How to Manage Time-Off Requests During the Holiday Stampede
Practical advice on how managers can make the holiday time-off process fair to employees.
Kathryn Drury Wagner
Kathryn Drury Wagner is an award-winning writer and editor. As The Careerist columnist for Hawaii Business Magazine, she explores issues in the modern workplace. In the past, she was the executive editor at HONOLULU Magazine, and she is the author of two books, including Hawaii’s Strangest, Ickiest, Wildest Book Ever! which inspires young readers using science and history facts about the Islands.
Have a question about work, life and that place in the middle where it all gets tangled up? Ask me!
Articles
Building a Team Among Remote Workers
Can two chummy co-workers brand their new business without winding up in a duel? Q: My co-worker and I are about to take the leap and launch our own company together. We have a business plan and are super excited.…
Boss Makes a Telecommuting Exception and Faces a Workplace Mutiny
Q: I recently made a difficult decision to allow someone to telecommute three days a week. Now I hear all my other employees are gossiping about this and grumbling “it’s not fair.” I’m the owner of this company! Wasn’t this…
Your Company Needs a Pet Policy
Allowing pets in the office can be a perk for some employees, but for companies it’s a decision that shouldn’t be taken lightly. Q: An employee has asked if he can bring his dog into the office. I’m not against…
The Business of Saving the Reef
Changing laws and attitudes are creating opportunities for Hawaii’s natural sunscreen startups It was the squirt and slather heard ‘round the world. Senate Bill 2571, passed by the state Legislature and signed into law by Gov. David Ige, will by Jan.…
What’s the Right Move?
Reader wonders whether to quit a hideous job to focus on finding a better one, or to stay put and hunt for something better on the side Q: Is it really easier to get a job offer when you already…
Coworking spaces accommodate all sorts of people and companies
Q: I’m going stir-crazy working out of my bedroom and am considering using a collaborative workspace. Am I too old for this? Is this just for hipsters drinking flat whites? A: Coworking spaces – which have monthly memberships or drop-in…
Top Priorities First
But you can’t put off forever those minor things on your To Do List that must be done. Set aside regular times for them and then reward yourself. Q: I’m torn. Is it better to bang through my to-do list,…
Rent Control: Step Right Up!
Move into this 917-square-foot, one-bedroom apartment in a lovely, remodeled historical building. Washer/dryer, balcony, air conditioning all included for $875 a month. Just one problem, Island dwellers. It’s in Cleveland. For a similar cozy vibe in Honolulu, you’ll pay at…
Worth Considering: Building with Shipping Containers
Last November, the Hale Mauliola Housing Navigation Service Center opened on Sand Island. It made national news for creating homeless shelters from retrofitted shipping containers. Some people were appalled, others applauded the frugality and portability of the design. In Nevada,…
Excited About My Job? Only If I Surf for a Living
Q: I was at a lecture in which Walter Dods said that, to succeed in business, you have to follow your passion. I have been thinking about that for weeks and the things I am passionate about are surfing, beer…
One Size Does Not Fit All
It doesn’t look like a homeless shelter – and that’s the point. Cheery paint and graphic shapes tie together the 22 bed areas, creating a hip, treehouse feel. Bathrooms are private and gender neutral, a recognition of the fact that 40…
Master of None
Q: In May, it will be four years and five jobs since I graduated from college and I’m still trying to map out a career. Is it better to be a specialist or a jack-of-all-trades? A: I posed this question…
Making Nice With the New Boss
There’s a new boss for our division and I fear I made a lousy first impression. Where do I go from here? Ch-ch-cha-changes. Ah, David Bowie, may he rest in peace. According to Aden Kirschner Nepom, of the Art of…
Privatizing Building Permits
It’s no secret that Hawaii is a bit, shall we say, constipated when it comes to building permits. Permits can take six months or more. A 2013 study conducted by the National Association of Home Builders found the median time…
The Careerist: Healthier, On Your Terms
My company has launched a wellness program, which leaves me with mixed feelings. I appreciate that the company cares about my health and I love the yoga class at lunchtime on Wednesdays, but there are also two other yoga classes,…
Worth Considering: Automatic College Savings Programs
This new monthly column looks at innovative programs elsewhere and asks: Might this work in Hawaii? In our first column, we explore the city of San Francisco’s mission to bring low-income students onto the college track and hear how one…
Bikini Barons
When it comes to bikini shopping, there’s a vital statistical difference between the buying habits of locals and those of Island visitors. It all comes down to cheeks – the okole, that is – and just how much a lady…
The Careerist: Holiday Help
What bosses and employees should know about holiday gifts, parties and bonuses.
Inside the Mind of an Entrepreneur
In the high-tech gold rush of modern Silicon Valley, the people most qualified to succeed are the least capable of handling success.” That’s how HBO describes its buzzy TV show, “Silicon Valley,” but is this characterization true? Ryan Louie shed…
The Careerist: Going to Your Boss’s Boss
Is it ever appropriate to go to your boss’s boss to complain about your boss? Yes, no and maybe. Yes, if you have witnessed discrimination, sexual harassment, fraud, kickbacks, gross negligence, substance abuse or anything that would create a really…
The Careerist: Opening Up to Criticism
QUESTION: I feel like I take criticism badly. How can I learn to listen without getting offended or taking it so personally? ANSWER: A negative reaction to criticism – even when it’s mild or constructive – can get pretty severe,…
The Careerist: Not Letting It All Hang Out
“I wish people would fully understand the ‘No boobs, No butts, No bellies’ policy when getting dressed for work ... unless you work from home like I do. Then you can just let it all hang out.” This comment has…
An Epic Match
Noel Nedli is the founder and CEO of Room Service in Paradise, which delivers 50,000 meals annually from 75 Oahu restaurants, employs 45 people and grosses more than $2 million a year. But, back in 1991, Nedli was studying at Windward…
The Careerist: Stood Up
FEW ASPECTS OF LIFE are as thrilling, complicated, satisfying and maddening as our jobs. Victory can puff us up with satisfaction, a promotion and a bigger salary. Defeat can destroy our confidence. That’s because we express and define ourselves via our…
The Careerist: Must I Answer Emails on Vacation?
Few aspects of life are as thrilling, complicated, satisfying and maddening as our jobs. Victory puffs us up with satisfaction, a promotion and a bigger salary. Defeat can destroy our confidence, and that’s because we express and define ourselves through…
Wall In The Family
When tricky emotional issues stifle a family’s wealth-management planning, financial advisors call upon therapists to move the process forward. It could be the basis of a twisted reality show: Throw a family into a conference room, have them grapple with…
Pau Hana Volunteers With Shelley Pang
During her orientation at the Hawaiian Humane Society, Shelley Pang listened carefully to all the roles she could play as a volunteer. “Everyone wanted to walk the dogs; I was like, ‘Let me see what no one else wants to…
Do Your Om-Work
There was a time when the term “mindfulness” evoked visions of a man in a loincloth, sitting serenely atop a mountain. But the corporate world is changing and, today, mindfulness can mean a Reyn Spooner-clad manager serenely sitting atop ……
How to Use LinkedIn to Land a Great Job
LinkedIn is a powerful mashup: “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” meets “I can bring home the bacon.” With nearly 300 million business professionals using the social media platform, it may be the most effective job hunting tool out there. “View…
