Q: l am an inside sales rep for print advertising. I have always been a top sales rep in my other jobs. At this company, the system is flawed. We are to receive leads from the company because getting leads requires long-term research.

Our sales manager sells ads, too, and he takes every good lead for himself. If he can't sell one of them, he passes it onto us. Crazy stupid, huh!

The kicker is that we are not allowed to do research for leads during working hours. We are required to make phone calls, and the company uses a tracking system for numbers.

That means we have no choice but to do research on our own time, which means working at least three to four hours every night so we have people to call the next day.

Sales managers should support the sales team, not steal from them. Upper management is not approachable or open to comments. I'm looking for another job. I know I should not criticize my employer, but how do I explain why I want to leave and justify why my sales numbers are not good, without say something negative?

A: Explain the system and hopefully the interviewer will understand why it's flawed. Just don't use negative words such as "stupid, crazy or horrible." You get the idea. Discuss your otherwise successful sales history and be energetic and positive throughout the interview. It's also important to get out quickly. You don't want an interviewer to ask you why you stayed so long working in that position.

Your sales manager sees his choices as this: Does he want his employees to make money, or does he want to make money? He is required to sell, so that's what he is doing. He probably sees the system as flawed as you do; he's just in a position to take advantage of it. Clearly, the company has set it up so he cannot act as a manager.

USING FOREIGN LANGUAGE TO LEAVE OUT OTHERS IS RUDE

Q: I own and run a very small company of five employees. Two work in my warehouse. One is an English-speaking white American female, and the other is a Mexican male who legally moved here as a young adult. These two employees always talked to each other and worked well together.

I recently hired a third employee who is Mexican-American. The first worker lives in a Mexican community and even though he speaks English, he speaks only Spanish in his personal life. He has started speaking Spanish to my new employee, which leaves out my American worker.

She told me her feelings were hurt because neither of them speaks to her now. I told them I wanted only English spoken at work, that it was rude to speak a language in front of another person who could not understand it.

The new employee politely agreed to my request. My original employee mouthed off at me. I have done more favors for this man than you can imagine, including bailing him out of legal problems and loaning him large sums of money, which he has not repaid. His insolence is the thanks I get. What do I do next?

A: You are right to tell them not to speak Spanish in front of the employee who doesn't understand it. It is rude, regardless of the conversation being business or personal.

As for the man being unappreciative, don't lend money expecting it to be repaid, unless it is handled as a business deal and you have a contract. It is a gift to someone in need. That attitude will help you say "no" when you want to, which is what you should have done after the first loan. You are his boss, not his father.

Email all your questions and concerns on the workplace to [email protected]. She answers all emails. To find out more about Lindsey Novak and to read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Website at www.creators.com.