Performance Tracking and Feedback

A reader writes: Does HR-mandated manager training actually work, ever? I had a director whose behavior veered week-to-week from overbearing to toxic to straight-up illegal. He was very savvy and never put any of the worst stuff in writing. When confronted, he claimed that he was misinterpreted or blamed the language barrier (English is not his native language). However, it’s hard to misinterpret statements such as “how can we force this employee to take less parental leave?” (the employee was taking the amount offered by the company’s own policy and protected by the FMLA) or “this employee’s (supposedly anonymous) company survey results were not very good; you need to …

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. It’s the Friday open thread! The comment section on this post is open for discussion with other readers on any work-related questions that you want to talk about (that includes school). If you want an answer from me, emailing me is still your best bet*, but this is a chance to take your questions to other readers. * If you submitted a question to me recently, please do not repost it here, as it may be in my queue to answer. View the full article

A reader writes: I am currently looking for a new job because I am currently being taken advantage of … again (being given more and more work because I am skilled enough I handle it, but no pay increase so underpaid for my experience and the world we live in right now). So pay is the main factor for me in this job search. My first instinct is to just completely ignore the job postings without the pay listed because I don’t want to waste my time. A job may look perfect but if it’s for the same amount I’m making now (or less!) or not that much more, I don’t care what it is. (I also don’t care what it is if the pay is right. If I think I can do it, I’m applying.) But with …

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. A reader writes: I’m contemplating a job search and would love your advice on how to raise certain non-negotiable workplace factors — what I’d call “satisficers” — early in the process, without derailing conversations or coming off as naive or high-maintenance. For example, I travel extensively for work (sometimes over 100 hours in transit per week), and I’m simply not interested in a role that requires flying economy. Most companies in my field provide business class, but a handful don’t. Similarly, I find open-plan offices incredibly stressful and wouldn’t take a job that required one. These aren’t…

It’s the Friday open thread! The comment section on this post is open for discussion with other readers on any work-related questions that you want to talk about (that includes school). If you want an answer from me, emailing me is still your best bet*, but this is a chance to take your questions to other readers. * If you submitted a question to me recently, please do not repost it here, as it may be in my queue to answer. The post open thread – May 9, 2025 appeared first on Ask a Manager. View the full article

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. A reader writes: I recently interviewed for an admin role, essentially front reception, for a private hospital. The job is entirely non-clinical. After the interview, the hiring manager emailed me to say that they would like to progress my application to the next stage. In the email they included a link for me to complete some pre-employment checks. Some were standard, such as proof of identity, criminal history record check, etc. But the first step is a “pre-employment health questionnaire,” which asks me to disclose my medical history, in the form of answering yes/no to a long list of ailments, inc…

If you’re getting ready to quit your job, you’re probably thinking a lot about how to tell your boss and your team that you’re leaving. But before you give anyone a heads-up, there are some things you need to do first. At New York Magazine today, I’ve got a checklist of 10 items to take care of before you quit. You can read it here. The post what to do before you quit your job: a checklist appeared first on Ask a Manager. View the full article

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. Remember the letter-writer whose employee said they needed to give her longer breaks because she’s a smoker? Here’s the update. Update on my employee who is a smoker and requested extra break time due to her disability. First, wrong terminology on my part was used when I wrote in. The campus is non-tobacco use, not just non-smoking. Second, Deleana is an excellent worker other than her tardiness in coming back from breaks. I did ask my other employees if they would prefer one long 30-minute break or two shorter 15-minute breaks. 100% of the other employees (I didn’t ask Deleana) prefer having two b…

It’s the Friday open thread! The comment section on this post is open for discussion with other readers on any work-related questions that you want to talk about (that includes school). If you want an answer from me, emailing me is still your best bet*, but this is a chance to take your questions to other readers. * If you submitted a question to me recently, please do not repost it here, as it may be in my queue to answer. The post open thread – May 23, 2025 appeared first on Ask a Manager. View the full article

Last week we talked about the smallest amount of power you’ve ever seen someone abuse. But people can also use even small amounts of power for good — like the crossing guard who wasn’t really a crossing guard, or the graphic designer who sabotaged a homophobic group’s ad in her newspaper. This week, let’s talk about times when you’ve seen someone exploit their power for good — not just times when you saw someone be a good person at work, but times when someone violated the letter or the spirit of a rule or otherwise did something that could technically be considered under-handed in order to achieve good in the world. Please share in the comments! The post let’s talk abo…

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. It’s the Thursday “ask the readers” question. Today we have two letters, one question. The first: I’m a fed in a (relatively) safe job in a (relatively) safe agency, and while I’m hoping to stay, I am keeping an eye out for other opportunities. But as someone who went straight from academia to the federal government, I realized I don’t know where to look beyond places like LinkedIn or Indeed. I’m sure many job categories have their own niche places to look for job announcements, but how do you find out about them? Maybe people who are looking could say their desired job category in the comments and ot…

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. A reader writes: I am the director of a small, public-facing unit. We have a full-time staff of 10 and several part-time workers. I am struggling with our leave system and how to make it as equitable as possible. Current policy (that I inherited) is that employees can put in all leave for the following year beginning in November of the previous year, and first-come first-serve wins. We have some employees who quickly take a lot of the prime spots, particularly around spring break and holidays. Not everyone can plan ahead like this, however, and so some of our people then get little to no time around …

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Employee can’t figure out what accommodations would help her do her job I work at a small organization where I wear many hats, including HR-related items. We have an employee, Nicole, who shared with us about a year ago that she was diagnosed with some conditions that make executive functioning difficult. We immediately approved her requests for an ADHD coach, project management software, and additional weekly meetings with her manager. In this last year, Nicole continues to not meet expectations in areas such as meeting deadlines, communicating eff…

