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Sat.Feb 20, 2016 - Fri.Feb 26, 2016
Ask a Manager
HR stole my parking space, asking colleagues to say I’m out when my abusive mother calls, and more
Ask a Manager
FEBRUARY 21, 2016
It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. Asking employees to say I’m out when my abusive mother calls. Is it ever okay to ask an employee to “cover” for you? I am the director of a small, nonprofit county agency. have two staff and three volunteers. The problem is my 74-year-old mentally ill mother. Long story short, she is very abusive, calls me and my husband vile names, and uses vile language in front of our teenage daughter. Sometimes it becomes so overwhelming that I have to disconnect (until she can get herself together) to protect my daughter. to no avail. ” 5.
when you don’t click with your interviewer
Ask a Manager
FEBRUARY 24, 2016
A reader writes: I’ve been on interviews where after interviewing with one person, another one comes right after and continues the process. realize that this is to see that I can “fit in,” but how do I deal with the one interviewer with whom I’m not going to click? I can feel when I’m not making a good impression on someone, or (worse) the person behaves like I’m keeping him or her from something more important or really is a poor interviewer and wants to finish up this task and be done with me. You can read my answer to this question — and four others — over at Inc. interviewing
making new hires sing a song at a staff meeting
Ask a Manager
FEBRUARY 24, 2016
A reader writes: My husband worked at a marketing firm last summer after 18 months of unemployment and learning website design. They offered him a very low salary due to him being new to teapot design, even though he had a 15-year background in the broader field. On his second week, the owner insisted that all new hires have to get up in front of everyone and sing a song during their weekly meeting. My husband was nervous and expressed that he would rather not participate but was forced to do so anyway. How should he have handled it? Tempting, but overkill. workplace practices
everything you need to know about time off when you start a new job
Ask a Manager
FEBRUARY 25, 2016
I get a lot of questions about time off when you’re starting a new job — when to mention pre-planned vacation time, how and whether to ask for time off soon after starting, and more. Here are answers to the most common questions I hear on this. When you’re interviewing. “I’m interviewing for a job. When should I mention that I have a one-week vacation already planned and paid for that’s coming up three months from now?” ” Don’t bring it up in the interview stage; it would be premature then. The time to raise it is once a company makes you an offer. Maybe. Probably.
Skill based learning – How it drives an organization’s performance
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Training and learning organizations today play an active role in contributing to the bottom line of any organization by aligning their objectives to the immediate business objectives. This provides a solid ground for cost justification and encourages businesses to place training groups right where they should be, at the heart of a growing, thriving, learning culture.
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do you need life insurance? quite possibly.
Ask a Manager
FEBRUARY 24, 2016
And now a break to talk about a sponsor…. The older I get, the more time I find myself thinking about topics like wrinkles (hello, laugh lines that seemingly appeared on my face overnight!), retirement planning, and how I need to line up someone now to bring me food when I become a shut-in (that one could happen in the next three to five years). Also, life insurance. Yes, life insurance, because someday we are all going to kick the bucket, in many cases leaving behind financial dependents. Some signs that you should be considering it are: You’re married. You have kids or are about to have kids.
employee deserves a higher performance evaluation rating, how to respond to “is everything okay?” and more
Ask a Manager
FEBRUARY 23, 2016
It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. My employee deserves a higher performance evaluation rating than I can give him. Yearly appraisal time. About a month ago, I was told to turn in any requests to rate employees at the highest performance level of “significantly exceeds standards.” ” These appraisals were to be reviewed at the highest levels, including our president and the board of trustees. (I work for a non-for-profit of about 250 employees.). The key will be to talk about what other actions you plan to take to try to address the situation. ” 4.
weekend free-for-all – February 20-21, 2016
Ask a Manager
FEBRUARY 20, 2016
This comment section is open for any non-work-related discussion you’d like to have with other readers, by popular demand. This one is truly no work and no school. If you have a work question, you can email it to me or post it in the work-related open thread on Fridays.). Just quiet, funny, and wonderful. open threads
stop marking your job application emails as urgent
Ask a Manager
FEBRUARY 26, 2016
Stop marking your job application emails as urgent! They are not urgent. I don’t even know what the “urgent” tag should be used for, but it’s not this. You may also like: do you feel tele-pressure when you work from home? my coworker follows up on emails in person if he doesn’t get an instant response how to delegate last-minute work without a mutiny stop marking your job application emails as urgent was originally published by Alison Green on Ask a Manager. job searching
Leaving performance reviews behind: Where to start [Guide]
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Is your company ready to move beyond the annual performance review? Where do you start? What are the keys to success? In this guide, you’ll gain an understanding of: the forces driving change, three foundations of success and take a deep dive into the skills gap many managers have that will sink your efforts before they start and how to address them.
