It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…
1. My anxious employee wants daily reassurance
I manage a small team, including one employee who joined it two weeks before we had to start working from home because of COVID-19.
This is her first time doing the kind of work that we do, and training from afar isn’t ideal, but she’s learning and progressing well especially given the circumstances. I give her positive feedback on her work, along with corrections and edits when needed, and I try to be as reassuring as possible about her progress, but nearly every day she calls me to apologize for not knowing something she hasn’t been taught yet, or not feeling as if she’s working fast enough, or not progressing as she thinks she should be. Each time, I tell her that I’m not concerned with her pace and that I haven’t found any fault with the work she’s doing while she learns and that she really does not need to apologize for still learning her very new job, but that only seems to help her for a little while, because she brings it all up again the next day.
I know that this new job anxiety is probably made worse by the fact we aren’t in the same office, plus the general anxiety of living through a pandemic, but how can I make her see that the daily apology calls aren’t necessary?
Ugh. Yeah, new job anxiety is a thing, and general job anxiety is a thing, but at some point she’s got to find ways to manage it herself without looking to you for daily reassurance because right now she’s asking you for a lot of daily emotional labor. You’ve got your own stresses to manage, and while you can provide some reassurance, it’s not reasonable for her to call you every day for it.
So far it sounds like you’ve told her the daily apology calls aren’t necessary, but haven’t directly told her to stop … probably because it feels awkward to say that, but you can say it in a way that reinforces your trust in her, while still setting reasonable boundaries. For example, the next time it happens, you could say, “I can’t help but notice we’re having this conversation every day. It sounds like you’re anxious about how you’re doing and you’re worried you’re not progressing quickly enough. You’re doing fine and progressing at a normal pace, and I have no concerns about your work or your ability to master the job. I’m happy to do one weekly check-in where we talk about how things are going, but other than that I’m going to ask that you trust what I’ve told you about your work. That means no more apologies about not knowing something or how fast you’re working. Instead, let’s plan to check in every Thursday at 2:00 to review the previous week, and you’re welcome to ask any questions then about how things are going — but I have no reason to think the answer will be anything other than fine.”
And then if you get more apology calls: “Nope, everything’s fine. If you have specific worries about this project, let’s discuss it on our Thursday call. But I’m not accepting apologies for perfectly good work.”
(And if this feels unsympathetic, keep in mind that she’ll limit herself professionally if she doesn’t stop leaning on managers like this, so you’re doing her a service by establishing these limits.)
That’s just one approach. There are others here and here.
2. Will people be caught if they fake their applications for unemployment?
What is the government doing when someone files a false unemployment claim at this time? I have coworkers claiming that they were laid off and they were not. They left because they thought they could get free money and the extra $600, which is more than they make at work. They said they are scared to catch the virus, but no hours are cut and no layoffs are being made, they are just asked to work while on the clock. Some of us are still at work trying to make the business survive while others are taking this route. Will they be found out?
Yes. When they file for unemployment, the unemployment agency will contact their last employer to verify the information your coworkers provided. The employer will let the unemployment agency know they actually quit rather than being laid off, and your coworkers’ fraudulent claim will most likely be denied. (Your coworkers could then appeal that denial, but appeals trigger a more thorough investigation, after which they’ll definitely be denied.)
3. What’s a reasonable amount of time to respond to a reference request?
On Wednesday afternoon, I received a request to provide a reference for a former coworker. I knew it was coming, but I was expecting the request back in the fall. Given that I am working from home with two elementary school age kids, I didn’t jump right on it. The recruiter emailed me again on Thursday morning, so I replied asking if Monday would be too late. The answer was, “It might be. I’ll try to hold it until then”
Is that reasonable? Asking on a Wednesday and being unable to wait until Monday? I’m drowning here. Will it really hurt my ex-coworker’s chances if I don’t get to it until the weekend? Never mind the fact that I haven’t worked with this person in more than 10 years.
Well … it could. Frankly, a peer reference from 10 years ago shouldn’t carry that much weight anyway (as opposed to a more recent manager reference). But in general, some places move really fast once they’re checking references, and if they’re on the fence about your coworker and have another strong candidate waiting, it’s possible they’ll just go with the other person rather than waiting for you to respond. A good employer won’t do that over a delay of a few days if they’re otherwise sold on him, but it’s a risk.
