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Don’t write a positive reference for a problem employee; instead... - Workplace Coach Blog

Question: After an investigation, we fired one of our employees for threatening and stalking two co-workers. He now demands a …

He's violent to the level you're scared of him; he demands a better reference letter than you've written, what is your best way through?

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Employees Stage a Thanksgiving Rebellion - Workplace Coach Blog

Employer policies & holiday celebrations

Will COVID surge after Thanksgiving. What policies can managers set to protect the workplace.

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Can We Use a Contact Tracing App to Protect Our Business & Employees? - Workplace Coach Blog

Using a contact tracing app; what you need to know as an employer or employee

Employers struggling to protect their workplace consider contact tracing apps: what are the risks & the precautions?

Business & Finance | Business & Finance

We Suspect Drug Addiction in a Top Producer - Workplace Coach Blog

Handing a senior manager who may be a drug addict

How can HR or an employer fix the problem if a top producer uses drugs?

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Getting the Truth From Job Applicants - Workplace Coach Blog

Question: Every job applicant I’ve interviewed in the last ten days claims to be a “team player” and “motivated by …

Interview questions that help managers select employees who handle challenge & are team-players

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Dueling Managers Clash; Everyone Else Is Caught in the Cross-fire - Workplace Coach Blog

Mediating clashing supervisors

Dueling supervisors clash & everyone lives with it, until one person decided enough is enough#

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We have two flawed managers, which one should we promote? - Workplace Coach Blog

You can't promote a flawed maanger unless you fix him/her

The problems w/ micromanagers & overly easy-going managers & a solid strategy for determining who to promote.

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Manager Secretly Works a 2nd Job During Paid Work Hours - Workplace Coach Blog

Manager secretly moonlights/daylights; can he be fired?

Moonlighting & daylighting; manager lacks integrity & secretly works a 2nd job; we suspect him, can we fire him without pushback or risk?

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Employee Political Dispute Escalates to Danger Level - Workplace Coach Blog

Political discussion in the workplace; employee rights & employer duty

Political discussions @ work? Who's at fault when employee political discussions turn into a brawl? What policies can employers use?

Business & Finance | Business & Finance

Tattoos are Us - Workplace Coach Blog

Tattoos and body art; do you want to discriminate against employees with tattoos?

You don't like tattoos? Does that mean you won't hire someone with a tattoo? What if that costs you a great employee?

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Can't Stand 2 More Weeks of This Supervisor - Workplace Coach Blog

How to get a great new job, when you suddenly quit.

Can an employee leave without 2 weeks' notice & claim the workplace was so intolerable that s/he had no choice?

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Meetings Are Us - Workplace Coach Blog

If you dread meetings–attending them, hosting them–and long for meetings to become more than a necessary evil, you can make …

If you dread meetings–attending them, hosting them–and long for meetings to become more than a necessary evil, you can make it happen. Last Thursday and Friday, I hosted a two-day, fifteen-hour meeting that the seventeen attendees said “zoomed by,” “was fun, kept me engaged the entire time;” and “made an hour seem like five minutes.” Here’s how we did it.

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Twilight Ethics - Workplace Coach Blog

Ethical breaches. What do they cost? Can you afford yours?

Ethics in the workplace -- what's the cost to the person who shaves the truth?

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Do Employer Owe Employees Paid Sick Leave When They Self-Quarantine - Workplace Coach Blog

Question: After I spent a weekend bar hoping, I felt remorseful, and self-quarantined so I wouldn’t bring COVID into my …

An employee makes high-risk choices, then does the right thing & stays home; does his employer owe him paid sick leave?

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I've Been Told Never To Fire An Employee On A Friday; But I Really, Really Want to - Workplace Coach Blog

Question: I’ve been told to never to fire an employee on Friday, but I really don’t want this employee back …

Should you fire an employee on a Friday, or not? What are the risks? The reasons?

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My Employer's Shenanigans Cost Me My Job - Workplace Coach Blog

Question: After coronavirus hit, my employer changed a dozen of us to contractor status. None of us understood why or …

Can employers turn employees into contractors? What risks do they take? Was this cost-savings or something more?

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My Co-worker Cyberstalks Potential Hire, Looking for Dirt - Workplace Coach Blog

Question: According to rumor, one of my co-workers conducts unauthorized criminal background investigations on prospective employees without their knowledge or …

Does it place an employer @ risk when one of their employees cyberstalks prospective hires on provides the "scoop" to the employer's hiring managers?

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Be a Coach, Not a Supervisor; Here's What It Takes - Workplace Coach Blog

Be a coach, not a supervisor What’s the difference between coaching and supervising? Most of us value those who coach …

Coaching gets results from employees in productivity, retention, morale, here's why & how

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Managing a Team When You Have No Firing Authority - Workplace Coach Blog

Question: I supervise 15 employees, the largest crew in our company. I’m expected to handle employees who don’t show up …

Managing a team & problem employees when you have no authority to fire anyone.

