493
She is not "ghosting" you if she is on sick leave.
The whole point of "sick leave" is that the person is not feeling well and cannot work. She might be resting, she might be out for doctors appointments or physical therapy, she might have taken prescription medicine that makes her drowsy and forgetful, she might lie down in a dark room with piercing ...
297
I just went through this myself. Not everyone really wants advancement and the more responsibility and pressure that goes with it. It is great for such things to be available, but as long as they are still useful to the organization, and retained, some people are happy without it. In my case, when the new growth path was added, the first thing many team ...
276
Obviously you should get legal advice or at least advice from an HR consultant. I think that's what should happen first.
But I think you're coming at this from the wrong side. You state repeatedly that he's a good employee. So why are you going to let a customer dictate internal policy? Unless he's an actual representative of the company, i.e. he gives ...
254
What should you do when an employee questions your corporate policies? You listen!
If the employee was disrespectful, then fix the disrespect. If the employee is respectfully questioning your policies, then listen. Even if you dismiss the concerns, you treat your highly paid and highly valued employee with respect. And if you can't justify your policies ...
254
How do I get her to understand that her attendance is critical but at the same time try to cater to her being a single mother?
I think what you need to do is make them understand that her attendance on time is not critical since she does a great job (and is a single parent). Change the policy maybe?
I also don't like how her attendance reflects on my ...
246
The idea you don’t understand how an employee being out sick works speaks volumes to your core frustrations.
First you say this:
“Yesterday I tried to contact her through the usual channels and she did not respond - yesterday she told me that she will call me back through SMS, but she did not.”
I think she didn’t contact you because… She’s sick and out ...
227
How to say No to idea given by team member, when I know from my experience that it is going to fail?
You do this by presenting the thought process that led you to this conclusion - not the conclusion alone.
This gives the team, or the individual, a chance to offer their perspective regarding your concerns. You might find that there are viable solutions to the problems you anticipate, which you did not think about.
Ask prompting questions that highlight ...
220
Why not do as I do with my cleaner?
Draw up a list of tasks to check and execute. Eg. mop kitchen floor; any clothes in washing machine, take out and hang them
If the cleaner does all the tasks in 1/2 hour or takes 5 hours - I do not care - as long as it is done. The cleaner gets the set amount of money.
I am happy, cleaner is happy. All is good.
So, ...
206
Did you actually send him a copy of your travel expenses policy before he traveled to the interview?
If not, then I'm not surprised that he made a fuss about it. If I were asked to attend an interview and told I would be reimbursed my travel expenses, then I wouldn't be happy if I was told afterwards that only some of my expenses would be reimbursed.
If ...
204
How do I get her to understand that her attendance is critical but at
the same time try to cater to her being a single mother? I think this
is a tough question because everything I think of comes back to her
answer of "...well I'd love to come in earlier but I have kids...and
I'm a single mom."
First you have to be clear in your own mind how ...
202
Some people work to live.
Others live to work.
If she is happy and doing a good job why worry.
She has different priorities in life.
198
Let's start by taking about two steps further back:
If you have a team that is so deadlocked that a single person can make the headway you've described, you have a dysfunctional team. It just isn't possible that a single person is so much "better" than a group of talented professionals. Something is seriously wrong there. You either have an ...
183
From my perspective, going to your manager about this would show a serious lack of ability to solve your own problems. Here's an idea - ask her what happened to the fruit. Just say, "Hey, I had some fruit here yesterday, but don't see it today, did you by any chance throw it out thinking it was bad?" If the answer is, "yes" then just say - "OK, no big ...
158
My boss did not help things when he told Bill 'Bill, you're the guy until OP rolls his lazy butt in at 11:00', and that 'OP is really better behind a desk'.
That's a huge RED FLAG:
You are working the wrong issue. Your problem is the CEO, not Bill. There are clear indications that your CEO thinks that Bill is better at your job or more valuable than you ...
156
motivate employees... to make certificates in their free time because they are on projects
Above is a huge red flag, don't do this.
If it's really in company interests ("so we can say we have highly qualified employees"), don't cheat about personal improvement. What serves the company, should be done in work hours, don't invade into employees private life ...