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coworkers keep trying to get me to do things that aren’t my job, when to ask for a promotion, and more
Ask a Manager
FEBRUARY 26, 2016
It’s four answers to four questions. Here we go…. 1. Coworkers keep trying to get me to do things that aren’t my job. just got out of a frustrating meeting and my heart is pounding – so I’m writing angrily. How can I handle it when coworkers endlessly ask me to fix/weigh in on things that aren’t my realm of responsibility? One of today’s many issues was that the designers (including the design director) wanted to know if we have an inventory of all the supplies. We have Jane, the operations director, who’s supposedly in charge of supplies. short answers
how to get people to leave you alone so you can focus, without making everyone hate you
Ask a Manager
FEBRUARY 23, 2016
Ever feel like your day is a series of constant interruptions that prevent you from moving your biggest priorities forward? Or that you get a lot more done when fewer people are in your office? To some extent, dealing with interruptions is part of most jobs. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t create some structures that minimize them or carve out time for yourself where you can focus without distraction. At Intuit QuickBase’s Fast Track blog today, I talk about how to do it without seeming inaccessible or unresponsive or making everyone hate you. You can read it here. work habits
overwhelmed with meeting requests, what am I allowed to do during work hours, and more
Ask a Manager
FEBRUARY 25, 2016
It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. I’m overwhelmed with meeting requests from salespeople and nonprofits. just started a new job and am a little overwhelmed with the amount of meetings that external people are requesting of me. work at a for-profit company and I get a ton of donation requests, sales calls, etc. There is no one else on my team and I report directly to the CEO, so there is no one to go to these meetings in my place. also have a lot of work needing to be done at my desk, so taking a meeting depletes precious hours of my day. How can I decline meetings?
can I address an employee’s social media use on sick days?
Ask a Manager
FEBRUARY 23, 2016
A reader writes: We are a close-knit department and most people follow each other on social media accounts, particularly Instagram and Facebook. noticed that the last two times one of my direct reports called out sick, she posted photos to Instagram during the work day hours. Basically they were “selfies” of herself looking all dolled up and ready to go. The first time this happened, I let it slide and in good faith assumed that she was just reposting a photo that was taken another day. Now that it has happened again and there is somewhat of a pattern, I want to address it with her.
Innovation Buster: How Losing Your Best Employees is Killing Innovation
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Employees at the front lines often have better ideas for innovation than others within the business, but when they walk out the door, they take those ideas with them. Want to innovate better and faster than the competition? You need to hold onto your best employees and the ideas they have. In this session we will explore how various pieces of the talent life cycle are related to retention and examine more than 20 strategies and ideas for improving retention outcomes for your business.
is it rude to ask resigning employees where they’re going?
Ask a Manager
FEBRUARY 22, 2016
A reader writes: Is it rude to ask people where they are going when I know they are leaving the company? recently had the following email exchange with someone who I don’t know very well but with whom I have worked in a limited capacity. really like her, and now I feel bad that maybe I shouldn’t have said anything at all to avoid causing an awkward interaction or making her uncomfortable. Guy: Sarah is leaving the company this Friday and will need you to review for any changes by close of business tomorrow Thursday so she can make changes before she leaves. Where will you be going? resigning
talking about passion in an interview, and an update
Ask a Manager
FEBRUARY 23, 2016
Remember the letter-writer who was interviewing for a position as executive director at a nonprofit and who wanted to ask about their budget deficit (#4 at the link)? Here’s the update — and a new question. First off, the interview did not go all that well in spite of my preparation. just didn’t do a very good job answering a couple of the questions. And I was notified the next day that I did not get the job. And I think I am relieved. When I asked about the budget deficit, the board chair muttered “what do you want to ask that for?” Sounded plausible. updates
telling a member that his behavior at our events is ruining it for everyone else
Ask a Manager
FEBRUARY 24, 2016
A reader writes: I work as administrator at a church and we have a delicate situation. One of our members, James, frequently attends our young professionals events, despite having aged out of the 20s and 30s demographic. What makes this difficult is he is a very uncomfortable person to interact with. He talks exclusively about himself and his general importance in the world, doesn’t read any social cues that the listener wants to escape, and will ask visiting teachers “questions” that are more often long winded anecdotes about himself. ” Any guidance? good management
about that Yelp employee who got fired after publishing an open letter to the CEO…
Ask a Manager
FEBRUARY 26, 2016
A bunch of people have asked me about the whole deal this week with the Yelp employee who got fired after posting an open letter to their CEO about it being hard to live on what Yelp pays her. Lance Haun wrote a beautiful, brilliant, thoughtful commentary on the whole drama that I wish I had written. You should read it. You may also like: is it inappropriate to hire an employee to pet-sit at my house?
