Q. I agree that people should be allowed to work for their last two weeks in most cases, but don’t you feel it’s necessary to walk someone out immediately if they’re going to a competitor? That’s what I’ve always heard.
A. No, of course not. When I ran HR for a greeting card company, people went to Hallmark or startup greeting card companies and we never walked anyone out. When I was at US Robotics, they went to Cisco or Juniper Networks. Same thing. No one got walked out
Why on earth would you switch in an instant from treating someone like a valued contributor to treating them like a criminal? That makes no sense at all. The worst argument in the world is “Well, now that they’ve given notice they could steal trade secrets.”
What? They were jobhunting for weeks or months BEFORE they gave notice. They could have stolen trade secrets during that time if they wanted to. Why would they? Don’t we as leaders trust ourselves to hire trustworthy people? If not, why not?
When somebody leaves a company where I am a leader to go to a competitor, I want to stay friends with them. Maybe they will come back. Maybe we will work together somewhere else in the future. Why would I antagonize them on their way out the door –
and send a signal to every other employee that I am a fearful manager who automatically assumes the worst of people? That would only encourage other people not to give notice. Stupid! There is so much stupidity in management practices these days
When someone quits, whether they’re going to a competitor or moving to Alaska we’re going to throw a party for them and thank them for everything and wish them well.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
One thing you notice about a lot of ex-bosses is that if they reconnect with you after a period of time they assume your former, hierarchical relationship still holds. They might invite you to join them for lunch, pick the restaurant and inform you of the date and time, e.g.
Or you might meet them for coffee and they will talk to you like you still work for them, like nothing has changed. They may not even be aware of it. That’s how embedded the boss-subordinate dynamic is in the institution of employment.
I met a woman who had just had a baby. Her baby was two months old. “I ran into my horrible ex-boss at the market,” she said. “She had heard I had a baby, but I didn’t have the baby with me at the store. She said, ‘I must meet the baby!’ She asked for my address.”
It’s a horrible thing to work for an evil boss, but it’s time to stop labeling evil bosses narcissistic and ending the conversation there. The scariest part about the evil boss phenomenon is that almost anybody can turn into an evil boss under sufficient pressure.
Mean, power-hungry, fearful and hostile bosses are part of the machine. They come with the territory.
They aren’t anomalies, and they weren’t born that way.
They don’t know they are evil. That’s why they’ll blithely send you a lunch invitation after you escape their clutches.
We all manage to forget our most unpleasant eras and episodes. It may take years for your evil boss to recall how loathsome they were to you and your teammates, if they ever do.
Evil bosses are regular people who could not deal with the pressure of their jobs.
Q. I was always told that you should never ask for a raise because your boss should see your great work and give you the raise without you having to ask for it.
A. I’ve heard that too. It’s terrible advice. It’s the ultimate low-power strategy: Don’t ask for the raise you deserve and wait until your boss gives you the raise or you eventually stop working, whichever comes first.
Your boss has tons of incentive not to notice your great work or the fact that your job has changed/expanded dramatically. They have their budget to think about, and their boss probably doesn’t want to spend more money. If you don’t ask for a raise, why should they offer one?
Q. Hi Liz, my performance review was eight months late. My manager finally emailed me a one page document that took him maybe ten minutes to write. No conversation at all, but I got a 2.8% pay increase. Do they have to make that retroactive to my review date, eight months ago?
A. Sadly, no. Your job now is to gather all the résumé fodder you can between now and the day you leave that job. Take advantage of every opportunity to learn new tools, take on new projects and get to know other people.
This résumé-fodder gathering I’m recommending will benefit the company, but you’re doing it for your own sake, not theirs. Ask yourself: which job do I want next, after this one? Your preparation to step into that job and crush it starts now.
Q. I don’t mind being straight with a recruiter who pushes for information I’m not comfortable sharing, like my current salary or which other companies I’m talking to. It’s harder to do with the hiring manager because they will be my boss if I get this job. How do I set that boundary?
A. Every job search includes a bit of reinvention – some job searches include a lot of it. You are stepping into a new version of yourself on this job search. This new version of you is more comfortable than previous versions were setting appropriate boundaries.
- What are they paying you at Acme explosives?
- The recruiter mentioned you are looking to pay about $72K; is that accurate?