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I got into a fight with my husband’s coworker over their affair, stressed out over a volunteer group at work, and more
Ask a Manager
OCTOBER 10, 2016
After three days, the girl texted me saying she was sorry, but of course I replied angrily and told her was going to tell her husband, to which she replied that if I wanted to fight, she’s down and she’ll be waiting for me at the restaurant. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. I got into a fight with my husband’s coworker over their affair. My husband works at a restaurant, I caught that he was having an affair with one of his coworkers. I saw the all their text messages and confirmed some of it from their friends. confronted my husband. Fast forward a few months.
whoever told you to be creative in your cover letter has led you horribly astray
Ask a Manager
AUGUST 16, 2016
As we part, smiling (of course), you check your pockets, laughing somewhat cynically at yourself for even thinking that I may’ve stolen your cell phone or wallet while we spoke, but then…your watch! A reader sent me this real-life cover letter that she received from a job applicant: Hi. This very professionally-beginning cover letter should immediately alert you to my easy-going and comprehensive approach to task completion while making it strikingly obvious that I am both interested in and capable of performing HR duties with sophisticated exactitude. cover letters
loose cannons, interviews from the toilet, and other stories of ridiculous job candidates
Ask a Manager
AUGUST 2, 2016
Like any workplace, there are occasional interpersonal politics, and of course there are certainly governmental politics that can affect higher level decisions, but that’s not usually going to have a huge impact on your work.”. A couple of weeks ago, I asked readers to share the weirdest or worst behavior they’ve ever seen from job candidates. The entire thing ended up being hilarious, but here are 12 of my favorites: 1. The The winner of them all. Listed in the “interests” section of a managerial candidate’s resume: “s g.” Loose cannon. Blame my wife. Then I walked out. ” 7.
we’re not allowed to bring coffee to work, my coworker is faking his expertise, and more
Ask a Manager
OCTOBER 30, 2016
If the payroll person says anything other than “yes, we will of course get you paid,” go over her head — someone there will know that this is illegal (and also ridiculous), even if she doesn’t. 5. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. My coworker is faking his expertise for the promotion he’s applying for. Our director of IT gave notice this week. Two internal people have expressed interest in the job. We are a small company, and the director of IT is the only IT professional on staff. We are a financial institution, so IT security is super important. Is this legal?
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
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is it impostor syndrome or a bad fit, managing is stressful, and more
Ask a Manager
OCTOBER 22, 2015
My boss believes I’m being “picky”; I just don’t want to have to deal with someone’s jump-ship attitude for the course of the program. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. submitted an expense report late and now can’t get reimbursed for thousands of dollars. work for a big company that you’ve heard of — we bounce in and out of the Fortune 500 depending on various market conditions. work remote from about 1500 miles away so it’s not like I can walk over to somebody’s desk to see what is up with this. Uh, like eight months.
an employer asked me the lowest salary I’d accept, rejected me, and then refused to keep talking
Ask a Manager
OCTOBER 19, 2016
But of course, by that point, they’d been told it was the lowest you’d go. Other A reader writes: This is a puzzler for me: I recently had a third party recruiter get me in touch again with the hiring manager of a position I had applied and interviewed for but got passed over for earlier this year. I was excited for the second chance since this was my dream company, albeit this time it was gonna be contract to start. And even though they found out I had interviewed previously, they still phone screened me and had me come in for another face to face, and I believe and felt it went well.
I was fired for taking initiative (and undermining my manager)
Ask a Manager
APRIL 11, 2016
proceeded to explain to Betty that this project had been assigned to me by Veronica, and that she had no business interfering with my work. I was very clear that what she had done was unprofessional, extremely disrespectful, that the results I’d produced were speaking for themselves and that she shouldn’t meddle in things that don’t concern her. Of course I was very angry and maybe I was a little forceful during that meeting, but I feel like I had every right to be upset at what she did! . proved myself and they brought me on full-time. . What should I do? .
my dad says I shouldn’t have asked for time to think over a job offer
Ask a Manager
MARCH 1, 2016
They said of course and that they would always expect that. A reader writes: Recently I had a second interview with a company where I met with the other owner and learned a lot of new information, including salary and schedule. At the end of the interview, I was offered the position and I said I would like a day to think it over and talk about it with my family. Later, when I was talking with my parents, my dad got mad that I would even think about asking them for a day. Ignore your dad. It’s very, very normal to ask for some time to think over an offer (and a day is nothing).
