Being the longest-standing member of your workgroup usually means that you have memories of how things “used” to be, memories of the “before times” that probably stretch back long before even your manager worked here. The problem with this is organizations almost always trend in a negative direction when it comes to working conditions and benefits for workers; after all, there are only two ways to maximize profit, and cutting costs is far easier than increasing revenue generation. As a result,…

The world of business isn't always enjoyable. In the corporate hierarchy, there are those at the top and those at the bottom. Having said that, even if initiative may wind up being rewarded, some managers would prefer you stay in your lane and focus solely on your designated task. The following story is from the point of view of a disgruntled part-time worker. The original poster (OP) works part-time for an organization that fulfills orders. At first, everything was going smoothly; OP was satis…

There is nothing worse at work than having to bother your manager every day to do a simple task that would make things exponentially easier. The lack of action can say a lot about the kind of manager you have. First, he could be intentionally making things difficult for you and playing mind games. That's the cynical take, but it's not an impossibility. Next, there's the slightly more generous take, which is that your manager is not the brightest bulb. Yes, that's the kinder interpretation of th…

These days, it's not unusual to hear back from a job you applied to months ago asking if you're still interested in that first-round interview, and—hey, things happen and there are any number of reasons why the hiring process for the position you applied to might have gotten delayed. Sometimes, hiring gets sidelined in favor of more pressing concerns that the management team is dealing with. Sometimes, there is not quite as much room in the budget as management thought there was. Maybe they had…

There is a lot a job candidate can do to mess up their application. Sometimes, it's not exactly their fault. Job postings can be notoriously vague and shady. Who hasn't ended up in an interview where you suddenly realize that this so-called “great opportunity” is far beyond what you thought it would be? However, every so often, the interviewer is not at fault. Sometimes, and I know this may be hard to hear, we may be responsible for not getting hired. These hiring managers shared what they beli…

If you can't be happy for your employees when they get a great promotion and manage to prove their worth inside or outside of the company, then you should probably not be a manager. This might sound harsh, but being a good manager is more than just about professional skills, a lot of it is simply being supportive of the people you actually manage, even when you don't feel like it. The manager in this Reddit story is an example of a person who is not a great pick for a management position. OP (o…

It's hopefully no secret to anyone at this point that if you're given an anonymous questionnaire at work asking for your honest and critical feedback, there's a pretty good chance that that questionnaire is not, in fact, anonymous. That, or there are plenty of ways that it's going to be traced back to you regardless of how “anonymous” it actually is. After all, if they receive one response that's pointedly critical and you're usually the one who has no problem voicing your feedback, chances are…

The promise of promotion is a proverbial carrot on a stick that often gets dangled over workers' heads, encouraging them to do more and work harder for longer hours, taking on additional responsibilities, under the guise that this “growth” will soon earn them a promotion that pays them properly for the work they have been doing. Of course, while this holds merit when honest intentions are had, all too often this is exploited to get workers to do things they're not being paid to do… This employe…

If this new hire doesn't shape up, she's going to lose that brand-new job . Imagine fumbling the ball that badly! They say you get one chance to make a first impression, and there are few times in life when that's more important than your first weeks at a new gig. If a company has just hired you, you should probably be acting happy to be there, ready to learn, and eager to get to know how the team operates. You're learning where you fit into the bigger picture of the company. During this period…

It's weird to think that at one point, workers derided the cubicle, the confines of those grey-carpeted walls symbolizing their oppression. Whereas now, anyone in open-plan hot-desking office spaces would trade anything for the privacy that those same grey walls offered—a space to call your own outside of the immediate watchful gaze of your micromanaging boss where you can keep your things and not have to cart them around with you every day. So, in a way, it's easy to see where this coworker wa…

Imagine having to clean up this boss's mess! This employee compared notes with some of the other women on her team and realized that something strange was afoot. Essentially, 13 female employees either quit or were fired as they were approaching their late 20s. All of them were newly engaged, recently married, are about to start a family. The way HR attempted to get away with this nonsense was to give these women “disciplinary action” months in advance and to accuse them of not pulling their we…

You never know what you've got until it's gone… An old philosophical adage that rings true throughout all areas of our lives, speaking to the fact that we don't really appreciate something's worth until we no longer have it, whether that be a time in our lives, an object, or even an individual. It's easy to take things for granted when they're right in front of you, and it's easy to think that how things are now is how they will be forever, evoking a resigned, almost begrudging feeling towards…

There are numerous challenges in the customer service sector, as we have all stated at some point. The obstacles could vary from challenging to exceedingly challenging, depending on the client in front of you. The irony of it all is that if you want to advance in your line of work, you need to be able to handle any situation with poise and maturity. The story below is of a dumbfounded restaurant employee. Given that the original poster (OP) has worked in the food sector for a significant period…

This advice might be obvious to every employee out there, but just in case there is someone who wasn't aware of this crucial piece of information, here it is written down – Always have things written down. This advice means that you should always have written proof of anything you talk about verbally with anyone related to your job. For example, if you talk with your boss about an upcoming raise, and your boss tells you - 'You are going to get a raise in May', as soon as you step out of their o…

When you're with a big group at a restaurant it seems like the moment everyone decides to ‘split the bill evenly’, the group is divided into two camps. Half of the group insists on being frugal and ordering responsibly, while the other half of the group acts like wild banshee children racing through a candy store with $100 bill.

Customer support agents are frequently treated like private-sector workers, as though they must get the blessing of the client before proceeding with their day. This makes the job extremely unpleasant. However, what would you do if an aggressive customer visited your establishment with the express intent of disobeying the safety rules that were set in place to protect the public? Would you rather they learned their lesson the hard way or would you try to stop them from doing something that coul…