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Inc.com columnist Alison Green answers questions about workplace and management issues--everything from how to deal with a micromanaging boss to how to talk to someone on your team about body odor.
Here's a roundup of answers to three questions from readers.
1. My employee eavesdrops on me
At first I thought I was being paranoid, but on three separate occasions, I've wrapped up a closed door conversation others in our C-suite, only to discover my employee directly outside my door.
Our office set-up is odd; we're essentially one huge office that was cut into thirds--one side is her office with a door, a hallway/narthex, and one side is my office with a door. There is a utility cabinet in the hallway, which she could be using, but she has never been in that cabinet when she's been caught--she's practically leaning against my door. How do I handle this? My inclination is to have another employee catch her when I'm in a meeting, but I'm higher than all employees on the org chart, so I hesitate to get unaffected people involved and have the story spread. What should I do?
Green responds:
Do you have anyone in a senior role who you trust to be discreet? If so, it's reasonable to discreetly tell them what you're concerned about and ask if they can let you know what they observe (making it clear that it's not something they should repeat to others) so that you can confirm your suspicions. Or during some of these meetings, can you occasionally walk quietly to the door and open it yourself?
But you could also just ask your employee about it directly: "A few times recently when I've opened my door at the end of a meeting, you've been waiting right outside it. Are you waiting for me to be finished or ...?" It's unlikely she's going to say "no, I'm eavesdropping," but it might put her on notice that she needs to cut it out.
Alternately, you could go straight to this: "I often have confidential conversations in my office, so I'm concerned when I find you standing outside the closed door. If the door is closed, it's for privacy so I wouldn't want you or anyone else lingering there."
Also, how's her work and her judgment beyond this? If she is deliberately spying, there's a pretty good chance there are other problems you'll uncover if you look.
2. Employee isn't reporting his hours correctly
I manage a non-exempt employee who regularly submits incorrect timesheets. His timesheet shows that he worked from 8:30 - 4:30 each day, although he typically arrives anywhere between 8:45 and 9:00. He doesn't eat lunch, but he usually takes a half hour break away from his desk once or twice a day. He has been with our team for three months.
The quality of his work is acceptable, but he is getting paid for several hours of work that he's not actually doing. There is plenty of work to do, and he could be accomplishing much more. We have a flexible work policy, and employees are free to flex their schedule as needed. He is free to take a break for lunch or any other reason during the day, but because he is non-exempt, he should be clocking out for those breaks. It has crossed my mind that there could be a medical issue for the long breaks, so I haven't initiated a conversation about them. I don't want him to feel self-conscious about bathroom breaks or medical issues if they exist, but should he be clocking out for these long breaks?
I'm not sure how strict I should be about timekeeping or what a reasonable amount of flexibility looks like. I'm having a hard time trusting this person since he isn't truthful about time worked. A couple of other incidents have raised trust issues as well. We are a high performing team and working less than 40 hours definitely doesn't fit with our culture. Am I being unreasonable about timekeeping? How do I begin the potentially awkward conversation about the long breaks?
Green responds:
First, if your rule is that he should clock out for lunch, then he should clock out for lunch. But if he's taking non-lunch breaks, the federal rule is that breaks under 20 minutes should be paid.
You're not being unreasonable to expect that he report his hours correctly. But you do need to tell him that!
You can just be straightforward about all of this. Since it's the first time you're addressing it, treat it as a misunderstanding: "I've noticed you've been putting your arrival time as 8:30 even when you arrive at 8:45 or 9. Our timesheets have to be accurate, so can you make sure you're filling it out correctly? Additionally, if you take a break longer than 20 minutes, you should clock out for that. Let's go back and redo your timesheet for this week to make sure it's correct and so that you're clear on how to fill it out moving forward."
Since you'd like to see him accomplishing more, be straightforward about that too: "I'm happy with the quality of the work you're doing, but I'd like to see you completing more X and Y each week. Can you aim to (fill in with whatever markers you want to see)?" Or, depending on how your workflow works, you can just start assigning him more work or tightening deadlines or whatever would best reflect the expectations you have for him.
He's relying on you to tell him if you need him to do something differently. This is the part where you tell him!
3. When people ask for networking help I can't give
I work at a desirable employer in my field, where openings are few and far between and competition for jobs can be fierce. I have been here for a little under one year. People come knocking from time to time to see if I can put in a good word for them when they're applying here. I don't mind this generally, but my workplace is enormous (thousands of employees) and I often do not have a direct connection to whatever area they are trying to get hired in. But all of my former workplaces have been much smaller, so some of these folks might think I have more pull than I actually do.
To add to this, I have one former colleague who I'm afraid might be forming a habit of "intro'ing" me over email to people I don't know who have applied for jobs here to see if I can help them get hired. Both times it's been departments I have nothing to do with, so I can't provide help, but I feel very put on the spot to have to respond to someone I've never heard of to let them know I can't help them.
I feel like any way I respond to these inquiries, it will seem as if I'm not doing enough to help. How can I deal with these inquiries, and should I be doing more to pass along people's resumes? What is my obligation to former colleagues (and their friends) and how can I kindly let them know I don't have the connections needed without damaging my professional relationships by seeming unwilling to go the extra mile?
Green responds:
Let the person who's done it multiple times know what you can do. For example: "If you ever know anyone who's applying in the X department, that's something I might be able to help with. But it's so huge here that I don't really have influence outside of our team -- and even within it, I'm not involved in hiring and am limited in what I can do, although I might be able to answer questions the person has." Or you could be more blunt: "We get a lot of competition for openings here and I can't recommend someone I haven't worked with. I can answer questions if they have them, but that's the extent of my influence."
And even if you could help someone get hired, you shouldn't do that if you don't know the person's work firsthand and can vouch for them. You're putting your own reputation on the line when you recommend someone, and that's not something you should do as a favor for a mutual contact; your recommendations need to be based on truly thinking someone would be a strong match. Even if you're just passing along resumes without any particular recommendation, it doesn't make sense to do that unless you think the person is strong, because if you develop a pattern of passing along mediocre candidates, (a) your future recommendations will have much less weight and (b) it can reflect on your judgment in general.
You can offer to answer questions about what it's like to work there if you want to, but there isn't a lot to offer beyond that.
Want to submit a question of your own? Send it to alison@askamanager.org.
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