Have you ever had to fire someone?

Question

I have been lucky in my company that I have only had to fire 1 person in over 20 years. My employees become part of my working family, and we all become very close, so it is hard to ask one to leave, especially when they were such a great employee....

Answer 1

Weird..

Answer 2

As an business owner, I've fired many, and I have no problem doing it.  You have to be pretty pathetic for me to fire you.  All I expect is that a person show up on time, and MAKE ME MONEY during the 8 hours they are being paid for.  They are given a guidebook when they start which explains everything I expect, and what they may and may not do when they're on MY time.  You'd be AMAZED at the number of people who can't manage to put their personal lives on hold for the period of time they are in my employ.  People seem to think it's okay to check their email, send txt msgs, make phone calls, surf the internet, etc, etc when I am paying them to work for ME.

You wouldn't expect a surgeon to send txt msgs in the middle of an operation, or a police officer to ignore a bank robbery because he wanted to call his girlfriend, but I have employees do this sort of c**p all the time.

Around here, it's 3 strikes and you're out, and I feel no remorse when I tell them not to come back.  Let them go cost someone else money.

Answer 3

I have had to fire people in every job I've had...  it sucks.

You were lucky to always have such great employees.

Answer 4

Yes, as a retail store manager, I had to fire several.  It was never easy ,  not even the young lady who I caught red handed stealing from the store.

It is NOT a pleasant task.  There is NO feeling of power in it at all.

Answer 5

Yes, several and it's the worse part of my job. I hate doing it unless it's a thief. I hate thieves. The way I look at it is I'm letting them go because of their performance. The thing that helps is that I feel I'm cheating all the other employees if I keep someone that does not carry their share of the load. Also, the more you have employed, the more problems you have to deal with. I can't imagine what it would be like trying to keep a large hospital staff together. 24/7 About 250 is the max that I have had to manage. I remember the first person that I fired. I was a kid and my boss wanted me to take a management position that I did not want. I was single , young and lived where there were a lot more women than men. I did not want the responsibility. He, my boss, left town so I was forced into it. Car business, we had sold one and when you have a customer waiting, you get it ready ASAP. I found the clean up guy sitting on a bench smoking while the car sat there. I fired him. And I washed cars for a week trying to find another person for the job. Great lesson, NEVER FIRE SOMEONE IN ANGER. You might just end up washing cars for a while.

Answer 6

No.

Answer 7

Yep, two.  Both for willful sleeping on the job.

Answer 8

Yes.  It's not my favorite part of the job.