Working in modern workplaces can be exceptionally exhausting. Constant distractions due to open-plan offices tear employees away from their work. At the same time, success is attached to social and political status with heavy reliance on the “optics” of busyness rather than employees' actual effectiveness in completing their tasks. The reality is that we all work differently, and forcing all staff to work what you perceive to be the “appearance” of hard work will result in a performative cultur…

Memes to help you procrastinate looking at those 'urgent' emails

We all have that ONE coworker… you know, the one who likes to push everyone's buttons, gets on everyone's nerves and seems like they intentionally dance on a razor's edge over HR technicalities. They're entitled as heckin' heck and it's as if their agenda and opinions are the only ones that matter in the workplace. I like to call this type of person an ‘extroverted steamroller’.

You've probably heard that old adage about the new hire who goes in for their first day of training ready to do everything by the book but is instead surprised and maybe even disappointed when they're instead taught all of the shortcuts that the experienced grizzled employee has developed over the years, cutting out the parts of the process that are superfluous and unnecessary. The problem is that by learning and only using the shortcuts in the first instance, they're never going to understand…

The gaul to schedule a quasi-mandatory work event on Labor Day weekend is insane

Being told that there's absolutely no way you can or should possibly be paid more for your work when you've taken on the responsibilities of not one but two vacant levels of management above your actual role is disappointing for certain. It's almost more disappointing, though, when you get another job offer for 32% more than your current pay, and when you tell your employer the news, they're more than willing to give you the money you originally asked for and more. As always, in situations such…

If workers aren't being paid for their time, the real charity is the business itself… Businesses love to “contribute” to charity almost as much as they love using pizza parties as a band-aid solution for morale. For one thing, it's a great look for the business after the marketing team gets its hands on the photos taken on the day and then makes a bunch of social media posts grossly exaggerating the company's involvement and contributions. Even more importantly, almost all expenses involved in…

Fighting the good fight

There is just a certain degree of oversight that doesn't need to occur in any situation. Sure, you might like to keep a tight lid on operations and your staff, but you can guarantee there are certain things that you don't need—and probably don't want—to know. At any rate, there reaches a point in your career where enough is going on underneath your level of authority where requiring any one thing to pass across your desk will result in an amount of work that you can't possibly keep up with. You…

There's this trend that happens in every industry, across every workplace, where managers think they've come up with a clever and original new idea to increase profits. See, there are really only two ways to do this: Increase revenue or decrease expenses. However, increasing revenue is hard and takes effort and new ideas, so instead, they start looking at the bottom line. The first place they're going to look at at this point is staffing. Employees and labor are huge expenses, and management is…

Who does she think she is, the government?

Dr. Shadypants

This boss has an odd incentive structure, and it is not at all favorable towards his hard-working employees. When you go to an interview at a movie theater, I imagine they ask you about your customer service qualifications or your background working in retail. They probably don't ask how much snow you can shovel… these employees had to find out the hard way that it was part of their workplace requirements. U/SparkleFritz had a boss who insisted that when it snowed, the employees should be the o…

"Pfft, bye Felicia"

"Put those union dues to work"

Truthfully, the excitement of your first paycheck wears off pretty quickly…