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Having to say "You're fired"

post #1 of 36
12/10/08 at 5:46pm
Thread Starter 
Boy does it suck. Especially this time of year.

I have four agents in the St. Louis area that have worked for me since 2006, they are nice guys (Serbian) and are very likable, but they are horrible producers. It has been that way since day one. Their entire family has worked for us at one time or another, and every single one of them has been proven to be unreliable. I've turned a blind eye because I like them.

However, I can no longer justify their continued existence within our company.

I call to tell them that and I find out one of the guys just had his first kid today. Dammit.
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post #2 of 36
12/10/08 at 5:47pm
When I used to run an outreach office I loved firing people.
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post #3 of 36
12/10/08 at 5:48pm
Did you make them disappear?
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post #4 of 36
12/10/08 at 5:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by C.Swicegood View Post
I call to tell them that and I find out one of the guys just had his first kid today. Dammit.
"Hey, remember how you were wishing you had more time to spend with the new baby?"
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post #5 of 36
12/10/08 at 5:49pm
Whew! At least they're not American.
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post #6 of 36
12/10/08 at 5:50pm
Better than hearing "You're fired."
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post #7 of 36
12/10/08 at 5:52pm
You know who knows how to fire a guy? Sterling-Cooper.
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post #8 of 36
12/10/08 at 5:52pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by devincf View Post
When I used to run an outreach office I loved firing people.
I do take some morbid pleasure in it when the person is an asshole.
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post #9 of 36
12/10/08 at 5:57pm
My advice for you. Start drinking heavily.
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post #10 of 36
12/10/08 at 5:59pm
Heavy lies the head that wears the crown, King Swice.
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post #11 of 36
12/10/08 at 5:59pm
Did you tell him it's only business, and it's not personal?
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post #12 of 36
12/10/08 at 6:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by C.Swicegood View Post
Boy does it suck. Especially this time of year.

I have four agents in the St. Louis area that have worked for me since 2006, they are nice guys (Serbian) and are very likable, but they are horrible producers. It has been that way since day one. Their entire family has worked for us at one time or another, and every single one of them has been proven to be unreliable. I've turned a blind eye because I like them.

However, I can no longer justify their continued existence within our company.

I call to tell them that and I find out one of the guys just had his first kid today. Dammit.
I could understand if the people were valuable parts of your group but by your own admission, they were horrible employee's. And not just bad employees over a small amount of time but two years they couldn't get their act together? I think firing someone sucks but if they truelly deserve it, that would lessen my anguish over the decision.
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post #13 of 36
12/10/08 at 6:06pm
It's a business decision. The timing sucks, but they really only have themselves to blame. It sounds like they didn't produce when the economy was good, so they're dead weight.
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post #14 of 36
12/10/08 at 6:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil View Post
You know who knows how to fire a guy? Sterling-Cooper.
Yeah, i hope i get that treatment.
I had to fire a ton of people too when i used to manage a callcenter. Mostly stupid kids who were in their first job and didn't give a damn. Those i kinda enjoyed. The good men who were really trying, had a family to support, showed a lot of willingness to work, but had terrible english, those were the hard ones.
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post #15 of 36
12/10/08 at 6:15pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Judas Booth View Post
It's a business decision. The timing sucks, but they really only have themselves to blame. It sounds like they didn't produce when the economy was good, so they're dead weight.
This is exactly the way I feel, I've given them a chance in the past and I was able to overlook their numbers when times weren't as lean. But we have far too many agents for the amount of work that is out there to procure. I have to look out for the company's long term health in the long run.

The way I've been looking at it is this: if they needed the job they would have put forth more effort. Otherwise, I have plenty of room to free up work for the guys who are willing to do it.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nick Nunziata View Post
Whew! At least they're not American.
I hope my post didn't come across that way because I mentioned they're Serbian.
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post #16 of 36
12/10/08 at 6:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by devincf View Post
When I used to run an outreach office I loved firing people.

Wotta shock. After you fired people, I'm guessing you enjoyed tossing sackfuls of puppies and kittens into the river.
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post #17 of 36
12/10/08 at 6:37pm
at least they aren't being put into death camps to be ethnically cleansed. Be a man - do it by email.

