had to fire a guy today....ugh...

[ezbtr]

He's been a poor performer(contract) with little improvement over the past 6 months, I've been patient and finally deceided last Friday, after he again passed off his work to 2 of my guys w/o even asking me. He even had available O/T he COULD have worked and didnt. He hasnt liked his job sice day one and complained to me about it the first day I met him!
Course first thing this a.m. when I told him he was fired, he states it's a personal issue with me??? Ummm no...actually i like the guy as a person. And not that I need it, but over a year of docs on his poor performance.
He had to know it was coming, all my other guys and I work our butts off.
He had the gall to tell me I didnt know what I was doing, why fire "the guy who knows the most", is because of his higher hourly rate($34, and he isnt worth it), and that this was all bulls*it.
Sad thing is he has a 90 yr old mom in law at home, doc visits etc that evidently his non working wife cant handle. Lots of personal probs.
And to make it worse, TODAY is his birthday!!
What a way to start a Monday....

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: had to fire a guy today....ugh...

While I understand your position, the birthday thing is a nice touch! Would you like him "to spread his legs so you can kick him in the nuts?"
(I stole that quote from a former co-worker at the insurance company we used to work for, and I have loved it ever since)

 

[tallcanadian]

Re: had to fire a guy today....ugh...

That's rough, but your better off without him. He made his bed so he can lay in it. Don't feel bad, work is hard enough without having to do everybody else's work as well. I don't know what you do but for 34 dollars an hour, I can have my bags packed in an hour.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: had to fire a guy today....ugh...

You have to do what you have to do !!!!
If someone is not performing as they should then you have no option no matter what the circumstances.
Did he get any "talks" or warnings first ???

 

[steddy]

Re: had to fire a guy today....ugh...

That sure does make for a crappy weekend, doesn't it? I've been there, too. Not only are you not looking forward to something that deep down you don't want to do (but remember... it's business), you will also be doing something that you know he will hate you for.

It festers with you all weekend long, and you tell your family nothing's bothering you...

It's definitely harder to do the firing than to be fired.

$34/hour? I'm a hard worker, and now I hear you have a position available. I'll do it for $30/hour!!!! What's the job?

 

[captharv]

Re: had to fire a guy today....ugh...

A while ago I interviewed for a manager position, of 8 employees under me.
The interviewer asked me if I could fire someone. I said yes. he said, kind of cold aren't you?
I said here how I am in my managing:
The 1 st incident for that employee would have both of us in Human resources (HR) with the specifics of the screw up(s)written down and whay the employee can do to improve to the acceptable level. He is allowed to put down HIS version of what happened.
2nd time same thing, with atime constraint for improving.
3 time, same thing and walk him out the door. He has to know its coming by this time unless he's really that stupid.

I had all this stuff documented when I had to let go an engineering assembler who took maybe twice as long for anything than the other 2 I had. In the final meeting with HR, just prior to walk out, he starts this crap about I did not like him because he is from [latin america]. It was the documentation which saved the company and myself a lot of greif and possibly a lawsuit.

Being a manager is not all fun and games, and actually is very stressful at times.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: had to fire a guy today....ugh...

Hard to imagine that in the recession we are in, one would be so careless with the job that he has. I had someone that I supervised that was given the axe. I had input into his performance review but didn't do the actual firing...thank goodness. In this particular case, it was an entitlement issue. The person thought he was entitled to his job no matter how much he screwed off.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: had to fire a guy today....ugh...

it is just a plain fact of economics. an employee has to produce, has part of the product in a timely manner, in order to recieve the benenfits of his work. $$$.

a lot of the younger generation, do not understand this principal.

 

[ezbtr]

Re: had to fire a guy today....ugh...

You have to do what you have to do !!!!
If someone is not performing as they should then you have no option no matter what the circumstances.
Did he get any "talks" or warnings first ???

Hell, I talked with him for almost 12 months and documented all. He's just not ever going to change permanently...

 

[ezbtr]

Re: had to fire a guy today....ugh...

That sure does make for a crappy weekend, doesn't it? I've been there, too. Not only are you not looking forward to something that deep down you don't want to do (but remember... it's business), you will also be doing something that you know he will hate you for.

It festers with you all weekend long, and you tell your family nothing's bothering you...

