Letting someone go..

[GeneraL CyberFunK]

Just had to let a new trainer go as I didn't think she was working out. Thought I did everything right in that explained the reason (more that I felt that she needed a more corporate environment with more client exposure and that would in turn allow her to build her confidence.. which she had none of(didn't say to her that she had none)) and that I didn't have the resources available to train her up (in my opinion she should have never been certified with her current level of weight training experience). It got messy and she accused me of letting her go due to having a problem with women who have children which is bullshit as I took her on because I wanted her to connect with that exact market. Kept interrupting me and saying she didn't trust me and effectively not listening to what I had to say WHICH was really that I didn't want to waste her time. She ended up going all weird, self deprecating, defensive and not listening and I had to sternly explain to her that my decision was based more on what I felt I could offer her.. and she was then insisting to pay for the shirts I had ordered for her which I had to again sternly advise it wasn't required nor would it be accepted. She then got up crying and ran out of the place which I thought was a bit much for a 40 something.

Interesting how you think you are doing the right thing and trying to help someone and they end up running out crying and making you look bad. Anyone else got any stories or future suggestions?

[emptyvessel]

Well, you did just sack her. No matter how you phrase it, most people don't take too kindly to being sacked, especially those who don't have the self awareness to be able to grasp that it isn't working out.

[GeneraL CyberFunK]

She conceded it wasn't working out but she kept having little stabs at me and I just kept saying that I apologise if that was her perception but these are the reasons and that I'd be wasting her time in furthering her career by keeping her on and stunting her growth. It's not like it was out of the blue though as she got shitty at me last monday because she came in on school holidays and wanted to know what was the agenda for the week even though I tried calling her the day before to say that I was under the impression she was off for the 2 week school break and that I hadn't scheduled any development for her that week. She then got all shitty because she put her kids in day care and that apparently costs "a fucking fortune" (not my problem). Had she answered the phone on the Sunday directly after she texted me (errgh text messages) there would have been no mis-communication and things wouldn't have been so tetchy.

[mech]

She sounds like a dickhead and that you did the right thing.

Thankfully I've never had to fire someone directly, but have worked to get people fired. The problem is the people you want to fire are usually the ones who make it most difficult.

Here in the US people get fired at the drop of a hat. They don't seem to take it personally - we've re-hired a bunch of people we let go in the past at work, what the.

[Rorschach]

Sucks but probably the best thing for all involved. Sounds like she has a few insecurities floating around in her head. If she was smart she should have asked for feedback and a decent reference for her next position because you're only as good as your last job which I found out the hard way.

[GeneraL CyberFunK]

Thanks guys..

Shit feeling to go through on her end I know.. but to be certified as a PT but not have the knowledge or aptitude to go into a gym and suss out equipment really isn't something I have time for. I'm shitty that she was recommended to me.

Time to do my recruiting MY way instead of using someone else's template.

[selfish]

Maybe the recommendation was a way for someone else to get rid of her?

[GeneraL CyberFunK]

Nah she was a student recently certified.

[t0mby]

Should've given her Candys deets. I hear nutters are his specialty.

[emptyvessel]

I find it weird that you can be sacked and still get a decent reference from the place that sacked you. I still have a mental link between being sacked and being shit.

Semi off topic, but it amazes me that people who have been given the arse from multiple jobs for being shit can still get jobs. Partially I think it's down to HR rules around external information when recruiting. The IT industry is small and whenever I've interviewed people I made sure I spoke to people who had worked with them and found out what they are like. However we could only use the CV and official references in order to make decisions around short lists and hiring, not the knowledge that applicant X was a fuckwit and everyone who works with him hates him. Doesn't stop you tailoring your interview questions to probe known weak spots though.

I've been on tonnes of interview and recruiting panels but have never had to fire anyone, thankfully.

[Cletus]

When I was 17 I worked in an office in a transport company. I got a friend a job there driving a forklift. He didn't like the pay and in the first week tried to poison the office staff by putting AntRid and bleach in the hot water urn.

