Firing people-more of a rave then it should be

[heyzeus]

The only people I've fired have been people that I've caught straight stealing out of a cash drawer. It's surprising and enlightening how a person can rationalize almost anything. In every case, the offender felt like they were somehow in the right. I've taken a lot away from it about the human psyche, if that makes sense. True self-awareness is ridiculously difficult, and maybe impossible.

The only exception was a girl I had to fire for a three strikes policy that I was sleeping with. The owner asked me (knowing something was up) if I had a problem with it. I said no. I called her to the office and she thought I was flirting I guess. I'm surprised she didn't kill me.

That was probably the end of the nookie though, right?

[stlouie_lipp]

The only people I've fired have been people that I've caught straight stealing out of a cash drawer. It's surprising and enlightening how a person can rationalize almost anything. In every case, the offender felt like they were somehow in the right. I've taken a lot away from it about the human psyche, if that makes sense. True self-awareness is ridiculously difficult, and maybe impossible.

The only exception was a girl I had to fire for a three strikes policy that I was sleeping with. The owner asked me (knowing something was up) if I had a problem with it. I said no. I called her to the office and she thought I was flirting I guess. I'm surprised she didn't kill me.

Be a lawyer for a day; you'll hear the rationalizations over, and over again. The stories are always strikingly similar. Criminal or a deadbeat, doesn't matter - the stories are the same. You get numb to them after a while.

[Radbird]

I hate uncooperative data.

[Gashouse]

My company functions on an "internal free market". Project managers have free reign to choose or not choose who they have work on their projects. If you're consistently short on work, that's a sure sign that you should look for another job because clearly not many folks want you to work on their projects. So in the end, firings are pretty rare as people usually try to find a graceful way out.

There is someone who is kind of clearly not seeing the writing on the wall. I've worked with her probably more than any one and given her countless "second" chances. The fact that i've finally given up on her is really the last straw, and she's schedule for a come to Jesus meeting with HR folks this week. If she doesn't see the obvious, then HR has to resort to firing her. Her consistently sub-par performance is the reason, and I'm not the only PM who has been underwhelmed. Still, I feel a sort of responsibility that is kind of tearing me up. It will be better in the long run, but I feel bad. She's also pregnant with twins, so this is a fantastic time for her to be fired.

[pioneer98]

In that setup, how do the people that all the PMs want not end up getting overwhelmed? Do they like end up taking all the best projects and working like 80-100 hours per week?

I think a lot of people would struggle in that kind of setup. I would! I don't know what your turnover level is, but I bet it's higher than ours, and turnover already kills us at times. It took HR 9 months to fill a job once.

[cardsfantx]

does she get paid, even when no when picks her? meaning she gets paid to do basically nothing? Hell, I'd deliver sub par performances too, to get to do that if so!

[Gashouse]

Everyone also has free reign to say no to projects if they're fully committed, or simply don't want to work on it (like i've been reluctant to help on oil sands projects). Of course it's difficult for young staff to say no. We also have PMs project hours for each person on their projects as well as they can for 6 months out. If someone is projected for 80 hrs/wk between all their projects, then PMs know to check in and double check that that person is committed to their project or if they need to find someone else. So there's also a lot of onus on people to make sure they aren't overcommitted. there's definitely stiff competition for the best workers.

Some people struggle with it, but I think our turnover is pretty low - or at least not any worse than industry average. Flexible working environment and a nice work culture are big plusses.

edit: if she can't fill her time sheet, then she has to use vacation time. I've noticed that I think she's charging extra hours to my projects, so I'm even less likely to use her because she's killing my budget. If I am going to use her, I have to tell her to bill no more than a certain number of hours. So, this is basically how people get pushed out in a very passive way when they consistently can't fill their time sheets with billable time.

I hate tracking billable time.

[thrill]

I fired my first person a couple weeks ago. It was a guy I'd been working with for 6 years. I didn't fire him the second I could, but it was pretty close.

I don't want to say I enjoyed it, because I truly did not, but it was incredibly satisfying. He's had it coming the entire time I've known him, but our boss was too chicken [expletive] and I picked up the slack enough that he never really looked as bad at his job as he was.

[33anda3rd]

Firing someone who's a good person and who works hard is rough. I had this guy years and years ago when I was the overnight housekeeping manager at a Hyatt hotel, Walter. That SOB cleaned like there was no tomorrow. I mean, he WORKED. Put him on deep cleaning lobby bathrooms all night, no complaints, and those crappers sparkled. But he called off all the time. Personal stuff, kids, baby mama drama, family drama. I had to fire him because his attendance was so bad. It was awful. He needed the job. I hated it, and felt like crap for a long time after.

Firing someone who just flat-out sucks as a person and an employee can be very much the opposite.

[docellis]

" True self-awareness is ridiculously difficult, and maybe impossible. "

truest thing in this thread