Leaving performance reviews behind: Where to start [Guide]
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setting expectations – an eLearning course. participant’s manager, of course! Added Support To provide the extra layer of support, all the course participants are assigned. available to the course delegates on topics. 1Making Dynamic Performance. Development a Reality eGuide 3Introduction Does your organization want to adopt. more dynamic approach to managing. sprints.
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can you say you’re looking for a new job because you want “a new challenge”?
Ask a Manager
OCTOBER 26, 2016
We’ve apparently all agreed to accept it as a reasonable thing to say. (Of course, sometimes it’s also true.). For example: “I’m ready to take on a new challenge! I was brought in to set up a new team selling teapots to the Pacific Northwest. I’ve spent the last three years getting that team off the ground — staffing, developing our strategy, course-correcting once we saw what worked and what didn’t work. Here’s the deal with “I’m looking for new challenges”: Most interviewers understand that it’s used as a polite catch-all for all sorts of things. interviewing
update: my boyfriend has my old job and there’s tons of drama
Ask a Manager
DECEMBER 21, 2015
And, of course, the other volunteers, my boyfriend, and I really do believe that it will help the site’s morale if Pat is taken out of the picture–even for one year or two. Remember the letter-writer whose boyfriend had her old job and was being treated badly by a board member? Here’s the update. The museum’s operating season ended one week after you posted your response to my question about what to do about Pat. Pat requested an “employee review” between herself, a handful of other board members, and my boyfriend for this past Monday. updates
how can I ask my coworkers to stop talking about politics, interview shoes when it’s snowy, and more
Ask a Manager
JANUARY 19, 2016
That requires boots that aren’t really bulky, of course. 4. Of course, now I would rather make as close to that as possible if I move to another position. Of course, if you’re actually willing to take less than that, you might want to take out the “it would be tough” language and maybe change the whole thing to something like “is that something you’d be able to match?”. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. How can I ask my manager and coworkers to stop talking about politics at work? Some of them are HUGE fans of a certain politician who I find repellent.
dating site drama, employee resigned but now isn’t leaving, and more
Ask a Manager
SEPTEMBER 21, 2016
This is no fault of Hermione’s, of course; however, as a result, Hermione has remained on. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. Two of my employees are dating and a third found one of them on an online dating site. I own and manage a small entertainment company with about 20 contracted employees. Two of them are dating each other, and have been doing so for years. They live together. third employee recently came to me because the male half of the couple popped up on Bumble, her online dating app. In his profile, he said it was there for “research.”
Ditching the formal performance review? Kineo shares 3 Elements for Success
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very logical, of course, until an organization starts to. participant’s manager, of course! Added Support To provide the extra layer of support, all the course participants are assigned. available to the course delegates on topics. From Performance Management. to Performance Development eGuide 2Part 2: A Roadmap. for Change In Part 1 of this eGuide, we explored the confluence. of factors that’s driving change in how performance. is managed and how organizations are moving. away from the traditional annual review process to. more real-time dynamic approach. Moving.
do not cheat the one-page resume rule by using a tiny font and tiny margins
Ask a Manager
SEPTEMBER 8, 2015
There are exceptions to every rule, of course — but far more people think they’re the exception to this than who actually are. If you’re early in your career, you’ve probably heard that your resume should only be one page. And perhaps you’ve tried to wiggle your way around that rule by using a tiny font and non-existent margins so that you can cram more text into one page. If you’re done this, you’re violating the rule in spirit and probably making your resume less effective. You get a second page at that point. And you really, really want it to be easy for a hiring manager to read.
is 8-6 the new 9-5?