It's definitely harder to do the firing than to be fired.

$34/hour? I'm a hard worker, and now I hear you have a position available. I'll do it for $30/hour!!!! What's the job?

Yeah wasnt a pleasant weekend, and good grief we in N. CA dont know how to play football.
It's a contract position in maritime IT, he definitely wasnt worth the $ and I inherited him. We're absorbing his position, we'd been doing that anyways

 

[ezbtr]

Re: had to fire a guy today....ugh...

it is just a plain fact of economics. an employee has to produce, has part of the product in a timely manner, in order to recieve the benenfits of his work. $$$.

a lot of the younger generation, do not understand this principal.

Well actually he just turned 59 or 60, still proud of the way he was a Vietnam war protester.
Has never followed through with anything in his life, not a penny saved, is hen pecked at hoem.
All his choices...

 

[ezbtr]

Re: had to fire a guy today....ugh...

Well actually he just turned 59 or 60, still proud of the way he was a Vietnam war protester.
Has never followed through with anything in his life, not a penny saved, is hen pecked at home.
All his choices...

and his way of avoiding the draft was taking college classes in music forever.....course he didnt finish that either..

 

[Knightgang]

Re: had to fire a guy today....ugh...

Dang...all I had left to pack was my other pair of shoes...and a computer mouse!!!!

Good luck...

 

[Mark42]

Re: had to fire a guy today....ugh...

If he doesn't want to work for his wages, let him get a job working for the State.

 

[j_martin]

Re: had to fire a guy today....ugh...

If he doesn't want to work for his wages, let him get a job working for the State.

Unfortunately, you don't have to work to live pretty decently in this country.

Hopefully, that will change.

John

 

[Inline6]

Re: had to fire a guy today....ugh...

I was talking to a guy at work the other day and asked him, "How long have you been working here?"

He replied "Ever since they threatened to fire me!!!!!"

 

[Crater]

Re: had to fire a guy today....ugh...

Think of this way: It is always better to fire someone because of performance issues rather than the need to fire someone because of the economy.
Others have already "hit the nail on the head" In these poor economic times everyone has to buckle down and work hard just to keep the company afloat so we as individuals have a job, weather you are the owner or a new hire.

 

[JustJason]

Re: had to fire a guy today....ugh...

I always say "people don't get fired"
"people get themselves fired"

Its easy to fire somebody and i've never felt bad about it. On the flip side its very, very emotionally hard to lay somebody off not because of their work but because the business is just slow/downsizing.

 

[ShaneCarroll]

Re: had to fire a guy today....ugh...

I have been on both ends of the spectrum. I was a restaurant manager and caught someone red-handed stealing from the cash register. After I told him I'd turn a blind eye the first time, he did it again, time to go. When I worked for the phone company, I had the best productivity, and almost the best quality. Every employee would slack off throughout the day on the clock, I believe the technical term is "stealing time." Well, they would sit at the office all day when they should be out in the field, and they would not even complete one job per day (when we are required to do five or six). I clocked in at the house, and after routing myself from the house, would leave to go to work. I would average seven or eight jobs per day, and the union said that it made them look bad, so I had a target on my back very soon after. They sabotaged my work, and it led to me getting fired. I ran into one of the guys who sabotaged me at a bar, and let's just say it wasn't a friendly reunion.

I currently work at a productivity-based job, utility companies pay us to locate their facilities, and I am required to meet certain criteria. I can easily make my revenue in half the time, and many times I will come close to doubling that figure. My line of work is a revolving door business, and the only explanation I can come up with is a lack of motivation to work. If you have a job, get it done. My job is very easy, and I love it, but many people do not last long in this business, and I think it boils down to being lazy. I know I can't afford to lose my job, so I make sure I consistently hit my numbers, and I am currently working out of state to meet the company's needs. Nobody else would volunteer, and one guy who did, could not do the job. People are afraid to work.

 

[ezbtr]

Re: had to fire a guy today....ugh...

While I understand your position, the birthday thing is a nice touch! Would you like him "to spread his legs so you can kick him in the nuts?"
(I stole that quote from a former co-worker at the insurance company we used to work for, and I have loved it ever since)

Oh I SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO wanted to quite a few times.....................