Had my first episode today after 14 years with my company. It did not go like I thought it would. Had to call the police to get the guy to leave the property. I'm all for people working and supporting their family. Nevertheless, when I have given someone multiple chances to fix their performance problems over the years, and they just continue to take advantage of your patience . . . well I think I did the correct thing for the company.

I've had to do it and thankfully, it went better than your experience did.

Don't sweat it. It comes with the job
I've fired hundreds of people

I've only had one get ugly. Usually when I have to fire someone they know it's coming; and have known for a while. I'm very clear as the documentation of non-performance escalates. I'll often start by saying "your actions are what brought us to this point" to make sure they know THEY are the responsible party, not me.

Sometimes it goes pretty easy, sometimes it doesn't. I've never had to call the cops though. Generally when someone has to get fired they are screwing up enough to know it is coming.

I usually carry though, especially on days I know someone is going to get let go.

I never fired anybody. They fired themselves. I just helped them realize they didn't work for me anymore.

Never had any trouble with them like you did though. Sorry for your troubles.

Usually I was glad to see someone go out the door for the last time if it came down to firing them. What I really hated were lay off times when I had to go from around a 120 to below 60. Then I had no choice and the workers were not the kind you wanted to see go.

I did twice.

One went well for me, not well for the thief. I called him out for stealing and told him I had evidence. He cried and got fired.

During the second one a few years later the numb nuts lunged at me across the conference room table while cursing me out. I did a suave conference room table push away and he missed.

We all knew this was going to get ugly so my boss and building security were waiting outside the conference room. He was escorted from the building.

Just be sure everything is documented.

Yes they all went as well as expected. Nothing crazy yet. Always have another person in the room when you fire someone.

Many times, not fun but they knew they f'up. I have had lay offs while still hiring. Some just beg for it.
Allan

Fired bunches of them but almost always with good documentation. We had a three strikes policy...three 'interviews' and you were gone. At the end of the second one my favorite line was " You have two strikes against you, and a fast ball coming..."

Always unfun. Document - document - document.

A few times, not the most fun. Worst one was a guy started crying, really embarassed himself.

The ones I've been involved in went down much like this. You really have to document the things that have caused the termination. Very important. We only ever had one that got ugly. Ugly to the point we had to get a restraining order. Once again, the former worker did him self in-he ended up in jail for getting in a fight. After that we never heard from him again.

I hope you were satisfied with the officers that responded and the way they did their job.

100% true story.

When I was 24 and out of extended University a very well known business man took me under his wing to further his business with me as his apprentice. He sent me down to Birmingham, Alabama to terminate everyone in the building. About 20 or so sales people.

Well word got out that I was coming and boy were they ever ready for me. I walked onto the sales showroom floor and there came an elderly gentleman, in his underwear, riding a bicycle and YES smoking a joint. Needless to say, I was stunned. Further into the building revealed a game of strip poker going on in the break room and a fully stocked bar with about 7 sellers and their friends celebrating happy hour. ALL in their underwear. Men and women. About that time some customers walked in and the guy on the bike dropped his drawers and shouted WELCOME!! The man's wife fainted.

I just shook my head, walked out and drove back to Atlanta. I was the one who resigned that exact same day. Never fired anyone in my life to include that day!!

My introduction into the real world ala Alabama!! Well they sure showed me!

In hindsight I should have simply joined the party!!!

I've fired plenty of hod carriers through my job, but once, I got to fire someone who didn't even work for me. Several years ago when I was in college, I came home for summer break from Laramie, and was celebrating in my favorite hometown bar.

So I was sitting there with a couple of guys I knew discussing the new to me cute cowgirl bartender. My friends were explaining to me what a stuck up b#*%@ she was while she stood over with two other cowgirl friends ignoring us for the most part. Pretty soon two cute biker girls came in and sat at the bar--the bartender ignored them, for a long time. There were only the seven customers in the three groups I've mentioned in there at the time. I did see her lip curl when she looked over at them, but she just turned her back on them and stuck with her friends. So, I spoke up, I said, "I would like to buy these two ladies who have been so patiently waiting a drink". She brought their drinks to them slammed 'em on the bar without a word and came to me with a snotty attitude and snapped "six bucks" or whatever that run back then.

