Anyone fire anyone especially someone who has been with company a long time ?

[isleseeya]

I was involved in the process of firing an employee this week and it sucks ....miserable experience . What i found is that you could be 100 percent right and justified in doing so but its still sucks

 

I have done it once before but this time it was much tougher as the employee worked directly for me and has been with company longer than i have .

 

If some of you do this often based on the job you have or your position ( I E HR ) , I feel for you ...Business is business and i get it but the human element always gets to me

Edited February 4, 2012 by isleseeya

[buddahj]

I fired one of my asst. managers for poor customer service. He'd been with the company about 6-7 years. That was about a year ago. To my knowledge, he still hasn't got another job.

[isleseeya]

I fired one of my asst. managers for poor customer service. He'd been with the company about 6-7 years. That was about a year ago. To my knowledge, he still hasn't got another job.

 

Yeah as the person i fired may not be able to get a job like she had with my company either ...it was a good position and very close to home ...I did sincerely wish her luck

[Ursa Majoris]

I've fired a few. I hate it but not one of them was remotely close to unjustified. In fact, I waited too long to do it in most cases, trying to turn things around. It's worth bearing the following in mind:

 

Allowing bad employees to stay reflects badly on you more than them.

The company expects you and your team to maintain a high standard - and you should.

Bad employees destroy good employees and make them leave.

You don't owe bad employees a living, they need to justify their own.

[buddahj]

Allowing bad employees to stay reflects badly on you more than them.

The company expects you and your team to maintain a high standard - and you should.

Bad employees destroy good employees and make them leave.

You don't owe bad employees a living, they need to justify their own.

well said Ursa

[polksalet]

I've fired a few. I hate it but not one of them was remotely close to unjustified. In fact, I waited too long to do it in most cases, trying to turn things around. It's worth bearing the following in mind:

 

Allowing bad employees to stay reflects badly on you more than them.

The company expects you and your team to maintain a high standard - and you should.

Bad employees destroy good employees and make them leave.

You don't owe bad employees a living, they need to justify their own.

 

yet you feel like we owe everyone subsidized healthcare. That's just weird to me.

[isleseeya]

I've fired a few. I hate it but not one of them was remotely close to unjustified. In fact, I waited too long to do it in most cases, trying to turn things around. It's worth bearing the following in mind:

 

Allowing bad employees to stay reflects badly on you more than them.

The company expects you and your team to maintain a high standard - and you should.

Bad employees destroy good employees and make them leave.

You don't owe bad employees a living, they need to justify their own.

 

This is extremely well said Ursa

[Ice1]

I've fired a few. I hate it but not one of them was remotely close to unjustified. In fact, I waited too long to do it in most cases, trying to turn things around. It's worth bearing the following in mind:

 

Allowing bad employees to stay reflects badly on you more than them.

The company expects you and your team to maintain a high standard - and you should.

Bad employees destroy good employees and make them leave.

You don't owe bad employees a living, they need to justify their own.

 

Agree 100%.

 

I have fired several over the years. While it is never fun it is simply a fact in business when you hold management positions.

[Ursa Majoris]

yet you feel like we owe everyone subsidized healthcare. That's just weird to me.

I remain unconvinced that my stance on health care is related to my stance on what constitutes my duty as a manager. But I would dispute the "subsidized" piece. Single payer systems aren't subsidized, they're paid for by the taxpayers en masse.

[gilthorp]

I have and I will. I have 3 on PIP's right now. People get out produced.

[Jimmy Neutron]

Worst part of the job by far (usually). I've had to fire a lot of people, but two 15+ employees that were friends to boot. Brutal. One went from getting addicted to pain killers after a back injury straight into meth - tried for months to get him help, but he refused to admit he had a problem. The other made a stupid mistake of getting hot headed and telling a direct report, "let's take our disagreement outside."

 

As others have said - people get themselves fired.

 

I am now fastidious about coaching, progressive discipline and PIPs.

 

Quick story for comedic relief. I did have to fire a driver at a remote location a few years ago. Why? He had an extreme Polk moment and royally shat himself while on his route. Knowing that in previous circumstances, he'd gotten in trouble for not completing his route and passing deliveries on to expensive couriers, he decided it would be better to remove his soiled pants, don a t-shirt as underwear and proceed to make the rest of his deliveries. Needless to say, not only were nurses at the clnics appalled to see a grown man making strenuous deliveries in a homemade diaper - they were even more horrified to note that his ass was still leaking. Ya can't make this stuff up. I never had him tested around that event, but it had been 8 months since his last DOT random and I think he'd fallen into drugs. I was breaking in a new fleet supervisor at the time and sent him to do the term. Not sure how I would have handled that one in person...

[Ursa Majoris]

As others have said - people get themselves fired.

Anyone firing (as oppose to laying off) an employee should always remember what JN has stated above. It is not a cop-out, it is the truth.

[bpwallace49]

I was involved in the process of firing an employee this week and it sucks ....miserable experience . What i found is that you could be 100 percent right and justified in doing so but its still sucks

 

I have done it once before but this time it was much tougher as the employee worked directly for me and has been with company longer than i have .

 

If some of you do this often based on the job you have or your position ( I E HR ) , I feel for you ...Business is business and i get it but the human element always gets to me

 

Yep. It sucks. No matter how justified it is, there is a human element that can get to you. Unfortunately it comes with the big boy job.

[DMD]

I've fired a few. I hate it but not one of them was remotely close to unjustified. In fact, I waited too long to do it in most cases, trying to turn things around. It's worth bearing the following in mind:

 

Allowing bad employees to stay reflects badly on you more than them.

The company expects you and your team to maintain a high standard - and you should.

