[Herr]

How do you think you would handle being told that you need to dismiss, fire, sack or make someone redundant? Do you believe you could do it? How would you feel about doing it?

Believe it or not as simple a task as it sounds like, over 80% of all working aged people find this to be something rather difficult and unpleasant to do.

What about you? Would it be different if the person was someone close to you?

[geetar]

Alan Sugar finds it easy enough. But then, he is an utter bellend.

As for me, I'm sure I'd be able to do it if I had to. Be sympathetic but firm, and get it over with quickly.

[Herr]

(Original post by geetar)
Alan Sugar finds it easy enough. But then, he is an utter bellend.

He is only that way for the camera though.

[Genocidal]

I got rid of two people and decided to work exclusively with remote workers. I didn't find it difficult at all because they just weren't really that good. They were more of a hindrance than a help really. I always believe that if you feel bad about getting rid of someone then you are not really sure of your decision. If it's the right decision then you won't feel bad.

[Leicestergrad11]

I suppose it depends if it's about their performance or if your told to get rid of them to save costs / downsize


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[standreams]

I've had to do it for the first time this month. And I wasn't told to do it, it was my decision (of course, I consulted with my manager to get his approval, but the idea came from me). It's a horrible thing to do and I hope never to have to do it again, but when someone is underperforming it needs to be done- business comes first.

[GR3YFOXXX]

I've had to close a shop with over 20 employees. I work for a big accounting firm and the shop was part of a chain we were administering. I found it tough, but It ultimately wasn't my decision so I didn't feel personally responsible. But having to make so many people redundant whilst I was only 23 was a hard thing to do.

[Meee123]

It is very hard to do but if it needs to be done, it needs to be done. In a previous life, I've always tried to resolve issues and work around problems, but sometimes theres just no more to give and people start to take the p eye double s and so it's time to let them go. It makes you wary of what 'type' to employ next time and makes it much easier to get the 'yes' pile down. At the point when I decided to study, I had 4 part-timers, but I fought like made to help them get work with other companies and gave them amazign references etc as they were like gold dust.

[cl_steele]

Probably so, wouldnt be especially pleasant but if youre in a position to fire people then your ultimate interests are for the company and not an employee and to be honest theyd have done something to merit getting ye olde heave ho so i assume i could do it, maybe one day we'll see

[Dirac Delta Function]

(Original post by Herr)
How do you think you would handle being told that you need to dismiss, fire, sack or make someone redundant? Do you believe you could do it? How would you feel about doing it?

Believe it or not as simple a task as it sounds like, over 80% of all working aged people find this to be something rather difficult and unpleasant to do.

What about you? Would it be different if the person was someone close to you?

wouldn't have much trouble with it. I got a painter to paint my house. After he finished I told him hiring him was one of the worst decisions I've ever made. I still paid him, of course, but I let him know I was not happy.

finding a good tradesman is a real hit and miss game.

[cid]

If they deserved dismissal i wouldn't think twice, it's about whats best for the majority and if someone is not up to the job they could be risking the jobs of others that are.

If they were not up to the job through laziness or something like that it would be easy, if they were not up to the job despite good effort, it would be harder, personally in that situation i would volunteer to provide a glowing reference for their next job and try my best to get them as long a window of grace for seeking new employment as possible. It would be the same if it was redundancy for down sizing, but it would be quite a bit harder to bring myself to do.

[AbuAK]

You have to be firm, but polite. Tell them the reason why you are letting them go and also mention how you have given them warnings. Not just eff off, your fired

[Herr]

(Original post by Dirac Delta Function)
wouldn't have much trouble with it. I got a painter to paint my house. After he finished I told him hiring him was one of the worst decisions I've ever made. I still paid him, of course, but I let him know I was not happy.

finding a good tradesman is a real hit and miss game.

I thought I was the only one who held similar opinion with regard to tradesman in UK

[Herr]

I'm rather surprised so many have indicated that they'd be fine with the task of dismissing someone from the job. In the corporate world especially in many manufacturing or typical working class type jobs delivering the news is often among one of the most dreaded tasks one can ever face in their careers.

Many find such a task rather intimidating and some obviously find it to be a rather scary to perform. I've worked in the M&A, Corporate Finance and restructuring previously, one of the tasks is often to decide how many people or in some cases who should lose their jobs, while in general essentially every file you hold is just a number there is always a person behind that number.

For a while when I was without a job, I freelanced as a corporate downsizer, (though the actual designation was a rather normal "Business consultant") I got that job on recommendation of the IB I had taken a redundancy from, it was rather similar though completely different as the role portrayed in the film Up In The Air. Quite surprising the kind of places I was sent to, from big huge IBs to very small firms that were less than 10 employees to one family business where the father wanted to fire the son but didn't have the balls to do it himself, though vast majority of it I was sent by someone who had either bought the company or were on the verge of insolvencies.

Had quite a few hairy experiences, including one where I had to dismiss a CEO, was quite sad for her, she had turned around the company from a struggling one on the verge of insolvency to one where it was a market leader, except it got taken over and the company that had taken it over wanted the CEO and almost 2/3 of the workforce gone... let's just say in future I would not dismiss someone in a room full of photoframes

[Dirac Delta Function]

(Original post by Herr)
Had quite a few hairy experiences, including one where I had to dismiss a CEO, was quite sad for her, she had turned around the company from a struggling one on the verge of insolvency to one where it was a market leader, except it got taken over and the company that had taken it over wanted the CEO and almost 2/3 of the workforce gone... let's just say in future I would not dismiss someone in a room full of photoframes

that sounds like a bit of a dumb move for them to make!?

[Herr]

(Original post by Dirac Delta Function)
that sounds like a bit of a dumb move for them to make!?

Well yes and no, depends how you look at it.

The company that took them over had 4 main priorities, they wanted some of the very valuable assets, the patents, the trademarks and the research that was going on which was already at a rather advanced stage.

You could say they were the asset strippers. They then sold the patents, trademarks and the research to one big giant and the other assets were sold on separately. Am told they made a whooping 11mil in net profits from the whole deal.

[ThePants999]

I'm with Herr. I ran a Young Enterprise company at uni and we had to fire a director; it was the hardest thing I have ever done, and it wasn't even like that was her livelihood or anything, just an extracurricular. If I had to let one of my team go now we're talking real jobs... Christ, I'm not even sure I could do it. I'm astonished to hear that people think they could do it easily - you'd have to be completely heartless to find it easy.

[Jeester]

I could do it without even batting an eye lid.
In buisness money is everything, if they are a drain they must be plugged.
Obviously going through the correct precedure, i.e. continual underperformance.

[Drunk Punx]

If it needs to be done, it needs to be done. No one person is bigger than the company.

I wouldn't enjoy doing it, don't get me wrong, and I realise that my own set of morals might get in the way (as with Herr's story, ideally I wouldn't fire that woman out of principle; she essentially made the company what it was. But then, would my own job be put at risk as a result? I can't do the job I'm supposed to be doing, and she's going to get the sack one way or the other).

It's difficult, to say the least.

[SirMasterKey]

(Original post by standreams)
I've had to do it for the first time this month. And I wasn't told to do it, it was my decision (of course, I consulted with my manager to get his approval, but the idea came from me). It's a horrible thing to do and I hope never to have to do it again, but when someone is underperforming it needs to be done- business comes first.

As long as they get warnings first. It isn't too fair if you just sack someone as you find them underperforming before you give them the chance to improve and let them know that you think they are underperforming.