Performance Tracking and Feedback

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. It’s the Thursday “ask the readers” question. A reader writes: I’d appreciate your and other workers’ advice on how to cope providing service when you are feeling fragile yourself. I work in a somewhat frazzled, frantic healthcare environment seeing around 30 patients a day in an inner city, low income area. It’s … a lot — with very demanding patients. But I mostly enjoy it. It’s not amazingly well paid, but it pays the bills. My family is going through our own problems at the moment due to our teen’s mental health issues. There are some days before I even get to work where I’ve had to cope with an …

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. It’s four answers to four questions. Here we go… 1. CEO shared family trip photos after announcing budget cuts We just had a company-wide town hall, and the CEO — whom I’ve always known to be even-tempered and generally reasonable — kicked things off by sharing a recap and photos of his recent Disney World trip with 20 family members. This comes shortly after we were told about budget cuts, no bonuses, and rising health insurance costs that are eating into our modest merit increases. Needless to say, vacations aren’t exactly top of mind for most of us right now. Was this tone-deaf? Or am I overreacti…

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. Last week we talked about malicious compliance — times when someone purposely exposed the absurdity of a rule by doing exactly what they were told to do. Here are 14 of my favorite stories you shared. 1. The requisitions I worked for a fairly large, regional bank that covered about three states with nearly 9,000 employees. The CFO decided that everyone was wasting money on frivolous things like office supplies. He mandated that ALL requisitions for any supplies must come through him. ALL OF THEM. This of course held up the process so even getting a needed pen could take over a month. Some of the mana…

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. I’m off for the holiday, so here’s an older post from the archives. This was originally published in 2019. A reader writes: I have a dark sense of humor. I now realize that my boss does not. During a standard “how was your day off” conversation between my supervisor, manager, and a few peers, my manager mentioned that he was a chaperone for one of his kid’s field trips to Gatorland. Naturally, I asked if any of the kids on the trip got eaten by an alligator. When the response was no, I followed up with a “darn, you should get a refund” joke that everyone laughed at and then the conversation and the m…

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. A reader writes: I work at a small creative business with about 25 employees, Our structure is pretty flat, and there is no traditional HR or processes that come with working at larger organizations. There are three main departments. I run one, and my coworker who I am writing about, Maggie, runs one of the others. A small thing has become a big issue: While we all have open calendars to make scheduling easier, Maggie refuses to make her calendar open and keeps it entirely private. In addition, her calendar is often entirely booked with meetings, showing no open times to add anything. As a result, i…

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. A reader writes: I recently had to fire a manager for a belligerent, profanity-laden outburst during a board meeting. He has not been doing his job and has been suspected to be drinking or have been drunk while working (although no proof). To further complicate things, his manager has not done his job by documenting the problems and is now pushing me to provide some sort of severance for good will. However, I feel we have a termination with cause for insubordination. What is your suggestion on whether we need to pay severance in this instance? He is talking to a lawyer regarding a possible hostile wor…

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Should I have warned an intern about a bad manager? I am a middle manager in a large organization and I am second-guessing how I handled a situation with an employee whom I used to supervise. From 2020 to 2021, I had the pleasure of supervising an outstanding intern, Anna. Anna was the kind of employee that any employer would be lucky to have. During her internship, Anna expressed interest in staying on with us after her graduation. It can be difficult to secure full-time permanent employment with our organization, and the hiring process is lengthy…

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. It’s the Thursday “ask the readers” question. A reader writes: I would love to hear stories from people who made the transition from nonprofit work to for-profit work, as I am considering that transition myself. I’ve only ever worked in this sector and have a master’s in Nonprofit Management (not even an MBA) so the idea of changing sectors is really overwhelming, but I know people have done it before. Readers who have made this transition, please share advice in the comment section. View the full article

