Performance Tracking and Feedback

A reader writes: I work at a creative company with 50+ people on staff, about 30 of whom come into the office regularly. It’s a great place to work overall, but I’ll be honest, I’m in a bit of a humbling professional moment. After being laid off from my more senior role earlier this year, I took on a junior position here because, well, times are hard and you do what you have to do. Part of my current role involves managing the studio space, which includes keeping our small kitchenette tidy and running the dishwasher. I actually don’t mind this, I run the washer every night before I leave and empty it in the morning so there’s always space for dishes. What I do mind is t…

A workplace email signature is normally the most forgettable part of a message — just a name, a title, a phone number, and maybe a logo dutifully appended by IT. It’s boilerplate by design, stripped of personality and meant to fade into the background. But when employers give workers more freedom to personalize email signatures, they can quickly get retaliatory, overly personal, or just downright weird. At Slate today, I wrote about some email signatures gone very wild. You can read it here. The post email signatures gone wild appeared first on Ask a Manager. View the full article

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. My boss doesn’t want to give me a bonus because I’m leaving soon I am moving soon to another state and leaving my agency to be closer to family. I really don’t want to leave and neither does my boss. He even advocated for me to stay on as fully remote, but his boss and HR said no; the agency has a new strict policy that doesn’t allow employees to be fully remote. I have no choice but to resign. Coincidentally, my annual performance review is due shortly before the time my lease is up and I have to leave my job. My annual reviews have always come with a bonus, so I’m expecting a lump sum payment that will help cover so…

Earlier this month was the annual Ask a Manager salary survey. This week, let’s compare paid time off. Fill out the form below to anonymously share how much paid time off you get, in the context of your field and other relevant factors. (Do not leave your info in the comments section! If you can’t see the survey questions, try this link instead.) When you’re done, you can view all the responses in a sortable spreadsheet. (Note: I have been unable to figure out how to make this work for jobs like teachers who get summers off but will happily take suggestions on that for next time.) Loading… The post how much paid time off do you get? appeared first on Ask a Manager. …

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. My boss told me my dresses need to be longer My line manager told me yesterday that there had been “comments made” about how short / inappropriate my dresses are in the office, as a member of the team who is front-facing for clients. I was asked to not wear these outfits in the office any longer. These comments have utterly humiliated me, and I spent about an hour crying on my way home. I have always dressed fairly modestly at work and am deeply uncomfortable with my body being perceived as being “on display.” My dresses are long-sleeved, with skirts that stop just above my knee. They are conventional office wear. I p…

We recently talked about people applying for — in working in — jobs that were clearly at odds with what they wanted to do, and here are 12 of my favorite stories you shared. 1. The lack of turtles I worked with a lot of field biologists who were unsuited, mostly because they went into the field since they loved being outdoors and then were shocked to find that the job consisted of very boring and monotonous walking off trail and meticulous record keeping. But my favorite not-suited coworker was fine with all that! Except what she really wanted to be doing was surveying for turtles. Sadly, not a lot of our projects involved turtles. She still did a great job, but all her…

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Leadership discussing weight loss during an accommodations meeting I’m writing about a conversation that happened a few months ago in my workplace that is still bothering me, and I’m not sure if there’s anywhere to escalate it or if I need to keep working on letting it go. I work in public service for a small city and am part of a union. I was in a meeting with the head of HR (who reports to the mayor), my boss (the director of our organization), and the union rep. The meeting was set up to discuss a medical accommodation I was asking for. I self-identify as a fat woman, but the accommodation in question had nothing t…

Remember the letter-writer wondering if she could take care of her baby during the workday since her job was undemanding? Here’s the update. Your response gave me a lot to think about, and ultimately I realized that I was completely bored by my job and needed something with more challenge and growth potential. I decided to take a transfer to a more high powered team. It was a lateral move with no pay increase and more work, but a ton of skill building and potential for growth into other higher paying cross-disciplinary teams. I took the transfer about halfway through my pregnancy so I was able to onboard and finish my training before maternity leave. Infant care spots ar…

