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0 pointskemiller20028y ago0 comments

This is true. Sometimes you have to let go of problem employees, but this should really be a last resort. Fire fast doesn't take into multiple considerations, such as the amount domain knowledge does this person possesses. If the person you want to get rid of has been there for 5 years, and knows certain systems in and out it may not be so easy to replace them.

Constant firing can also negatively affect your personal reputation. As a manager your job is to get people to succeed. Firing someone means that ultimately you failed in that. Sometimes this is unavoidable; there are times when people just aren't redeemable. Sometimes it's not. Good managers know the difference, but you have to remember that every time you let someone go for cause, that person probably didn't see it that way. That person has friends who work other places and all of them have a long memory. If word gets out that you quickly remove people who you can't seem to handle, people will want to stop working for you.

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scarface748y ago

If the person you want to get rid of has been there for 5 years, and knows certain systems in and out it may not be so easy to replace them.

One of the biggest mistakes a company can make is keeping a toxic employee around because of their domain knowledge. The company I mentioned that I worked for for 9 years made that mistake. The employee had plenty of domain knowledge but was toxic, insubordinate, and displayed a poor work ethic. I know they had to be glad when that employee left on his own accord.

That employee was me. I look back on those days in horror.

analog318y ago

I've only had a couple of longer term jobs, but at both employers, I noticed that the lowest level workers had a comprehensive oral history of every firing and interesting HR incident that had ever occurred, like an Icelandic saga. And of course it was told from their point of view. So you have to be aware that every firing will be remembered, you will never handle it perfectly, and you don't control the story. A firing has to be worth that price. That's a high bar.

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