Ask a Manager
OCTOBER 8, 2015
And of course, many people routinely work longer hours than that. A reader writes: I wanted to get a perspective from you and your readers on whether you think a majority of businesses and industries are now expecting longer workdays from their employees. Colloquially, “the 9 to 5″ has been a phrase to discribe full-time jobs conducted during normal business hours. Obviously all individual offices will vary, but based on my own experience and the experiences of people I know, it seems like “the 8 to 6″ would now be a better descriptor. For some people.
how long can it take to hear back after a job interview?
Ask a Manager
JULY 27, 2015
It’s polite and appreciated when they do, of course, but HR people and hiring managers usually have lots of competing priorities, and it frequently results in follow-up emails from candidates being pushed to the back burner. A reader writes: There is this company that I have wanted to work for since I got into the work I do now. About a week later, I received an email from the HR manager following up with how the interview went and to let me know they are still in the process of conducting interviews but that I would be informed when final decisions are made. How long is too long?
coworkers think I left a bad Glassdoor review, negative feedback in an open office, and more
Ask a Manager
NOVEMBER 1, 2016
So of course, people assume I wrote it. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. My coworkers think I left a bad Glassdoor review, but I didn’t. work at gossipy, small, family-owned, white collar business. We have about 40 employees, many of whom have been here for decades. have been with the company for about a year and a half in an entry-level position (this is my first job out of college). It complains about every aspect of the company, from the dress code to the technology to the culture to the people. Furthermore, I really do want to leave on good terms.
Move Beyond Learning to Applying: A Modern Management Development Program
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course, deliberate practice in the real-world. kineo.com [email protected] 312-846-6656 Of course, we’re not the first to use such. 1 kineo.com [email protected] 312-846-6656 Hard to believe that it’s been almost 20 years since the term “eLearning” entered the corpo- rate learning lexicon. And just in the last five years, the velocity at which new solutions have entered. We now.
update: a coworker stole my spicy food, got sick, and is blaming me
Ask a Manager
OCTOBER 14, 2016
The boss also opened more doors for me, offering different training courses that I’ll be paid for. Remember the letter-writer in July whose coworker stole his spicy food, got sick, and blamed him for it ? And HR was blaming him too? Here’s the (kind of amazing) update. ended up being fired by HR, as she said there was enough of a case to get rid of me before the top boss came back. consulted a lawyer who sent a letter to the company informing them that I was considering legal action. The letter contained the reasons for doing so and an account of what happened.
my office is being overrun by misbehaving dogs
Ask a Manager
MARCH 23, 2016
Of course, it’s probably true that if Jane is going to be receptive to this, she probably would have already been on top of the problem without you saying anything. A reader writes: I’ve been at my new company, a 15-person firm a little over a year old, for about six months now. generally enjoy the work and my colleagues but find myself increasing stressed and agitated at work because of the presence of a misbehaved puppy who is there every day. We have an open office plan, so I can’t avoid her. also don’t know him all that well. Well, you could develop a dog allergy.
employees complained about the reward I gave them, getting my job back after being fired for pushing a coworker, and more
Ask a Manager
APRIL 28, 2016
almost wonder if they saw all the other stuff as par for the course (which it’s not) and the gift cards as their only thank-you; that’s the only thing I can think of to explain the reaction. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. My employees complained about the reward I gave them. work as a manager of a division that recently underwent a huge system change. As a result, all of our employees had to work two hours of overtime per day for three weeks. They were all paid triple their hourly rate for their overtime hours and were given two weeks extra PTO for their efforts.
our horrible HR manager tells lies, is rude and petty, and won’t do her job
Ask a Manager
SEPTEMBER 19, 2016
That means not requesting, but saying as a group “we will no longer work in these conditions and we need a solution this week because it’s intolerable” — and continuing to press him until there’s a resolution. (Of course, if she’s, say, his wife, he may choose her over all of you. A reader writes: I’m in upper management at a growing company. Until two years ago, each executive had the HR responsibilities for their own department. But we became large enough to merit a full-time HR manager. We found someone with decades of experience, but she had moved jobs every two years.