A reader writes: I’m returning to the job-searching arena after several years and will be interviewing over the next few weeks. A few years ago, I was interviewed by a panel who were quite hostile and clearly not impressed with my resume or my responses. Up until that point, I’d never come across any interviewer who was aggressive, disrespectful, or rude, so the nastiness directed my way was unexpected: • belittling of my resume • verbal expressions of frustration at my lack of specific experience (and then giving me a nasty look) • patronizing remarks made about my responses to questions • aggressive facial expressions, no smiles, and no basic civilities (not even …

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Can a manager lead a Bible study? I am a mid-level supervisor for a state government agency. While I directly supervise several employees, about half of the employees in my section directly report to my manager, “Michael.” He, in turn, reports to “David” and “Jan,” who are the chief and the second-in-command. There are several other sections within our agency that do separate work, and those sections have their own corresponding Michaels, who also report to David and Jan. Hypothetically (I do not have any plans to do this currently), given the fact that I supervise some employees, would it be inappropriate for me to o…

A reader writes: I work at a university managing the production aspects of the theater. I manage five staff members and one of them, Jane, can be hard to work with. She can be quite abrasive and abrupt, and I have already had several meetings with her to address the harsh tone she uses. She started this year and comes from a professional background where she needed to be very assertive in her role or she would not have been able to get anything done. Her job now requires lots of student interaction and direction and she is speaking to them like she would these professional crew members she encountered in the past and some of the students feel like she is disrespecting a…

A reader writes: I teach in a business school and previously worked in my industry. I’ve been an AAM reader for a long time. I have seen you write about how group work in school projects is nothing like group work in the real world, and I’m not sure I totally agree. I have definitely worked with coworkers who slacked off or didn’t have the right skills, but there was no accountability, etc. I think getting some output from folks like this is actually a common challenge, which mirrors student work. Anyway, regardless of my personal opinion, every single industry speaker we have says they want students who work well as part of a team. Hiring managers who come here tell u…

In the recent post on people applying for jobs that were clearly at odds with what they wanted to do, one theme that came up over and over was candidates who were way too honest in interviews. Here are 11 of my favorite stories you shared that fit that category. 1. The competition A candidate once wrote in their cover letter that their dream was to one day work for [our competitor] and they saw us a an important stepping stone to getting there. 2. The mole I was working for a very progressive Democratic candidate’s campaign, hiring a finance director. Someone with two decades of experience working in Republican offices applied. I decided to phone screen him just out o…

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. My boss punished me for an HR investigation on her way out the door A little over a year ago, I started in a new workplace. Things seemed great at first — much less stress and a more regular schedule than my previous job, great coworkers, and when I had a significant health scare requiring multiple surgeries (I’m fine now) shortly after starting, my manager was really supportive. As the honeymoon period waned, however, it became clear that there were a lot of serious boundary issues with our manager — lots of “we’re a family” style issues. Inappropriate, boundary-crossing things were being said, things that made a lot …

It’s four answers to four questions. Here we go… 1. Our exit interviews are emailed to all managers I work for a small company with a one-person HR team. When a team member leaves the company by choice, the HR person conducts an exit interview. The transcription of the interview is then emailed to the entire management layer of the company — about a third of the company headcount — without any edits or redactions. Details of personal circumstances, raw feedback about supervisors or coworkers, all of it just out there in the open with names attached. Many of us middle managers are horrified by this practice and object both on privacy grounds and because there is no clea…

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: The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club, by Helen Simonson. Kicked out of her job after the men returned from World War I, a penniless woman working as a lady’s companion encounters a women’s’ motorcycle club and a changing world. Very charming, as all of her books are. (Amazon, Bookshop) * I earn a commission if you use those links. The post weekend open thread – May 9-10, 2026 appeared first on Ask a Manager. View the full article