Bad employees destroy good employees and make them leave.

You don't owe bad employees a living, they need to justify their own.

 

Agreed with that sentiment. My manager told me that I could not allow the employee to make me look bad and hurt the company and their coworkers just because it is hard to fire someone. It is never fun to be sure, but I finally came to the realization that I did not fire anyone really, people fire themselves with their actions and I just had to do the paperwork. More often than not, you are actually doing them a favor.

[Ursa Majoris]

More often than not, you are actually doing them a favor.

Yep. After one firing, word got back to me months later that the guy in question had gone on to become a team leader elsewhere and had said getting fired really had helped him, perversely enough.

[Yukon Cornelius]

yet you feel like we owe everyone subsidized healthcare. That's just weird to me.

Jesus is all for subsidized healthcare.

[The Irish Doggy]

Allowing bad employees to stay reflects badly on you more than them.

The company expects you and your team to maintain a high standard - and you should.

Bad employees destroy good employees and make them leave.

You don't owe bad employees a living, they need to justify their own.

 

 

That is so true. At one job a particular employee was kept around for 2 years making one screw up after another and the ownership did very little. Eventually they gave her a 3 month paid leave of absence which she used to vacation. The whole company was up in arms. Morale was at an all time low.

[nuke'em ttg]

 

Never offically fired anyone, they just didn't comebrack

[Square]

Bad employees destroy good employees and make them leave.

Ursa had all good reasons, but this is the one that sticks out to me. If your future depends on the health and quality of the team or company that you work on, you have to drop the bad apples. I've left good jobs before because some of their employees were such worthless piles of chit that just have their job because of nepotism. It drags the overall work experience down. My last place had some good employees and about half of the sales group were from good to great. Problem is the boss was an idiot part timer, he was selling the company to a guy that was terrible at his job and bad with people, and they employed his brother who was worthless. I stuck it out for awhile and made good money, but after about a year there I knew long term I was going to have to find something different to do.

[detlef]

Ursa nailed it but I'd like to add:

 

It's never a bad time to fire someone who needs to go.

 

I made the mistake a few times early on in my career of holding onto a guy longer than I should because of how hard I thought it would be to replace him. Or, in the case of cooks, for instance, that he could be a machine, even if he's a total cancer. It would be when I'd start to get the sense that I was tip-toeing around him more than the other way around, that I realized I'd have to nut up and just get rid of the dude and figure things out once I did.

 

Without exception, the benefits were almost immediate. I might have to jump in and add some more hours, but, without exception, everyone would rise to the occasion and we'd move on like the prick was never there. Still took a few times for me to truly get comfortable with the notion, but now I don't hesitate. Obviously I try to guide people through issues as much as I can. But as soon as it becomes clear that we're at the end, I cut them a check for what I owe them and send them on their way.

[Scorcher]

There are situations where letting someone go is the kindest thing to do. I work in a business where a lot of times you have to move out to move up. I have seen and worked for all types of managers. there are situations where the employee has a good attitude and really tries but sadly just doesn't have what it takes to do the job and never will. In my opinion a good manager can recognize this. To me it is better to just say "Hey, this just isn't going to work. You need to get on to something you can do and I need someone who can do what I need." There are so many times when people in this situation are given plans of action, weekly reviews and basically false hope. Often ridicule and demeaning statements accompany the process whose conclusion was known before it even started. Early in my career the VP of operations gave me this advice"Never complain about anything unless you are in a position to change it." Once I got to where I called the shots I have always given plans of action to those that could benefit and had a chance to turn around, fired the ones that deserved it right away, and for those that wanted to succeed but just didn't have what it took: after giving it a fair amount of time I just honestly said "nothing wrong with you but this just isn't your line of work and you need to find something you are suited to do." This always seemed kinder to me than giving them a beat down for a few weeks and then kicking them out.

[isleseeya]

Ursa nailed it but I'd like to add:

 

It's never a bad time to fire someone who needs to go.

 

I made the mistake a few times early on in my career of holding onto a guy longer than I should because of how hard I thought it would be to replace him. Or, in the case of cooks, for instance, that he could be a machine, even if he's a total cancer. It would be when I'd start to get the sense that I was tip-toeing around him more than the other way around, that I realized I'd have to nut up and just get rid of the dude and figure things out once I did.

 

Without exception, the benefits were almost immediate. I might have to jump in and add some more hours, but, without exception, everyone would rise to the occasion and we'd move on like the prick was never there. Still took a few times for me to truly get comfortable with the notion, but now I don't hesitate. Obviously I try to guide people through issues as much as I can. But as soon as it becomes clear that we're at the end, I cut them a check for what I owe them and send them on their way.

 

i agree with this as well Det ..well said

[tazinib1]

I don't work in the corporate world, but I have had to fire a couple friends. It sucks...it really does. On union shows, I operate as the Best Boy Electric, head of the Electrical department behind only the Gaffer. I've been told on 2 occasions to ask "so and so" that he is being replaced due to lack of experience. Both of them are guys that I have worked with since I started and had more years in the business than I. Believe you me, its tough to be that guy. Just having to make that call is gut wrenching...especially when it concerning a crew member that mentored me in the beginning. But, in doing so, it made the production run much smoother getting a quality electric on set rather than a buddy trying to "Fake it till you make it".

[The Next Generation]

I hope "too much internet" is not grounds for firing or you all should fire yourselves NOW!! It would really be for the best.

[Scorcher]

I kind of went off on a tangent in my previous post. Like everyone else I think having to let one go sucks. I have always felt that when letting someone go, no matter what the reason, if you try to preserve their dignity during the process then you will most likely preserve your own.