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Make sure an ethical lapse is all that it appears to be

Q: “I have learned about some unethical behavior in the small community bank where I work. The CEO’s son was hired as a loan officer. He drives the bank car to lunch and takes it home every night. His secretary says he uses a bank credit card to fill up his truck and has even charged some personal items. This amounts to stealing from the bank, which is especially annoying because employees received no raise last year. I would like to report him to the Board of Directors, but my only evidence is what his secretary told me. I’m also afraid that I might jeopardize my job. What should I do?”

No pain, no gain

At work or in our personal lives, growth occurs when we’re challenged almost beyond our limits. We experience the best of ourselves only after struggle, frustration and even failure, says career coach Julie Winkle Giulioni. She offers these tips for finding the right amount of struggle to spark growth.

Time to take back your vacation time

Vacation is a time to get away from your job and recharge, but in 2013, the American Psychological Association reported half of American employees checked their email at least once a day during their time off  work. Still, it is possible to get a real break from work.

To make the job more interesting, wing it a little

It’s possible to become so organized and efficient that you drain any sense of improvisation from what you do, making it painfully predictable. If you feel like your job is becoming too tedious to bear, try actually preparing less, taking fewer notes, setting fewer reminders. Displace things in your schedule that have always been done […]

Don’t be haunted by the annual appraisal

There are few procedures as un­mo­­tivating as annual performance reviews. The consulting firm Achievers polled 3,000 staff members from American companies—a quarter of whom work in human resources—and found 98% of them think annual reviews are unnecessary.