Verbal reprimands are usually a sign of a toxic workplace… with screaming, yelling, or explosive tantrums from your boss being a sure sign that you should start looking for a new place to work. Now, that doesn't mean that every piece of feedback falls under this category. Sure, it might not feel great when your boss tells you you've made a mistake or that you need to up your game… even if the Chief Executive answers to someone and feedback is literally just a part of the job. It can get confusi…

Being a young and inexperienced worker entering the workforce for the first time is a harder experience than most of us are willing to admit—or even remember. For one thing, your lack of demonstratable experience and the lack of perceived skills that go with it will often leave you drawing the short stick when it comes to your tasks within the team, regardless of your actual capabilities. I can't help but feel that the biggest change that happens as you age is that other people perceive you dif…

Oftentimes, when starting a new role, it doesn't end up being quite what you'd imagined. Delusions of grand inspiration fade like a mirage in the desert in the face of the reality of menial tasks and repetitive labor. After all, as we're consistently proclaiming, an interview is a two-way street, and the company is trying to sell themselves to the most desirable candidate they can get—often for as low of a price as possible—just as much as the candidates are trying to sell themselves to the com…

Generally, your working life, including everything that comes with it, is reserved for—well, work—including your laptop, phone, and such that your employer has provided for you. By contrast, your personal stuff is for your own personal use, and that's why it's—well, personal. There are very obvious things you should and shouldn't use each device for, and those things should be kept separate. Sure, these lines can blur and often will—after all, not everything is black and white.

Some workplaces function as if they're kindergarten classrooms and as if the employees are children who are incapable of making their own decisions and undeserving of self-determination. It's insulting, really, when you work in one of these places where constant oversight and continual encroachment into what freedoms remain are a part of everyday policies. Existing completely devoid of agency saps any empowerment employees feel and, over time, will make them less motivated in their jobs. Of cou…

Workplaces that rely on scheduled shift work often have an unhealthy obsession with said schedule, holding it in as paramount even when it extends out of the bounds of sanity or reason. Things like scheduled leave, availability—or, as it turns out, even being fired—have little importance when it comes to a scheduled shift… If it's on the schedule, you'd better be there no matter what. Managers who aggressively adhere to this schedule often act as if it were scripture passed to them from a highe…

Carrots on sticks dangled too long in front of you soon stop serving as motivation and instead turn into an inescapable torment. An ever-present reminder that you'll never get anywhere in this place. It's hard not to feel demoralized when you've been putting in extra effort to help your company and/or achieve record numbers and profits, only to get nothing in return to reward you for your efforts. Of course, it's foolish to do more than your job description requires under a thin promise that yo…

For some reason, employers become extremely cynical whenever their employees need a day off work, even if the cause given is something extremely plausible (and statistically likely), such as the contraction of the flu during the height of flu season. It's almost as if it's a projection of the employer what they themself would do if placed in the employee's position. “Surely,” [Employer] reasons. “[Worker] must be making it up to skip out on their work duties.” For they, too, would have done so…

Usually, when we negotiate leave dates when starting a new job, we'd expect those dates to be honored—not thrown to the wayside as soon as we're locked into our employment. After all, that's all part of the bargaining process, and once a bargain is struck, every agreed-upon detail becomes the foundation for the rest of the relationship. This worker shared how their extended family goes on a trip every year, this time with a significant personal reason motivating the trip, and they've already bo…

In today's edition of “We offer no flexibility but expect flexibility from you in return."

Making your workers prove themselves by jumping through hoops in order to get a raise—like a monkey, giraffe, or any other suitable hoop-jumping animal—is a surefire way to ensure your monkey starts looking elsewhere for a new gig where there aren't any hoop-jumping requirements. In that same vein, it has often been said that your work (and your monkey's work) speaks for itself. That is true… until you corner your boss about a discussion about a long overdue raise. Suddenly, the work you've don…

We're not always going to be successful at everything we do or attempt to do, and—whether our failure is actually by our own standards or someone else's—that's ok. Similarly, (my fellow people pleasers, please brace yourselves) —you're not going to be loved by everyone you meet… Heck, not everyone is even going to like you. Some people, even within your own family, may not be able to tolerate you—and it might not be because of anything you've done, or that you can change or control. And that's…

There will be moments throughout your life that really stick with you, great experiences, or hard lessons that become formative parts of who you are and what you want to do. These “core memories”

It's important to be good at your job as this helps you to establish and maintain good standing with your employer as well as key clients and ensures that you develop a good long-standing relationship within your industry.

The relationship between an organization and its employees is built on a foundation of trust... breaking that trust can result in negative consequences for both parties. Employers should realize that failing to honor an employee's accrued leave can damage the morale of the remaining team and lead to a loss of trust. Eventually, this will harm the organization's bottom line—in the form of higher turnover, less institutional knowledge, and less productivity—costing far more than fronting the cost…

When you receive an offer from a new employer, you may be incentivized to approach your current employer and see if they'll match the offer. After all—as we often discuss, your current employment is a known entity, and so it will often seem preferable to stay in the comforts of the known—rather than branch out into the unknown of the new role that is being offered. Usually, your current employer will come back with what they can reasonably offer, seeking to match the offer you've received. It's…