She didn't know me, or that I was in there because one of my best friends, Lee, owned the place, or that I had worked there off and on for years. I told her to call Lee and tell him that Brad just fired her, and to give me the phone (no cells yet) when she was done. He didn't even know the why I told her that yet, but when she handed me the phone, she handed me the keys as well, and walked out the door. I put the phone to my ear and Lee told me he had wanted her gone for a while, but couldn't find a replacement till he heard that I was home and had already fired her for him.

"Replacement", I said,"I already got a job for the summer". "Yea but that's in the day, I want you here at night, besides you fired my help, you owe me". "Well I guess, but I want a two dollar raise and for you to start looking for my replacement," I told him. "You get one dollar, and you're here till fall classes start," he says. I'm really startin' to wish I hadn't fired that chick, but then I noticed the two biker girls were empty and needed my attention, so there I was for another summer

I have fired many. Those with the company went reasonably well as we had a strict process to follow to assure so. Once I went to international projects nearly all that I canned were contractors. I would just advise my PA to call the agency and give them the persons' end date. Poof he/she was gone.

I've always volunteered to do the firing. Shoot, back when in my college days when I worked security to pay tuition, I even had to do the escorting out of the building.

Done it many times and never had a issue. People who are fired put themselves in that position. Laying good people off sucks and is never easy.

2-3 Guys for reapeatedly missing time.

One guy for repeatedly being drunk to where I thought he would hurt himself or someone else.

They all knew my hands were tied and that they made their own beds. No troubles ensued.

If you can't get "be there and be sober" right, nothing I can do to help you......

I have fired several poor performers. We had a system of progressive discipline so the employee knew it was coming. I viewed it as "financial capital punishment". While it wasn't fun, it went with the job.

I had to fire quite a few people in my 39 career. Retired now.
One thing that I think to help understand the process is that people "fire themselves", via their performance or behavior. The person firing them is just delivering the message.

Yes we want people to be able to support their families, but they have to willing and capable of doing that. Letting the poor ones hang around just screws the better employees.
More than one time I had police or a corporate security person in the next room when I had to deliver the message. But never did run into violence beyond verbal.

Yeah.

Never hire your brother-in-law. That's all I'm sayin.


Firing comes with the job.

I had zero issues with dumping folks. They were due and for good reason. If they did not have my passion I had little use. My performance was delivered via the success of theirs. I rewarded my best as due. They made me better. If they were not working to win, well, see ya...

I fired one guy.
The contractors that I was inspecting all wanted to kill the guy. I stopped a Mason that had picked him up by the scruff of his neck and belt to throw him off of 6 jacks of scaffold. he was dangling in the air when I stopped the guy from throwing him.
I called my boss and told him the situation and he told me to fire him.
I told him it was too late I already did. I was just letting him know what I did.
That little Middle Eastern SOB went to the city and had them force me to let him back on the job.

So when he returned I told him he had do do what I told him to do and I made him stay in his car for a month while I did all of the inspections.
Before that I was always the one being fired and after that I am still the one getting fired.

Bout done with California.

Too bad you stopped the mason.

In some states, he needed killin is an accepted legal defense.

Easy enough when someone's clearly done the wrong thing, or when despite performance management efforts they just aren't prepared to make an effort. Not all terminations are for those reasons though, and sometimes the circumstances are such that you might have some sympathy.

For example, I was called in to terminate a fellow in his 30s, married with children, who'd suffered a back injury (outside work) which clearly was not his fault. Unfortunately for him he could no longer perform the requirements of his job as a storeman and despite his best efforts it was actually unsafe, on medical grounds, for him to continue. With his education and skills, there was no other role for him, and his prospects weren't good for getting a job anywhere else either. Poor fellow was in tears, and I have to say that I felt for him.