2016 Training Program Best Practices
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Can you hear the collective groan when you launch that new compliance course? Do you get complaints both public and private from trainees about the uselessness of the training courses you've launched? Is there anything that can be done about it?
open thread – February 26-27, 2016
Ask a Manager
FEBRUARY 26, 2016
It’s the Friday open thread! The comment section on this post is open for discussion with other readers on anything work-related that you want to talk about. If you want an answer from me, emailing me is still your best bet*, but this is a chance to talk to other readers. * If you submitted a question to me recently, please don’t repost it here, as it may be in the to-be-answered queue :). open threads
using a reference-checking service, is my first job awful or am I too picky, and more
Ask a Manager
FEBRUARY 24, 2016
It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. Minimizing the impact of my medical condition on coworkers. have a medical condition that causes pain at night. typical flare-up involves waking up after 3-4 hours of sleep and being unable to fall back asleep due to the pain. If I take painkillers at night, I often can’t make it to work on time because of the sedation. These flare-ups are unpredictable and typically come in clusters, so if I get many in a row the sleep deprivation renders me to unable to do my customer-facing job acceptably. Ask your boss! Or can/should I do better?
we get a daily memo with feedback on everyone’s performance, mandatory flu shots, and more
Ask a Manager
FEBRUARY 22, 2016
It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. Is it normal to get a daily memo with feedback on everyone’s performance? write as a reporter for a student newspaper that prints five days a week. We have an advisor whom I’ll call “Joe” who emails individual feedback about our work in mass emails to the whole staff for every paper we print. Joe, a former newspaper reporter, isn’t our boss—or anyone’s boss, really. He’s a paid advisor to our paper who has an office in our newsroom— and he doesn’t directly supervise our work, but he gives us all feedback on our stories, among other duties.
how to get coworkers to help on your projects — even when they don’t have to
Ask a Manager
FEBRUARY 25, 2016
Plenty is hard about managing people, but it at least comes with the advantage of having the authority to assign work when you need others’ help on a project. But what about when you need the help of people who don’t report to you? At Intuit QuickBase’s Fast Track blog today, I talk about how to get coworkers to help out with your projects, even when they don’t have to. You can read it here. work habits
Ditching the formal performance review? Kineo shares 3 Elements for Success
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Is your organization thinking about moving towards a performance development culture? What are the elements to succeeding and keeping managers and employees engaged? Download “A Road Map for Change” to find out and gain insight into making the transition as smooth as possible on your journey into this brave new world.
my boss won’t stop pressuring me to work more hours
Ask a Manager
FEBRUARY 25, 2016
A reader writes: I work in an office with my boss and one coworker. From the very beginning, it was agreed upon that I would only work two days out of the week. accepted because I am a full-time college student, and it worked perfectly with my schedule and major. learned everything pretty much on my own. When my coworker needed a couple of days off, I agreed to help my boss out even though I had school. During my break from school, my coworker went on vacation and I took over her shifts plus some work that I had not been trained to do. My boss and coworker would always tell me I worked so hard.
if you’re having trouble reading Ask a Manager on mobile, do this
Ask a Manager
FEBRUARY 22, 2016
I’ve had a handful of reports of people who are getting pop-ups that redirect them away from the site when they’re reading on phones. talked to my ad network about this, and they said it’s been happening internet-wide to iPhone and iOS users. Here are two solutions that seem to fix it (these are instructions for Safari but there are ways to do this on other browsers too): Change your cookie settings. 1. Click Click Settings. 2. Select Select Safari. 3. Scroll Scroll down and click “Block Cookies” 4. Double-click your home button and close Safari. 2.
17 Truths About Working in HR
Laurie Ruettimann
FEBRUARY 23, 2016
Here are 17 truths about working in HR. Create core values like birthdays and puppies. The rest is overrated. Communicate candidly, kindly, without pretension, and directly via text. Fine, okay, use the phone. Avoid email. Never send an email more than five sentences long. Give feedback kindly, with specificity, directly to the person who needs to hear it. Always demonstrate integrity and honesty.