Ideally you’d say something to the recruiter making clear it’ll be a strong reference (if in fact that’s the case), like, “Falcon is fantastic. We were so sorry to lose him and he’d be a great hire. I’d love to give him a reference, but I’m booked solid until Monday so I hope you can wait until then.” That at least conveys “he’s great,” which is better than nothing.
4. Do I need to give notice when I’ve been furloughed?
Two weeks ago I was furloughed from my job, which means I don’t have an income and have applied for unemployment compensation, although they are still paying for my health insurance for the time being. I have good reason to believe that the company will not make it through this crisis, and that their verbal “guarantee” that my job is safe may not stand a month from now.
Since I work in a pretty specialized and in demand type of engineering, I was able to interview (via Zoom!) for an exciting new company that is continuing to thrive through this crisis through good planning and a solid funding stream. This morning they gave me a verbal offer, with the offer letter expected this weekend. Assuming that I receive it and everything is as expected, what is the etiquette for informing my old employer that I will not be returning following this shut down? Does the standard two weeks notice period stand? Obviously I don’t have much of an income right now so I would like to start as soon as possible.
In a practical sense, being furloughed in this environment isn’t all that different than being being laid off, just with health insurance (sometimes) and some hope (but no guarantee) of a return. You’re not working, you’re not being paid, and it’s smart to job search. Companies that are furloughing people would like to bring them back once they’re able, but in most cases there’s no guarantee they’ll be able to (no matter what they tell you).
If you accept a new job while you’re furloughed, you don’t need to give your old company two weeks notice, because you’re not currently working there. The point of a notice period is to have time to wrap up and transition your work, and you’re not going to be able to do that while you’re not working. It’s possible that when they learn you’re moving to another job, they’ll want to bring you back (remotely) for a day or two to wrap up especially important loose ends and ensure someone else is able to pick up the work in the future, so you should remain open to that possibility — but beyond that, you really don’t need to give notice. You can simply let your manager know that you’ve been offered and accepted another job so you won’t be returning when the furlough ends.
(I’m assuming from your letter that you are fully furloughed right now and for at least the next month. None of the above applies if you’re only on furlough on Fridays, or every other week, or only for one week. In those cases, you would give notice because you’d be able to work during the notice period.)
5. Can I ask employers for a potential hiring timeline right now?
Last month (before things went haywire with COVID-19), I applied to several nonprofits and start-up companies. I have not yet heard anything back. Normally, I would send a polite follow-up email asking about potential timelines. However, I know many, many nonprofits have had to furlough or lay off employees, start-ups have had to close down, and there is no timeline anymore for anything. Yet I need to know if I should keep looking, if there is hope and just to wait until the craziness passes, or if they have suspended hiring indefinitely.
Should I email these places asking for a potential timeline, even when I risk appearing insensitive? And if I do email asking for an update, should I mention that I know everything is Corona-crazy and I am very flexible and can wait? Or just send a standard follow-up email?
If what you need is to know is if you should keep looking: Keep looking. That’s your answer — always, even aside from coronavirus.
You’ve only sent in applications to these places! There’s nothing to indicate you’ll even be asked to interview. But even if you had interviewed — even if you’d been through multiple rounds of interviews — the answer would still be to keep looking, because the majority of interviews do not end with a job offer. You’ve got to keep looking until you have an offer that you’ve accepted, period.
If an employer wants to move forward with you at some point, they will contact you and let you know that. Otherwise, assume it’s a dead end and move on — always, not just right now. The only thing that’s different now is that it would be even more fruitless than usual (and potentially tone-deaf) to ask for a timeline when all you’ve done is submit an application — but even in the best of times, you should never slow down your job search while you wait to hear back about an application, because there’s never any guarantee that you’ll hear a thing, let alone get an interview, let alone an interview that turns into an offer, let alone an offer you decide to accept.
anxious employee wants daily reassurance, faking an application unemployment, and more was originally published by Alison Green on Ask a Manager.
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