I did not mind firing those who really deserved it but the layoffs were always tough. We were a construction outfit and layoffs were not uncommon from time to time, hated it.

Firing 8 Indians on a reservation construction went better than I thought it would. They were happy the weekend started early and REALLY happy when I handed them their final checks after the bad news.

I used to run one of two crews for a general contractor (an engineer)
I had between 6 and 10 folks working under me at any one time, and it was understood that any time you felt you were working harder than me, we would trade jobs for the day. (No one ever took me up on the offer).
In at least 10 years there, i had to only fire one guy. I caught him breaking the law and our contract, by polluting someone else's property, instead of hauling away the debris as we were under contract to do.
I gave him a choice, clean it back up, and do the job correctly, or I would mail him his final check, misus the cleanup costs.
He chose fist fight on jobsite. (That's a major no-no).
I drug the fool off the property, after a lesson in manners, and mailed what was left of his check.
Since i cleaned up his mess, he paid me to give him an "invitation to the world".
No regrets.

Ya
I am an ex Iron Worker and the Iron Workers on the job were very angry and wanted blood.
This SOB shows up and tells me that the Boss wanted him to be the lead man on the job.
I told him by no means was he going to be the lead inspector on this project.
we got into kind of a scuffle about the position.
He did not know that the big boss was my Apprenticeship instructor in the Ironworkers and that I had talked him into getting into inspection and 10 years latter he hired me.

I have been told twice by an owner of a Lab (I highly respect this owner and have known him for over 20 years) that I am way over qualified to do my job. His flunky fired me two months ago. I was told from a Millwright that I scare people on jobs because of what I know and that is why I am always the one getting fired.
My old boss from the guy I fired moved on to State jobs and wanted me to go with him. I told him I did not want to go back to school for 8 years to get all the certs I needed.
In hind sight I should have made the move.

Looking for a new Currier at the moment.
ether teaching or getting back in the trades.

Last week. Actually three months ago, but it took that long to find the right replacement so I could let him in on the secret. Dumb SOB was dishonest, lazy, and incompetent. That's some unholy trifecta.

Over 40 years probably fired 50 folks! Way I figured it....if they couldn't show up for work on time they didn't need a job!!

Pretty damn simple really!!

I started my trucking career [sic] as a mover (Mayflower). I hired hundreds of day laborers but you're unlikely to fire anyone who's only working one day. Nonetheless, there was an exception.

I don't know exactly where I was, California, East Bay, it was a corporate move loading from one of those '50s bedroom suburbs, maybe San Jose or something. I hired a lumper out of the truck stop because that was always a bunch cheaper than agency help. This truckstop had a sort of ersatz union thing going on inside and labor was high, so I hired a guy that approached me out in the lot.

He started out good, worked hard but it was a long day and the longer it went the crankier and balkier he got. Finally he was getting downright ornery and threatening and I decided I had to get him off the job but it felt like it could get dangerous.

I discretely called the police and said I was going to fire a guy and he was going to attack me and I needed help. Two cops showed up asking who attacked who and I told them "I'm about to fire him and I think he will attack me." They admonished me that I couldn't do that, told me to call if he did attack me and turned to leave. Meanwhile this has really worked up my helper so I quickly told the cops "Watch this." and told the guy "You're fired, don't touch anything, get out of here." and he immediately attacked me right in front of the cops!

Now the move was a disaster and I worked well into the night finishing loading. I was too tired, maybe stupefied, to drive miles and miles to find another truckstop so I went back to the same place to sleep. When I woke up in the morning I climbed down from the cab into a beautiful, sunny California day and went behind the trailer to relieve myself. The fired helper jumped me back there and tried to kill me! (It was very disturbing.)

Fast forward through all that drama... afterwards, other lumpers told me the guy was a junky and I had kept him on the job until he was long overdue for a fix.

Usted está despedido.

Said this several times over the years even though I could have used good old plain English.

I just said it so there would be no misunderstanding.

It's no easier if it's a high school kid or illegal farm worker. Painful for the empathetic.