Any thoughts on letting someone go?

Your boss!

No seriously, anyone got any thoughts on what it might be like as a Brit-expat firing an American here in the USofA?

How hard was this from a personal standpoint?

Did you feel awkward about it?

Scared? :scared:

Are you talking about firing someone a la Donald Trump? Or do you need a concealed weapons permit for what you have in mind?

I got fired by an American in the UK several years ago. It was not much fun at the time but I can look back now without feeling angry. It's almost amusing.

I work in sales so things not working out is an occuaptional hazzard. However, this idiot thought he could fire me (and several others) American style. It came as a bit of a suprize as I'd just had a wacking pay increase and a promotion two months before. It was quiet a macho approach - and basically he told us to get out immediately - cars and laptops etc were taken from us and we had to get taxi's home. Our severance pay was also incorrect. When we all got over the shock - we called an employment lawyer and after a few months were compensated properly. I;d only been at the company a few years but colleagues who had been there over ten and were really upset.
I was amused to here that the guy who fired us was himself fired in the same way a few months later.

I've had to bring to an end some people's employment since then - and my own experience makes me a little more sensitive.
However, bottom line is they will probably hate you regardless of your nationality. Also the nationality of the person who fired them will be the least of their worries.

Being sacked for doing a crap job is pretty traumatic (because most people were trying their best even if it was not up to scratch) - however if you disguise the dismissal as related to business issues (e.g. tough market/changing business needs) - it may sweeten the pill a little.

I would say try to treat them the way you would like to be treated. This stuff is part of life. They'll get other jobs.

You may say that but I would hate to fire someone who had young children. I might be able to do it in the UK because I know that with the benefits system they will get by, but here in the US I'm not so sure.

If I ran a company it would be full of useless employees I'd kept on because I would feel sorry for them if I had fired them.

I'm so soft.

Well, I am not an expat in the USA (yet, it may happen if I decide to go for a transfer) but I flew to the USA last week to fire someone. Can't say it was any different to firing someone anywhere else - except for the logistics involved - and the jetlag of course


In this case the person involved was a contractor so there was no real problem - just gave the facts, 'You're doing a crap job', there was little argument and then the escort to the car park.

"pink slip" version

forgot to add, where did the term "pink slip" come from? Does a terminated employee in the USA get a pink-slip? Maybe it is like the "green-card", not green now, maybe not pink colored anymore ... but still called a "pink slip". blah blah

Is this a hypothetical situation or something you are planning?




NC Penguin

Well, we are about to take on our first hire. So it is all a bit new to me. It will probably fall on me to terminate someone ... I will try and delegate this duty or come up with some kind of convenient (for me) rule like: the attorney who hires someone is the person who fires that someone should the need arise. So, I will make sure I don't hire anyone, let someone else do the picking ... and firing! I just don't want to deal with it, makes me feel VERY uncomfortable, but I guess I am going to have to get used to it until we get an Office Manager who would do the messy bit (or a Personnel Officer if we got real big). This is the problem with small businesses, got to wear many hats.

Maybe the SHRM, the professional body for the HR industry may have pages about how to terminate someone professionally.

See-

http://www.shrm.org/

The HR Resources and HR Tools sounds like a good place to start searching/reading...




NC Penguin

Cheers mate.

At the end of the day, if you are letting someone go from a position they are not performing well at, their personal circumstances shouldn't be a factor. When you employ someone to do a job for you, you are paying them X to give you Y. If they don't deliver, you have to let them go. That's business.

I wouldn't have an issue doing it although I wouldn't enjoy it either. I'd be more disappointed in the individual for letting their performance slip.

I prefer the warning route. The ol' "pull your socks up" chat. At least then it's not a shock to them and who knows, they might even improve when they realize their career is at risk. A prefered solution all round.

But where it gets comlicated is when you pay them X and expect them to do 2Y!

Then pay them 2X. Stop being cheap

I seem to recall reading someplace that 80% or more firings are not genuinely related to shoddy work or time keeping, i.e., the person who got fired was doing good work. Apparently, personality clash, new broom etc. are often the underlying cause. I suppose the so-called "going postal" work incidents are related to the same kind of issues.

Come to think of it, I once caught a 146 bus on Michigan Avenue, but the driver (driver A) was changing it to a 147 (which is an Express Bus, heads north along Michigan Avenue then north along Lake Shore Drive ... anyway, driver A told me that his supervisor wanted him to pretend to be a 146 (i.e. arrive at the final bus stop on the 146 route displaying a "146" number, but act like a "147" express bus.

The point of this charade?

To prove some kind of point against another 146 driver ("driver B") that the supervisor did not like, the 146/147 left after driver B but planned to miss the usual 146 stops to arrive before driver B at the final 146 stop (at Berwyn if I remember correctly) ... I guess driver B was doing an OK job because the same supervisor couldn't fire him for poor job performance so set about undermining his confidence with such a stupid charade.

Come to think of it maybe I should have stayed on the fiasco 146/147 bus driven by driver A to the final 146 stop and told driver B what his supervisor was doing to him/her, and left my contact details so that he/she could contact me as an independent witness if he/she sued CTA for harassment. It was clear harassment and misuse of CTA property (Chicago Transport Authority). Oh well, I didn't do that, now I feel bad for driver B.