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. A reader writes: I work in a small workplace, we’re about 40 employees. When I started at the company about five years ago, I started ordering granola bars and some treats. Then I started adding on some fizzy drinks and then progressed to some other snacks, like nuts, fruits, and cookies. None of this is supposed to be the only food people eat, but it’s nice to have some quick to grab in the middle of a busy day. I have an employee now who manages the stocking of this, plus coffee, tea, milk, and cream. An issue has arisen because we have a coworker who is vegan and he’s decided that we need to stop …

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. It’s four answers to four questions. Here we go… 1. My new job has so much drama it made the local news I started a job as an accounting manager less than a month ago. I had been out of work for a while. I was let go at my previous job, I think because my boss didn’t like or need me. I’m a quiet, anxious person and she was the opposite. I was still on probation there and it was a shock. So, I’ve been looking for a new position but also working contract and doing well. I interviewed for one particular job I thought was a good fit. The hiring manager and I hit it off right away. I felt she was an empa…

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. A reader writes: I am a manager on a team where there are two managers and five individual contributors: Buffy, Cordelia, Xander, Willow, and Anya. Buffy and Willow are very good friends. They joined the team at around the same time, about two years ago. Cordelia joined the team just under a year ago and quickly got adopted by Buffy and Willow as “one of the gang.” They have similar tastes and are always lending each other books, talking about shared interests, etc. Xander has been in and out of the team, but is well integrated socially with the others. Anya joined the team straight out of college in…

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. When the topic of performance evaluations comes up, you’ll typically hear people say, “Nothing in a performance evaluation should ever be a surprise.” It’s right in theory, but it’s not that simple. At Inc. today, I wrote about why it can be more complicated than that, and what that means for managers (and employees). You can read it here. View the full article

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. A group of coworkers are pushing for our in-office breakfasts to be vegan My company is doing a weekly in-office breakfast (a “hotel breakfast”-like assortment: toast, cheese, ham, eggs, yogurt and granola, etc.) with the goal of bringing people together, since we’re largely remote. A small group of vegan coworkers are pushing for a “plant-based default” breakfast, where all animal products are subbed with vegan replacements and meat and dairy are opt-in on request, citing sustainability (which is important in our company culture) and health benefits. I’m all for a diverse breakfast spread, but this seems a little ove…

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Should we give everyone the day after the Super Bowl off? I live in Chiefs territory and run a small business. My colleagues have requested that I close the office the day after the Super Bowl. I’m not inclined to grant this request, as our leave policies are very generous. I think everyone has plenty of time to take off if they choose. How common are Super Bowl office closures? Not very common. It’s certainly a nice thing if you want to do it, but it’s perfectly reasonable to expect people to use PTO if they want the day off. Related: is my empl…

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. A reader writes: This is not a current issue, but it’s something that has been eating at me for a long time. I’m trying to figure out if I unwittingly helped someone embezzle money. I believe the statute of limitations has passed for this (potential) crime in the state that it took place in. It has been 15+ years now. My mother has always been a little shady with business her practices. I do not believe she has any qualms about “bending” the law. She is also very charismatic and I suspect would be quite an effective cult leader (i.e., good at talking people into things, frequently nefarious). I’m onl…

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. When the topic of performance evaluations comes up, you’ll typically hear people say, “Nothing in a performance evaluation should ever be a surprise.” It’s right in theory, but it’s not that simple. At Inc. today, I wrote about why it can be more complicated than that, and what that means for managers (and employees). You can read it here. View the full article

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. A reader writes: I (a woman in my early 30s) work in a traditionally male environment, although there are a decent amount of women working there too. Recently my work has started focusing more on menopause support/awareness — there’s a menopause support group, “recognizing signs and symptoms” posters in the women’s toilets, etc. I think that’s great. My manager has been making comments about menopause that really, really bother me. Things like, “Well, I better write that down because as a woman of a certain age, if I don’t I’ll forget it” or “I must have forgotten to do that — it comes with the menop…