155
I would focus on:
don't want my technical staff abandon me when they believe that they can have more benefits elsewhere
rather than the last one because that is basically a question of "Non-compete clause" (and to that the answer is short, you pay for it).
Give your staff better benefits than they would have elsewhere. Compete with other via monetary ...
150
It depends on why this employee feels the need to overwork. I've encountered several "types" and if I'm being honest have been at least one of them myself, if you can try and work out what their motivation is from their general behavior or attitude - failing that you ask them why they feel the need to be working so hard and go from there.
The Martyr
Some ...
137
I have a lot of experience in this area. My job for the past 15 years has basically been using technology to automate processes for small businesses. I've worked with dozens of businesses over the years, some for just a few months, some for years, most while still in the small business stage, and many with the same concerns as you. I approach things from ...
132
How can I discourage employees from working voluntary overtime?
By telling them, in person, at 5 PM, to go home.
This sounds simple (and it is), but it goes a long way.
Early in my career, my boss told me to go home at 5 PM, and I never forgot it. He told me that there is plenty of work remaining for tomorrow, and that now is not the time to "burn the ...
127
I've never heard of this in the UK and I absolutely wouldn't allow it. When they say insurance, it rather sounds like blackmail to me - are they going to destroy it if they deem you in breach of their rules? Honestly, the more I consider it the more outrageous, childish and abusive it seems.
To clarify, showing originals and providing copies is all ...
123
When you assign people to projects, you do take into account their technical preferences, e.g., you assign a "Python" person to a job requiring coding in python. It seems reasonable to respect other preferences as well - as long as it makes business sense. You don't want your "esoteric" customer to feel that the person who is working on his project detests ...
123
You need to talk to your manager about this immediately.
You absolutely should not have done this. This person is no longer an employee at your organization is not entitled to any company information. It doesn't matter that they may have helped create the documents and probably know the content anyway, sharing it with them essentially makes it a public ...
123
Set some clear expectations that your employee needs to meet in order to pass their probation period.
Right after we signed a contract he said that he have planned a vacation in the next month and he wants to take an unpaid leave for two weeks.
Is this OK for the company? If it's not then say no.
Also, only after hiring I found accidentally that he's ...
120
This is not about profanity at all. It's about understanding (or accepting) that different people (and groups) have different rules.
a new employee keeps saying "no profanity at work place"
What is happening here? That person is trying to enforce his personal rules on the group. But he's not in position to make that rules. Simply point that out. You can ...
115
If you're dealing with someone that has problems with social interaction and social cues, one thing to do is ask yourself:
Do they comply with instructions?
The reason I ask that is because... well, some people are just jerks. It's not that they can't understand interpersonal aspects - they simply don't care.
However, from the sounds of it, your coworker ...
112
I don't understand the premise of your question. You wouldn't reimburse him for his transportation to the airport for business travel? I can certainly see refusing to pay for stretch limos and helicopters, but since the cost was $20, I'm going to assume he used a reasonable means of transportation. No wonder he's questioning your policy. Reimbursement for ...
111
To be honest I think you may be slightly over-reacting here.
First of all, as far as I understand you don't actually know that the cleaning lady took the fruit.
Secondly, even if she did, you have to consider her intentions for removing the fruit. Generally cleaning staff are instructed not to move papers or touch keyboards, etc. but they will often ...
110
You should inform the manager that the credentials were created.
You should not send said credentials to the manager - in particular, if you have an audit trail that involves users, how can you be certain that when such a user is flagged by the system it is indeed the user and not their manager?
The whole point of login credentials is to ensure a logged in ...
108
If she had taken your stapler, I would suggest you BURN THE WHOLE BUILDING DOWN.
On a slightly more serious note, I cannot begin to fathom as to why you care so much about the fruit or why you are so paranoid that the cleaning lady is some crazy fruit stealer. Was this some kind of magical fruit? Is fruit insanely expensive where you live? Is weekly fruit ...
103
Let them know right away that this handle has an "unintended" meaning that is not flattering, and that it should be changed right away. It's not necessary to go into details.
This is like telling someone they have spinach in their teeth. It's not comfortable, but if it were you, you'd want to know.
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