The Performance Management Storm: Four Macro-Trends Driving the Change
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adjust course on a periodic schedule? 1Why Your Company Will Need to. Rethink Performance Management eGuide Part 1: The Argument. for Change 2 3About this Guide Organizations are increasingly. moving from traditional performance. management systems (organized as. an annual review process) to newer. performance development systems. organized around real-time dynamics). happening now. If the.
we have to provide food to our managers for Boss’s Day, my boss hates me, and more
Ask a Manager
OCTOBER 12, 2016
And of course, make sure that’s really true. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. We have to provide food to our managers for Boss’s Day. It’s that time again — Boss’s Day is Monday. The staff where I work have received the usual cringe-worthy email from the office manager, notifying us we are to provide a breakfast potluck plus afternoon desserts for our bosses. There is a sign-up sheet, no doubt for convenient tracking of who participates. What do you think of the obligatory potluck? Ick, yeah, that’s gross for all the reasons I talk about here.
coworker keeps bringing her baby to work because she misses him
Ask a Manager
OCTOBER 17, 2016
If this happened once or twice over the course of a year, then yeah, I’d say you were being a curmudgeon. A reader writes: I have a coworker who recently had a baby boy about six months ago. Four or five times now, she has asked her babysitter to drive her son to our workplace during lunch because she misses him and wants to spend time with him. Because of our work setting, employees’ family and friends are not technically allowed into the back areas of the facility where the break rooms are. She also talks incessantly to him in a baby voice or makes silly noises at him repeatedly.
my coworker responds to everything I ask him to do with profanity and “your mom” jokes
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SEPTEMBER 28, 2016
…Except for the one person I work with more closely than anyone else, of course. I am a Teapot Reports Processor and work in an office with one other person, a guy the same age as me (25), who is the Teapot Records Clerk. A reader writes: Thanks to the great advice on your blog, I have gone from being a green, honestly unprofessional newbie to office culture to having considerably improved professional dialogue and interactions with my coworkers at the office I have been working in for over three years now. ” with “your mother” and would not give me an answer.)
boss asked me to be “brutally honest,” manager ignores my emails, and more
Ask a Manager
JUNE 20, 2016
Over the course of just under a year, I lost the motivation to innovate or create new things. What is the best course of action here? I don’t think it’s outrageous for you to continue with the plan to pay wholesale, but your sister-in-law should explain to others that you were grandfathered into that plan because of your longevity with the store (or that it’s because of the social media work that you do featuring the items). It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. Boss asked me to be “brutally honest” during an exit interview. work for a small, family-owned business.
The Performance Management Storm: Four Macro-Trends Driving the Change
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adjust course on a periodic schedule? 1Why Your Company Will Need to. Rethink Performance Management eGuide Part 1: The Argument. for Change 2 3About this Guide Organizations are increasingly. moving from traditional performance. management systems (organized as. an annual review process) to newer. performance development systems. organized around real-time dynamics). happening now. If the.
employee’s long bathroom breaks are tying up the customer bathroom, staff had meltdowns after talking with each other, and more
Ask a Manager
OCTOBER 3, 2016
But let her know that she does need to talk to AM in the course of doing her job; not speaking to her isn’t an option and you expect both of them to behave professionally to each other going forward. And you’re not passing judgment on Jane’s ethics or honesty; people get facts incorrect all the time without doing it intentionally. (Of course, you’d want to be 100% sure that your information is right before saying anything, though.). 4. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. Employee’s long bathroom breaks are tying up the customer bathroom. Once for 31 minutes.