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My Boss Refuses to Wear a Face Mask - Workplace Coach Blog

Question: In past weeks, it’s just been four or five us in the office. Two of us wear masks when …

When managers refuse to wear face masks, where the law & company liability now stand & what rights/recourse an employee has.

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Are Post-Accident Painkillers Causing a Star Employee to Make Errors? - Workplace Coach Blog

Question: One of my top employees, “Mary,” was rear-ended at a stop light three months ago and suffered from whiplash …

What happens when a good employee can't handle the physical pain and to maintain a level of performance & appearance turns to pain killers?

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I Don't Want to Wear a Face Mask; Can My Employer Make Me? - Workplace Coach Blog

Question: My employer’s “back to the office” email informs us we’re required to wear face masks anytime we’re not at …

Can an employee refuse to wear a face mask or will the employer fire him/her for not wearing a face mask?

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Am I Safe When I Tell the Truth About My Manager’s Flaws on a Survey Monkey Survey - Workplace Coach Blog

Question: I raised allegedly confidential concerns about my former manager’s behavior last year. After that, I felt like I had …

How safe are online "confidential", "anonymous" surveys?

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Does My Employer Have to Pay My Office Expenses? Are They Liable for My Safety? - Workplace Coach Blog

Question: COVID19 has caused employers large and small to require the employers work from home rather than their employer’s worksites. …

Do employers have to pay for employee home office expenses when employees work remotely? Who's responsible/liable for employee safety when employees work from home?

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Employees & Their Families Sue Employers Over COVID-19 Exposure - Workplace Coach Blog

Question: My partner and I have owned and operated our business for twenty-three years.  When the pandemic first hit, we …

What are the risks; what do employers/businesses need to do; what are the chances of the lawsuit winning?

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Employees Push Back Against Returning to Work, Choosing Unemployment - Workplace Coach Blog

Question: We didn’t expect the pushback we got from two of our furloughed employees when we called them back to …

The COVID reality, employees choose unemployment over work, what happens to them; what their employers have to consider.

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Your Company's Culture - Truth or Lie? - Workplace Coach Blog

You feel it the moment you enter the organization. Ask employees “what’s it like around here?” and they confirm the …

Your company's culture: does your company/employer say one thing & do another? Do you live/enact your company's values?

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Employees Could Take A Company Down During COVID - Workplace Coach Blog

Question: Our small business is hanging on by a shoestring. Three of our employees attended a fourth of July barbecue. None of them wore masks. Another barbeque guest was COVID-infected. One after another each of our employees became become ill, forcing m

Employees who don't take COVID seriously; policies employers can put in place & employee freedoms

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It's Official: Exciting news:) - Workplace Coach Blog

It’s official: I’ve agreed with the high-quality publisher Business Expert Press to write 3 books: Managing for Accountability: A tool box for business executives and owners; Reality-based Management: How to use five key performance tools to p

3 new books coming out:)

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6 ?s to Answer Before Returning Your Workplace to a "New Normal" - Workplace Coach Blog

You’ve been operating your company with a skeleton crew. In less than ten days, you plan to resume “new-normal” operations. Before you welcome your furloughed employees back to the workplace, make sure you can answer these six questions. Can you imp

?s to answer for your employees & your company

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Can My Employer Fire Me For Going to a Bar or Do I Have Any Freedom Left? - Workplace Coach Blog

Question: My employer sent a two-part email to every employee last week. “As you know we’ve had a local spike in COVID-19 infections. The health department has provided a list of the establishments, primarily bars, where COVID-19 individuals spent ext

Employee off-duty freedom v. employer need to protect the business & coworkers

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Darth Vaders & Toxic Employees - Workplace Coach Blog

In the end, it may not be the pandemic, a bad economy or tough competition that takes your company down, it might be a handful of managers and employees who make everyone else miserable. You’ve met them. “Darth” who doesn’t hesitate to offer caust

Business & Finance | Business & Finance

Employee Fakes COVID To Get 2 Weeks Off - Workplace Coach Blog

When your employee or coworker calls to let you know he tested positive for COVID, you respond immediately with sympathy and worry, and then spring into action and offer what help you can. If you are his employer, you tell your employee to take care of hi

Business & Finance | Business & Finance

COVID-19: How to Create a New Normal | Workplace Coach Blog

Join Dr. Lynne Curry as she helps explain how to create a new normal in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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How to Make Layoffs with Heart: Three Questions | Workplace Coach Blog

Join Dr. Lynne Curry as she helps three different people understand how to make layoffs with heart.

Business & Finance | Business & Finance

Who's the REAL person? - Workplace Coach Blog

You thought the job applicant knocked it out of the park with his resume and his answers to your interview questions. You interviewed the references he provided. Do you make the offer? Not so fast. Have you checked out the real person behind the resume an

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Whipsawed: Navigating the mask-wearing minefield between customers: for business owners/employees - Workplace Coach Blog

The mask-wearing/not-wearing minefield %

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COVID-19 Archives - Workplace Coach Blog