10 Inspirational Quotes to Keep Your Performance Goals on Track
ClearCompany HRM
FEBRUARY 23, 2016
Having goals is never a bad thing. The tough part, especially in managing employee goals and performance, is the battle may be up a long, steep hill and some goals will not be successful. Whatever the case may be, sometimes employees (and managers) need a little extra push to keep themselves engaged and working towards the performance goals they’ve taken so much time and energy to plan and pursue.
HR's Critical Role in Creating Productive and Meaningful Workplaces
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Today’s workplace is characterized by chaotic forces—low employee engagement and productivity levels, and declining employee well being. HR Leaders have a critical role in defining the vision and strategy to transform and create a more productive and happy workplace.
6 Must-Haves for Successful Goal Alignment
ClearCompany HRM
FEBRUARY 25, 2016
The enormous, interlinked web that is the organizational goal alignment process can seem daunting at first glance. But as we’ve been discussing , successful goal alignment can be achieved with the right roadmap and technology. Setting up your own roadmap doesn’t have to be a headache if you do your homework (and we’ve got plenty of resources to help you get there). Goal-Setting
R.I.P. Annual Performance Review. Now what?
Globoforce
FEBRUARY 23, 2016
Imagine if a coach just sat on the sidelines, watching their team win and lose games without giving any feedback. If they saved all of their coaching and strategizing for the last game of the season, it would be too late to even make a difference. They would likely be fired for incompetence. And yet, this is essentially how businesses have designed performance management since the third century.
What You Need to Know About the Latest HR Technology Trends
TriNet
FEBRUARY 22, 2016
Business today is all about leveraging the power of technology for efficiency, security and convenience. With new cloud technologies, automating your HR tasks doesn’t need to be cost-prohibitive. Visit site for full story. HR Technology HR technology
The Post-it Challenge: Finding Your True Purpose [video]
Linkage
FEBRUARY 25, 2016
Today, we’re sharing words of wisdom and a simple exercise from top executive coach Richard Leider. Richard Richard is widely recognized for his work helping 100,000 leaders from more than 50 corporations discover the power of purpose. Last fall, he helped our 650 Global Institute for Leadership Development ® participants tackle big questions like: “Why lead?” Enjoy—Ed.
Learner motivation explained! Learn how to use an LMS to motivate your learners to upskill
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Training and development professionals often bemoan the lack of apparent initiative in their trainees. Learning professionals spend huge sums of money creating or acquiring skill aligned libraries of learning content, only to watch almost helplessly as learners refuse to engage with any training available that isn’t mandatory.
Can ej4 Help You Build a Learning Culture?
ej4 HR
FEBRUARY 24, 2016
Over the last few months we’ve published a few articles on learning cultures in organizations, including the benefits of having a learning culture, the ROI of such a culture, and encouraging continued learning with eLearning tools. There’s a good reason why we’ve focused on learning cultures this much: They are at the heart of what [.]. The post Can ej4 Help You Build a Learning Culture? appeared first on. Corporate Training Training & Development building a learning culture building corporate learning culture
The Future of HR
Laurie Ruettimann
FEBRUARY 24, 2016
People ask me about the future of HR. Am I an optimist? Am I a cynic? think you have to look at the past to understand the future. Business leaders brazenly defrocked HR between 2009-2014 and invested in software, which has largely failed. Meanwhile, a talented cohort of HR professionals became disenfranchised and moved out of the function. They found jobs in marketing or sales.
Praise is an Essential Skill for New Managers
RecognizeThis!
FEBRUARY 22, 2016
By Derek Irvine. Recognize This! Praising conversations are a key tool for new managers across generations, improving their capacity for communication and relationship building. There is no shortage of skills that new managers need to develop as they transition from individual contributors to leading people for the first time. The value of praise is immense.
Why I Have Trust Issues With HR
The Aristocracy of HR
FEBRUARY 24, 2016
000000000000You all know I love me some HR. believe in its fundamental tenets of understanding work behavior. also enjoy the small window of opportunity we have to balance both the needs of the business and the employee. To many, it seems like a job anyone can do, but for those that do it […].
The Performance Management Storm: Four Macro-Trends Driving the Change
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Needed: A shift from traditional performance management systems (organized as an annual review process) to newer performance development systems (organized around real-time dynamics). Download part one in a series to gain insight into why this shift must happen and why it needs to happening now
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