ArcaMax

Need a career boost? Schedule a "skip-level meeting."

That's a meeting that skips the person who directly manages your job and your paycheck to schmooze with some dingbat two steps higher on the org chart, who doesn't know you exist.

The concept of a skip-level meeting was news to me -- news I received from Melody Wilding, author of "How to ...Read more

You probably haven't noticed, but there's been an election going on. It's made those of us who have noticed... a tad nervous. Devastating weather events, such as hurricanes and floods, have added to our anxiety, and, of course, the battle for supremacy waging between Chelsea and Tiffany on "The Real Housewives of Yuma, Arizona" has everyone in...Read more

More "thank you's" and fewer "screw you's."

That's what it takes to be a success in business today.

Who says? I says. Taylor Telford says so, too.

"The years spent apart from colleagues have rusted workers' social skills," Telford writes in "Business Etiquette Classes Boom as People Relearn How to Act at Work," a recent article in The ...Read more

Is that a dark cloud of gloom hanging over your workspace?

I knew it!

Why else would you stop what you're doing to find out what this idiot has to say?

And what this idiot says is that you need to read "4 Ways to Turn Around a Bad Day," Jancee Dunn's hopeful column in The New York Times.

The turnaround starts with clinical psychologist ...Read more

Getting fired used to take lots of work.

You had to screw up continually before your managers even noticed you were goofing off. Then they had to prove it. "Document, document, document" was the war cry of the HR department. Months of bad performance had to be tracked before your name could be added to the "wouldn't it be nice to fire" list. ...Read more

"Just when I thought I was out, they pulled me back in."

That's what Al Pacino so famously says in "The Godfather Part III." He's bemoaning the fate of Michael Corleone, who thought he had gotten out of a life of crime, only to be dragged back in.

It's also what millions of remote workers say when they thought they had gotten out of a life ...Read more

If you work at Amazon, my sympathies. Andy Jassy, the CEO of the retail behemoth, just issued an ukase demanding that all employees come into the office five days a week.

This refers to employees who work in offices, of course. The hordes of Amazonians out on the roads, delivering packages, are exempt. While it must annoy management to free ...Read more

You can see it. You can taste it. You can sit it on your lap and tickle its toes.

Retirement! Sweet retirement!

Here's the plan -- you work hard today, so tomorrow you can play. Of course, it's a tomorrow that can be 10, 20 or 40 years in the future, but it really doesn't matter. Work your fingers to the bone. Sacrifice dreams, ignore ...Read more

"2-Hour Virtual Seminar on Workplace Investigations: How to Conduct Your Investigation like a Pro."

"As an employer you have a duty to investigate...but what if you have a recalcitrant complainant, wrongdoer or witness?" -- HRTraininngs

It was a dark and stormy day.

I was sitting in my office in the HR department, trying ...Read more

Let's face it: It's taken a lot of time and effort for you to become the perfect employee.

And it has definitely been worth it.

Your co-workers trust you. Your bosses ignore you. Everything is wonderful, everywhere you go. But then something happens to ruin it all.

You get a big, fat promotion.

Don't blame me! If you read this column ...Read more