Dress Appropriately on the Job

On a recent doctor visit, I was taken aback by the attire of a heath care professional.  As she was taking my blood pressure and gathering information, I got a view of her well-endowed chest that I might expect to see at a bar or on the doctor shows on television, but not at my local clinic.  I’m a healthy male who likes to look, but in this setting it just made me uncomfortable.  Not only did I begin to question the professionalism of this person, it was enough of a distraction that I forgot to share some important information with my doctor.  I like my doctor but would prefer not to experience this again.  How can I give some feedback to the clinic manager without sounding like a prude?  More...

 Helping Supervisors Succeed

Recently we created a production manager position, along with several crew leader positions to provide day-to-day supervision to front-line workers who were previously mostly on their own.  The production manager is a new hire from the outside and the crew leaders, who report to the manager, were promoted from the crew. The crew leaders are struggling in their new positions and have asked for help.  We’re willing to provide them with some training but we’re just not sure where to start.  Got any ideas?  More...

Address Employer Absences

My concern pertains to an employer, who’s the polar opposite of a micromanager. It’s wonderful he trusts his staff to assign many responsibilities involved in running the business but my fear is it’s at the risk of not taking on enough himself.  Everyone likes him and he has the business and his employees at heart.  The problem is he’s out of the office quite a bit.  While he’s available by cell, and staff knows what needs to be done, he sets a poor precedent by being gone so much. He’s had a lot of personal life crises about which staff is generally understanding, but the unspoken sense I get is a lack of confidence that he’s getting the bigger picture-type things done. I’m not sure he realizes what a negative effect his lack of leadership has on staff. Any advice would be appreciated.  More...

 I Need My Manager to Mentor Me

When I joined this organization as a mid-level supervisor it was my understanding from the owner that my manager would mentor me in this role. It turns out that my manager’s style is truly “hands off”. Several times I’ve asked to discuss our mentoring relationship but something more important always gets in the way. A couple of times I tried to catch him in the hall or the lunch room, but now he either pretends not to see me or he does a quick “about face” when I am heading towards him. He gives me little feedback about my work, saying that if there’s a problem, he'll let me know. He says I should work on developing management skills, but doesn't give me any guidance.  I want to move up the management ladder, so I’m anxious to prove my worth in this company. How can I get my manager to mentor me?  More...

New Employees Need Employer's Help to Succeed

I’m new on the job and really struggling. Because we’re shorthanded, I was put into production from my first day with almost no training. While I’m very experienced in my field, things are done differently here. To make matters worse, there’s no systematic way for cataloging jobs on the three separate systems in use and the only person who knows what’s up works part-time so he’s often unavailable for questions. I’m often saying, “I can’t find…” or “I don’t know…” and then my supervisor acts like it’s all my fault because he can’t get what he wants when he wants it. I’m used to getting a lot done, but my productivity stinks because I spend so much time looking for things. I want this job to work out but the stress is really getting to me. Should I just start looking for another job?   More...

Is the Boss a Control Freak?

 Get our FREE Monthly Newsletter - Just click here to "SIGN ME UP!"