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. I’m getting a flood of questions about resumes, so here are seven resume questions and answers. 1. Can my resume just list my last two jobs and leave the earlier ones off? The company I’m currently employed by is closing. It was sudden and, while not completely unexpected, it’s still a blow. I’m dusting off ye olde resume, but I’m torn on what to leave in and what to leave out. The issue is my age. I was at the employer before this one for 25 years, until they, too, closed. I was lucky with CurrentJob because the owner is my age, and the ageism that is rampant, (yes, yes it is) wasn’t an issue. Now,…

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. Remember the letter-writer whose boss never praised their work? Here’s the update. My undying thanks to you and all the commentariat for your compassionate take and excellent advice: I needed to get out of that job. It was advice that didn’t land well at the time, because my morale was so shot that I didn’t even see the point in job-hunting. How could I hope to get a better job when I’d clearly never gotten good at this one, which was for an organization I adored, using the skill set I was educated in? Still, where self-esteem fails, spite finds a way. Every time my boss did something that made me w…

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. A reader writes: As resume advice continues to evolve with the times (e.g., not including your street address on your resume), I’m wondering how important the location of each job is. Do employers really care if I worked in San Francisco, California, or in Dayton, Ohio? Would it be better to include in-person, hybrid, or remote? Yes, you should still list the city and state of each employer. Including the employer’s location helps verify that those companies actually exist. That doesn’t matter so much when the company is nationally known or when all your employers are local to the area you’re applyi…

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. A reader writes: Lately I’ve been subject to a technique by coworkers that I call “death by a thousand questions.” It goes something like this: Q: Hey, are we getting in the combination llama/alpaca wool? A: I don’t have a date yet, I’m hoping for the 20th. Q: So the 20th. A: It’s not confirmed. I’ll let you know as soon as I know. Q: Who needs to confirm it? A: The freight forwarder. Q: Well, haven’t they confirmed it before? A: Yes, and when they confirm it they will let me know. Q: Why can’t they confirm it now? A: I’m not sure, but they are a reliable company. Q: Is it their provider? …

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. A reader writes: This letter involves a very sensitive topic and some backstory, so bear with me. Would you consider it weird if a coworker brought along an unrelated college-aged girl to a work party where you could invite family? I ask because I was​ that college girl. When I was 19, I was a sexually frustrated lesbian with then-undiagnosed autism. Despite being at an LGBT-friendly university, I had no sex life and didn’t know how to approach women without coming across as some sort of creep. Every LGBT-related extracurricular I was in was centered on networking, political activism, or community, …

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. A reader writes: In my small, fast-paced company, I have two employees in admin roles, Amelia and Molly. They were hired at the same time about five months ago and work in the same office (literally one room — we’re looking for a bigger space) in a different state from me and our main office. They’ve hated each other from week one. Amelia is standoffish and quiet. Molly is loud and overbearing. Despite their personality clash, both do great work! They learn fast and don’t make many mistakes. My issue is Molly. She’s very needy and gossipy. I have constant demands on my schedule and don’t have a lot …

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. A reader writes: What are your thoughts and the etiquette around getting drinks with coworkers when you’re in leadership position? I’m a female, on a younger side, in a leadership role at a small-to-medium size organization. We recently had a company event, after which 5–10 people went out for drinks and stayed for a couple of hours. It was just great to see some colleagues that are often in different locations, and most of them do not report to me. A while later, an exec mentioned that he thought it was inappropriate to go out drinking with subordinates. I understand that colleagues may not always …

A reader writes: I’m a manager in an office environment. I’m not involved in hiring or firing. I only make recommendations, and someone else makes the decision and implements it. My instructions are not to talk to the person about it and refer any of their questions to HR. I’ve heard from former employees that when the company lets someone go, they don’t tell them anything about why, just that today is their last day. In some cases the person getting fired expects it somewhat based on past conversations, but some people are completely blindsided and never know what made them lose their job. Is this normal? I answer this question — and two others — over at Inc. today, wh…