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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 four questions from readers.
1. Employee wants a higher raise than she earned
I have an employee whose yearly review I am working to wrap up. After the initial review, we usually discuss a raise, based on what was discussed in the review. We typically would expect a 2-5% raise for this person. I got an email from her requesting a 13.15% raise. I don't understand why it ends in .15% (it won't make her hourly rate an even number) and she would be paid more than other folks in this role. Her work is good but not great, and she has bounced from a few teams in the last year or so. Her long-time duties at the front desk have not changed. I am not sure what to tell her since this feels so out of left field.
Green responds:
Ask her how she came up with that number! Maybe there's something you don't realize that she's factoring in.
But if you consider the request and decide it's not one that makes sense to grant, then you'd say something like, "I can offer you a raise to $X, which is based on your work this year and in line with what we pay other people doing this work. To earn a larger raise, I'd be looking to see ____." Fill in that blank with specifics about what type of performance would warrant a larger raise. If nothing would, be up-front about that too.
Basically, you want to explain how you landed at the raise you're offering her and what, if anything, could earn her more in the future. The "I'd be looking to see ___ from you" part is really important, because it helps her understand what good versus great looks like, how performance is rewarded, and what expectations are and aren't realistic in this job. It's also better to help someone understand the path to where they want to go (or that that path doesn't exist in their current role) rather than just giving a flat no.
2. I accidentally sent a highly personal email to an employee
I am currently on maternity leave and will return to work in a couple of months. While I've been out, I've emailed my team at work a few times with baby updates and replied to anyone personally saying hello, all from my personal email as I no longer have access to my work email.
Yesterday, I sent an unrelated and angry email about a very personal medical matter to a person on my team by accident. This person reports to me. The first three letters of her name in her email are the same three letters of the person I was trying to email instead, so you can see how I sent this by accident.
It was only caught because the employee emailed me back acknowledging this wasn't meant for her. I'm mortified. How can I save face? All I've done so far is email her back thanking her, apologizing, and stating that I trust her to keep this between us because of the personal nature. Is this all I can do and never speak of it again?
Green responds:
Yes! You handled it well. If she's at all a decent person, she'll understand that this kind of mistake happens and will keep it to herself. We've all been there with a misdirected email at some point or another, and most people are sympathetic when it happens.
You don't need to take any further action; anything more would be belaboring the point and focusing her on it more. Assume you'll both wipe it from your minds and never speak of it again.
3. Is it rude to ask about my potential boss's own experience?
Is it rude or unprofessional to ask a potential boss's professional background or experience in an interview? For example, how long have you been managing the communications department, where else have you worked before joining this company, etc.?
In my last two jobs, I've run into the unfortunate situation of being managed by someone who has zero experience in my field. As in none at all. I find it demoralizing and exhausting to have to explain the basics of my role and justify why it is that I do what I do. I'm not talking about strategy or internal policies or other issues that may be above my paygrade. I'm referring to scenarios such as why content, graphic design, and back-end IT website coding and server issues cannot (and should not) all be performed by one person.
I'm actively looking for a new job. In hindsight, I don't think I would have taken either of these past jobs had I known how underprepared my bosses would be. I'm not sure if this situation is an industry shift, where increasingly senior professionals are asked to oversee more and more departments, even if they have no basic idea of what tasks are involved in order to be effective leaders. Or, perhaps this is just a fluke and some bad luck on my part. In either case, I want to do my best to avoid this in the future.
Green responds:
LinkedIn can often solve this for you -- you can look up the person you'd be reporting to and find out exactly what their professional background is. But if they're not on LinkedIn or you didn't know who they were until you got to the interview, you can indeed ask about their background. Wait until the portion of the interview when it's your turn to ask questions and then say something like, "I'd love to hear about your background since we'd be working closely together. What was your path like before coming here?"
That said, it's also true that in most fields, the higher up you move, the more likely you are to end up being managed by someone without a background in the work you do.
4. Asking people to apply without making them think the job is theirs
Recently we had a vacancy at the small facility that I manage, in a position with a really strong but small local network. I've reached out to several strong candidates asking about their interest in applying, and letting them know I would welcome their application. This includes one of our part-time staff with over a decade's experience who may want to transition back to full-time.
How do I share my confidence in their ability to do the job, without making it sound like they are a shoo-in candidate? I'd hate for these people in my network to feel stung after applying by request, but then not be chosen.
Green responds:
You would think that people would know that being encouraged to apply doesn't mean they're a shoo-in -- but a lot of people are surprised or upset when they don't end up getting the job in these circumstances, so you're right to want to set expectations. I would say something like, "We're talking with a lot of people, but I think you could be great and I'd love to have you apply if you're interested." Or, "I should be up-front that we're expecting a competitive pool and I can't promise anything, but I'd love to talk more with you about it." Really, anything that tempers it a bit and makes it clear it's not just "you apply and the job is yours."
If you do end up rejecting any of these people later on, make sure you send a personalized note rather than using a form letter. That will give you a chance to contextualize the decision ("we had an unexpected number of really strong applicants," etc.) and ensure they don't feel a disconnect between the personal outreach on the front end and a form letter later on.
Want to submit a question of your own? Send it to alison@askamanager.org.
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