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. A reader writes: I recently interviewed for a new job that I was really excited: it’s exactly what I want to be doing next in my career, at a company I’ve heard good things about, and with a salary range that would be a significant boost from what I earn currently. After the second interview, the hiring manager asked me for my references. I sent her contact info for my manager from the two previous jobs before my current one, as well as a senior colleague who I’ve worked closely with. I didn’t offer my current manager since she does not know that I’m looking, and I would rather she not know until I’m…

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. A reader writes: I took over as the director of my former team about a year ago. I inherited an ongoing HR issue between one of my direct reports (Tammy) and her direct report (Beth). Beth hates Tammy. Beth had applied for the promotion to Tammy’s position when it was last open but my predecessor hired Tammy from the outside, and Beth had strong feelings about being passed over. Tammy was not the best hire; she is not a strong manager. But we are a government agency, and while Tammy isn’t my best employee, she is not so bad that there would be any chance I could fire her. I have worked on coaching her…

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. Eloise is 20 years old (!) and was living in a shelter cage, but now she has a house of her own. This comment section is open for any non-work-related discussion you’d like to have with other readers, by popular demand. Here are the rules for the weekend posts. Book recommendation of the week: I See You’ve Called In Dead, by John Kenney. An obituary writer publishes his own obituary after drinking too much one night, then he learns his newspaper can’t fire him because their systems now list him as dead. (Amazon, Bookshop) * I earn a commission if you use those links. View the full article

Remember the person whose company accountant was nitpicking his travel expenses to the point of responding to a $12 Chipotle tab with,”Ordering extra guacamole is wasteful of member dues”? Or the weeks-long battle about the purchase of a $10 calculator? Or the admin who wouldn’t give anyone a new pen unless you turned in your old, used-up pen first? And then there were these: • • • • I have had two different colleagues in two different jobs repeatedly change their signature blocks within hours of their boss being out of the office. One of them would change his signature block to “Acting Deputy Spokesperson” every time his boss took even an afternoon off to…

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. I get bad vibes from my new boss A new director recently joined my department, and I’ve had an immediate bad feeling about her. I’m not typically quick to judge, and I recognize that she reminds me — at least in some ways — of a family member who is a bit of a narcissist. I want to stay professional and give her a fair chance, but I also don’t want to ignore my instincts if they’re picking up on real red flags. I’ve just been having a gut feeling and maybe, unfairly to her, I am reacting to speech patterns and mannerisms that remind me of my relati…

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. The site is having some server issues today so while we work on those, here’s an older post. This was originally published in 2019. (And hopefully everything will be back to normal shortly.) A reader writes: I’m a mid-level college administrator. One of my direct reports is positioning himself to move up in a couple of years (from department member to department head). He would still report to me, but the working relationship would be a little different. I need to work closely with department heads, and it can have a major impact on my work and the organization if that relationship is toxic. The pro…

A reader writes: I feel it is non-negotiable that — except for cases of emergency, sick kids, or traffic jams — employees should be at work on time the vast majority of days. This means getting to work about 10 minutes early in time to hang up a coat, use the bathroom, etc., and be at one’s desk when the hour begins. I feel like most employees and many managers do not so much care about this or, if they do, they don’t say anything to late employees. I have worked with colleagues who regularly show up 10-20 minutes late and no one seems to care. I’m not talking about flex-time jobs. Are my standards old-fashioned? I answer this question — and three others — over at Inc. …

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. It’s four answers to four questions. Here we go… 1. Can I suggest that my employee rethink her career path? One of my direct reports, “Mindy,” has worked for my organization since college; she’s now 31. I joined the staff three years ago and enjoy her a lot as a person: she’s smart, has a wonderful attitude, is very diligent and organized, and brings her best to every project. The problem is that I don’t think she’s on the right career path. Right now Mindy does communications work. but the issue is that she’s not a very good writer, which is a fundamental skill for the job. We do a lot of writing a…

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. My coworker keeps a wall of embarrassing photos of former coworkers I started a new job at a start-up a few months ago and one of my coworkers, who I work closely with, has a wall next to his desk where he has pinned up half a dozen enlarged photos of everyone who has left the company recently. He finds an old school photo, or them in a costume, or with braces, whatever he thinks is funny. As soon as someone puts in their two weeks, their photo goes up on the wall. He recently got told by HR to take the photos down after someone complained. Everyon…

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. A reader writes: The last time I was searching for jobs was pre-Covid, and while the job market and world have changed in many ways, one of the ways I’m most concerned about in my current search is the rise of employee monitoring technologies. I work in a field that has been primarily remote since well before the pandemic and has not been subjected my recent waves of return-to-office for that reason. I also live with a number of serious but very well-managed mental health issues that would quickly spiral out of “very well-managed” under the pressure of surveillance technologies. This isn’t just a pref…

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. Last week we talked about shared space / hot-desking horror stories and here are 10 of my favorites that you shared. 1. The torn-down sign We have a bank of shared desks which aren’t actually general-use hot desks, but hot desks specific to our team. However, as we’re often out and about supporting other colleagues or delivering training out in the field, we’re usually only in one day a week. People realized this and started using our desks as hot desks, and all our equipment gradually failed/vanished, and when we DID come in, there wouldn’t be any desks available. So we put up signs. One of the oth…

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Our marketing team refuses to do projects for us, then complains if we do them ourselves I’m one of several who create new educational resources for our target audience. Like most companies, we have a graphic design/marketing department that designs and approves anything that’s going to be seen by the public. Well, they’re supposed to. Most of my work is in response to current events, so I might make a new guide for our customers who want to learn more about XYZ. I’ll do the research and most of the formatting, and I’m supposed to send it off to th…