update: my coworker responds to everything I ask him to do with profanity and “your mom” jokes
Ask a Manager
OCTOBER 6, 2016
He figured I would “take the hint” based on his actions and behavior: long aggravated sighs, backtalk, tossing work I’ve left him back on my desk while I’m away from it instead of doing it because he “didn’t feel [I] should have to [your] work for [you]” despite that the work I gave him is… filing, and of course the silent treatment, but the only hint I got is that he was unwilling to do anything other than his usual bare minimum, so I’m sure by then my tone was something to behold, try as I may to not let it be. Here’s the update. Can you fit in a couple reports?”) Me again.
fired employee wants to attend the holiday party, rejected for going to school full-time, and more
Ask a Manager
NOVEMBER 18, 2015
” As a side note, it will be extra important that you’re scrupulously fair in all your other dealings with this person though (not fighting her unemployment since you called it a lay-off, not badmouthing her to other staff members, etc.), so that the party thing doesn’t come across as a personal vendetta, just as a matter-of-fact “no, we don’t have people who trash us at our holiday parties, but of course we’ll still meet all of our professional obligations to you” decision. 2. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. Fired Also, yay to you for being a foster parent! 3.
my new coworker is my childhood bully, getting people stop with replying-all, and more
Ask a Manager
SEPTEMBER 19, 2016
would say this: “I’d be happy to sign the ticket over to the company if that’s possible (note: it’s probably not possible, but you’re offering this to demonstrate good faith) , but I’m not able to cover the cost of the ticket, which I understood to be an expense Company A was handling. I of course had every intention of attending the interview and didn’t expect to accept another job this week, but I don’t want to waste Company A’s time now that that’s happened. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. My new coworker is my childhood bully. recently started a new job. So am I.
4 Ways to Close the Learning-Doing Gap for Front-Line Managers [GUIDE]
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my boss is a mean girl
Ask a Manager
APRIL 6, 2016
Of course, she didn’t fire me, because I do very good work (which she did state despite listing all 1, 2, and 3s out of 5s). Should I write a counter to my review and submit it to HR, since I truly do good work? I’m concerned it would be all for naught because everyone in our department is in her corner because they’re friends or she brings in big money. I don’t want to have a follow-up meeting even though I know that’s the normal course of action because of that. A reader writes: I quit my first “real” job in November after 2.5
should I ask my coworker why she didn’t hire my son, I stole from an employer years ago, and more
Ask a Manager
SEPTEMBER 18, 2016
Why not write them a letter now, saying that you’ve spent the last decade reflecting on what happened and trying to make amends in your life (if that’s true), apologizing for what happened, and telling them that you’re grateful that they gave you the chance to course-correct your life? 3. My company says I have to pay back the cost of a training course. I was told by my company I had been chosen to participate in a course (Lean) and asked if I would be interested in supporting this initiative. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. would be totally suspicious!
saying you have to talk over a job offer with your spouse, ordered to appear “enthusiastic and upbeat,” and more
Ask a Manager
AUGUST 1, 2016
Of course, if you continue not working 40 hours a week, it won’t really impact you. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…. 1. Saying that you have to talk over a job offer with your spouse. What are your thoughts on telling a potential employer, “I will need to talk this over with my husband/wife” when considering a job offer? Does it sound too dependent or is it just honest? It’s pretty common to say “I’d like a few days to think it over and talk with my spouse.”. That said, there’s no need to say it. People without spouses also ask for time to think over offers.
is it bad that I use a chat program to talk to my friends throughout the workday?
Ask a Manager
MAY 31, 2016
Of course, it’s certainly possible that your office culture is one that doesn’t particularly care. And of course, for some people it’s not a question of good versus great, but instead is the difference between good and barely cutting it.). A reader writes: I work in an administrative position at a university, and I almost always have Google Chat open throughout the day, both to talk to coworkers and friends outside of work. Gchat feels different to me, but should it? Things are very casual where I work, and most people have their personal Gmail/Facebook up throughout the day.
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