A reader writes: I’m getting a lot of applicants for jobs like welders, electricians, etc. These resumes tend to have more mistakes (think grammar and spelling errors). I’m having a hard time figuring out if a candidate’s attention to detail on the application is actually a reflection of their ability to do a good job in these jobs. I’m interested in hearing your opinions because for other positions (like admin or office) I would strongly consider the attention to detail. I answer this question — and two others — over at Inc. today, where I’m revisiting letters that have been buried in the archives here from years ago (and sometimes updating/expanding my answers to them…

A reader writes: I make a technically reasonable but low salary at my entry-level job, and while I’m not slacking, I’m also definitely not pushing as hard as I could. I do above my quota easily as it is, and I’m confident I could do more — even the work of two people — without overburdening myself. I like the work and I’m extremely good at it, but I’ve been feeling pressured to look for a new job because that salary just isn’t sustainable. Our team is short-staffed at the moment, like everyone else, and it takes some time for a new employee to get up to speed. If I could make, let’s say, half of another person’s salary on top of my current pay, I’d be making the amount …

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 8, 2026 appeared first on Ask a Manager. View the full article

A reader writes: This is a completely low-stakes question, spurred on by the town Facebook group. Our province mandated that all job postings need to have a salary included. This is law. There have been two instances where two local restaurants have put out job postings without the salary. Someone pointed this out in the comments and it became a huge issue, where people fought back saying it was unreasonable for the owner who are small town business owners to know this (basic, now three-year-old law) bit. It eventually culminated in two different ways: a giant Reddit post where restaurant apologized and asked for resumes and still didn’t put in the salary in the post …

A reader writes: We recently hired a new employee, “Jane,” to replace someone who is away for a year. Two weeks after Jane started, she told us that she was pregnant and due about six months later. Our company owner, Ron, was very unhappy. He felt tricked, and annoyed that we then had to find a replacement for our replacement. For my part, it was a bit frustrating, but that’s life. I like her personally, and she’s a fast learner and a good employee. But ever since then, Ron has been very cold to Jane. He’s asked me to keep a record of every time she says she’s tired or takes time off for doctor appointments, and has asked me if she’s making up the hours. We had also tal…

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. I was fired for charging customers’ cash purchases to my credit card Started my part-time summer job (I am retired) a few weeks ago, working at small convenience/snack/candy store near a local free tourist attraction that opened up for the season. Got fired yesterday. This year, the store went to a “no cash” payment system. Small sign on the door, another by the register. Problem is, not all people carry other forms of payment besides cash, mostly older folks, plus who wants to use their credit card for a 50 cent piece of candy? To help these customers out, especially ones who don’t have another form of payment availa…

A reader writes: I work in a healthcare-adjacent job with a pretty generous leave policy. When folks are going to take a sick day, it’s our practice to drop a note into Teams and say, “Not feeling well, taking a sick day, contact X about Y if it’s urgent, see you tomorrow I hope.” Sometimes folks will add a bit more info — saying they have a migraine or they caught the flu going around, etc. — but there’s nothing along the lines of needing to justify it to your manager or your team. If you’re sick, you’re sick and you take your leave. What I’m wondering about: quite often younger employees will specifically note that they are taking a mental health day when they call (o…

A reader writes: I just started working for an all-remote company who announced an in-person retreat not long after I was hired. (And after I specifically asked during the hiring process if any travel was required and was assured it was not, but anyway…) I am disabled (albeit not visibly), so travel is a struggle but usually doable, and the vibes I got from leadership were “you better have a really good reason for not attending.” I was still early in my probation period, wanted to make a good impression, so I sucked it up and agreed to attend. The retreat is coming up, and leadership has been infuriatingly coy about details, but the more they share, the more I realize t…

Last month we talked about what dysfunctional behavior you’ve been driven to after a toxic office warped your norms, and here are 15 of the best stories you shared. 1. The printer destruction At a past job, management was extraordinarly cheap. My printer was over a decade old and was slowly dying. Normally this wouldn’t be a big deal but it was my job to print payroll and A/P checks and every few checks would jam. It would take me hours to complete this task that should have only taken a few minutes. Multiple times I requested a new printer or a repair but was told it “wasn’t in the budget” and they could only make an exception if it was completely dead and unable to pr…