Workplace Coach
Healing the world one workplace at a time...
Jennifer Yuhas
Archives
Q: Sixteen months ago I lost my oil company job, but received enough severance to keep me afloat for more than a year. I’d always wanted to work for myself and felt this was my big chance. Even though I’ve never been a risk-taker, I started a small business. I soon realized I needed an assistant because when I invested time in paperwork it took me away from the sales and marketing… Read More
Q: My introverted, insecure, my-way-or-the-highway supervisor has an abnormally low threshold for anything resembling a suggestion. Though I have both technical and managerial skills and could be a wonderful resource for her, I’m a no-BS kind of person who speaks his mind and what I say invariably rubs her the wrong way, even and especially when it’s right. When I first started in her department, I tried to get her to see the… Read More
Q: I work in a medical clinic. A supporting staff member is supposed to work alongside any physician in a room with a sedated female patient, but we’re short-staffed and so this doesn’t always happen. Twice in the last year, I entered a room in which one of our physicians appeared to be acting inappropriately. It happened again this morning. It’s a senior physician and he appeared to have been masturbating. I… Read More
You’ve met the predatory client and possibly even tangled with him. He or she makes life difficult for your staff, particularly your front desk employees, and possibly even for you because his status as a client enables him to do so. Often he represents hundreds of thousands of dollars in billings. Do legal practices have a responsibility to protect their employees and other clients from a client that sexually harass them? Protecting… Read More
It started with Harvey Weinstein and gained unstoppable velocity when thousands of women posted true, painful stories using the hashtag #MeToo. Serious, long-buried sexual harassment complaints have rocked many workplaces – including ones not at all prepared to handle the topic. Even organizations well-equipped to handle sexual harassment complaints and investigations are finding that their wheels are going off the tracks when faced with a tension between two workplace groups – those… Read More
With this continuous flurry of sexual harassment news impacting Hollywood, Washington D.C. and other governments such as California, I can’t help but wonder, why now? The law of sexual harassment has been well established for at least the last twenty years! I am proud to say that my experience with many of our Alaskan companies and corporations demonstrate most address such issues promptly and professionally. Credit goes to EEO training and enforcement;… Read More
Q: Like thousands of other women, I wrote my #MeToo. Although I disguised some of the facts to protect myself, it was clear to me and perhaps to others that it involved a senior manager in my company. After it published, I learned two former employees of my current employer had written similar stories about the same man. I can’t tell you how mad I am, not just at the man but… Read More
Question: I’ve known “John” since fifth grade. He had career success in his twenties, but it’s been downhill for him ever since. Recently, he got laid off, let me know he had almost no money and would do “anything.” A couple weeks later when my company needed someone to replace one of my entry-level employees who unexpectedly quit, I gave John’s name to our HR department. He got hired on my recommendation…. Read More
Question: I work in a high-stress customer service position. My co-workers and I work hard, but our workload is extreme and our company gives us inadequate training and then judges us against unrealistic performance measures. Still, I like my co-workers and initially had a great supervisor who was highly supportive. Then, he got fired and the supervisor who replaced him is an absolute jerk. The company gives him free rein to intimidate… Read More
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