Can you just call INS on them?

Or how about a Glengarry Glenross, make $X by tomorrow or fuck off.
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post #18 of 36
12/10/08 at 6:41pm
First INS doesn't exist. It's ICE now, get your beaucracy right.

Second a Glengarry-style riot act won't work. Even though bringing a pair of brass balls to work is nice. If they've been incompetant for two years. Well I doubt one day is going to turn it around.
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post #19 of 36
12/10/08 at 6:43pm
Be nice. Add a little empathy. Tell them in Serbian.
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post #20 of 36
12/10/08 at 6:48pm
Maybe for once don't start off with "all right, you Serbian dogs..."
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post #21 of 36
12/10/08 at 6:55pm
I haven't heard of a Serbian being stabbed in the back like this since Monica Seles.
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post #22 of 36
12/10/08 at 6:57pm
When I used to work for my father (he's an Architect), I saw some firings that you could've sold seats to. It's a wonder my Dad never got sued for the way he handled some of them. He's got a hot temper, and while he's nice, he has flipped out more than once when he took something personal that someone did (i.e. secretary stealing money, someone moonlighting and lying about it).

I can't tell you how many times I heard "You have one minute to pack your shit and get the FUCK out of my office, you __________!" come roaring from the offices in the back of that building.
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post #23 of 36
12/10/08 at 7:12pm
You should have texted them.
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post #24 of 36
12/10/08 at 7:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by billylove View Post
You should have texted them.

UR D LOL L8R
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post #25 of 36
12/10/08 at 7:48pm
Are you still there?

...hello...is this thing on?


...well, he's not saying anything...
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post #26 of 36
12/10/08 at 8:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by devincf View Post
When I used to run an outreach office I loved firing people.
Why do I picture the person crying and you screaming "Where is your God now?!?!?" directly in their face?
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post #27 of 36
12/10/08 at 8:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by devincf View Post
When I used to run an outreach office I loved firing people.
Bowl full of irony is served.
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post #28 of 36
12/10/08 at 8:23pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mF1U7QRGgjQ

Sorry about the video quality.
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post #29 of 36
12/10/08 at 9:30pm
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Bc47aZBOk-o
Some classic Fry and Laurie to ease the pain.
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post #30 of 36
12/10/08 at 10:39pm
Don't be Bob Sugar.
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post #31 of 36
12/11/08 at 1:13am
I have some suggestions on the kinds of cigars you could give them to let them down a little easier. . . ?
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post #32 of 36
12/11/08 at 1:07pm
I managed a team of four last year, and I had to fire one of them after about eight months on the job (for me, I mean - this person had been there for a couple of years). The fire-ee definitely deserved it, and had had plenty of chances to fix the problems prior, but was just a fountain of morale poison and poor work.

Even so, I hated doing it. This was a person with kids, and even with it being deserved, I felt shitty.
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post #33 of 36
12/11/08 at 4:59pm
you don't have to say your fired, just say, "we are having to layoff some employees in these hard times, sorry."
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post #34 of 36
12/11/08 at 6:31pm
I think in most professional environments, a layoff has a different legal designation than a firing. Ties into unemployment insurance and stuff.
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post #35 of 36
12/11/08 at 7:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil View Post
I think in most professional environments, a layoff has a different legal designation than a firing. Ties into unemployment insurance and stuff.
Completely correct. Being fired/terminated generally is directly due to performance issues; being laid off generally relates to the economic performance of the company. If you're fired, it can hamper or block your ability to get unemployment benefits. If you're laid off, it's usually easy (meaning still a pain in the ass, but you won't meet unusual resistance from the dopes in the government).
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post #36 of 36
12/11/08 at 8:37pm
Thread Starter 
Plus you have to make considerations that if you DO tell somebody they are being laid off the information will filter back into the workforce and have a negative impact on morale for employees that really don't have to worry about such a thing.

Better to be completely honest with the offending party. It also sends a good, cautionary, message to those that have been lagging when we start "cleaning house".
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