Question: “After my supervisor retired, I was promoted to fill his position. He had a special arrangement with one employee, allowing her to come in early and leave early. No one knew exactly what time she arrived. When the owner promoted me, he said I must put this woman on the same schedule as everyone else. However, I’m not sure how to approach her. How can I fix this without losing the employee?” —Caught in the Middle
Q. "Several employees habitually turn in their timesheets late. Can we tell them that if their timesheet is not turned in on time, any overtime on that week’s timesheet will not be paid until the next pay period? We’d like to quit ‘babysitting’ employees, but don’t know if taking this stand will violate any payroll laws." — A.B., Arizona
Question: “I work for an accounting firm with about 65 employees. We have a receptionist, and her sister (Sue) is her back up. Sue has other job duties as well. Myself and another admin process all of the tax returns, financial statements, letters and all other support duties. When the receptionist or Sue is out, it is my job to back up Sue.
I have complained several times that doing all of my work and Sue’s work is too much. When Sue is in the office, she doesn’t like to answer the phone so she waits for someone else to answer it; she doesn’t like most of her job duties, so she wonders around and I am told that I need to do her work. When I am out, Sue does not have to do my job. Favoritism seems to be at play here, so how should I handle the situation?” – Numbers not adding up
Question: “In my company, applications for promotion are not confidential. If I apply for a position in another department, human resources will send an automatic e-mail message to my boss. The policy also says that I must let her know if another manager invites me to interview. I have a degree in management and several years of supervisory experience, so I am interested in becoming a manager. Should I tell my boss that I plan to apply for jobs in other departments?" — Looking for Promotion
As an admin, you may be tasked with helping to set agendas, scheduling and taking minutes. But how much power do you have to keep meetings productive? Plenty. Look for clues in the way meetings work at Google. You may find that not all of these tips are replicable at your office, but it’s a place to start.
Make your résumé more cutting-edge with these tips for 2010: Example: Don’t put an objective statement at the top of your résumé. “Ditch it immediately,” advises Jack Williams, vice president of national sales and recruiting for Staffing Technologies. Employers don’t care what a potential hire wants to do. “They care whether they can do what the employer needs them to do,” he says. Other tips:
When should you use fewer or less? If you can count or list the items, such as “skills,” use fewer. If you’re describing something that’s a broad concept, such as “skill,” or if you’re referring to something that can’t be counted, use less.
In business writing, you don’t receive extra credit for slathering your sentences with fancy phrases, the way you did in college. Do that in a memo, and you can expect eyes to glaze over. What you cut from your writing is often more important than what you add to it, says Jane Dominguez of The Write Business Advantage. Trim the clutter from business writing with her tips:
A new academic study finds that people who get along with their co-workers deal better with life’s stresses. The study, published in the American Journal of Public Health, also looked at the connection between work stress and depression.