it was really more of a blessing for that than for so many others, which I feel a bit guilty […] Read the full article →
all of my 2020 book recommendations by Alison Green on December 10, 2020 All year long, I’ve made a weekly book recommendation when kicking off the weekend open thread. These aren’t work-related books; they’re just books I like, mostly fiction. Sometimes they’re books that I’m in the middle of reading, and other times they’re just long-standing favorites. Here’s the complete list of what I’ve recommended this year (maybe […] Read the full article →