I was the one who had to sack him. Obviously that wasn't lesson enough because many years later another friend got a job with me at a well known pest control company. When asked if I could say anything positive for him I told my bosses that he has a sexy wife. They still hired him and he was a retard. I flatly refuse to help friends get a job now. And I wouldn't ask someone to vouch for me either.

Anyway funkus, it's your business. In the end it's your right to decide what and who works for you, even if it's not always the best choice. You take the risk in both working for yourself and the people who you choose to represent your business.

[Candy Arse]

We'll have a chat about that this weekend, GCF. I have some thoughts on this matter.

[unfnknblvbl]

Fuck I hate firing people. I had to fire a friend of my boss once. Totes awks.

[GeneraL CyberFunK]

I've been pondering whether I should call her in a few days time to ensure she is okay. At present I am thinking not as that's just rubbing salt into the wound.

When I took her on, I was really struggling with the workload. Doing 35hrs worth of client contact plus another 35hrs of general studio management and business development stuff - I just wanted someone to take new clients and allow me to hand some existing clients on to her as well so I could focus on further business and project stuff.

Good thing I did the right thing and had her come into the studio to tell her the news... SHE HAD MY MP LV 1 folder!!! Got it back thankfully!

[Megaman]

Should've given her Candys deets. I hear nutters are his specialty.

We'll have a chat about that this weekend, GCF. I have some thoughts on this matter.

Looks like it's worked out well for all concerned.

[t0mby]

I've been pondering whether I should call her in a few days time to ensure she is okay. At present I am thinking not as that's just rubbing salt into the wound.

She'll see your number in the caller id and think she is getting her job back, so yeah, probably a good idea.

[Froggy]

You did the right thing, too risky in your line of work if someone ends up seriously hurting themselves due to her skills.

[Candy Arse]

I've been pondering whether I should call her in a few days time to ensure she is okay. At present I am thinking not as that's just rubbing salt into the wound.

When I took her on, I was really struggling with the workload. Doing 35hrs worth of client contact plus another 35hrs of general studio management and business development stuff - I just wanted someone to take new clients and allow me to hand some existing clients on to her as well so I could focus on further business and project stuff.

Good thing I did the right thing and had her come into the studio to tell her the news... SHE HAD MY MP LV 1 folder!!! Got it back thankfully!

Don't bother calling her.

[GeneraL CyberFunK]

I think my main concern for calling her was that given her obvious distress and emotional outbursts.. and that she ran out of here.. like literally ran (is that because she's in the fitness industry? maybe? Burn calories while getting the boot!) out of the place. I had this concern for her safety like she may not have made it home because she had sobbed that hard while driving that she could have had an accident.

[GameHED]

You are to blame for your feelings of guilt. That's why you seek the opinion of people on the forum to make you feel less guilty for sacking a woman. You love to destroy her life because she is a woman with kids. Her kids are going to grow up miserable just because you were too lazy to train people. Now if another person comes along with skills they will demand higher pay because you are not giving them enough money for what they are worth. You always look at the bad side of things. The more you train them the better you will be at training. Training is probably a skill you probably lack which is why you don't want to do it. Usually when people talk about "no time to do it" it means they are not working fast enough. Work faster and then you will have more time. This way it won't matter how bad the worker is and then you won't have to feel guilty for sacking them for being crap. Problem solved.

Can you get her to at least post her side of the story so we can find out if she was unfairly sacked for other reasons?

She might have been sobbing due to unfair conditions at the workplace, like perhaps you were mean or something. You act like a dick on these boards for example. It could just be a case you are being too picky. You know if she has kids it might interfere with the time she has to devote to the work. Kids are annoying and want constant attention so the workers who have them are usually more drained off time and energy for having them. No wonder feminists are getting jobs at gamespot ad gettting sex chanes and becoming games reviewers. You are sacking the female workers and blaming the game industry for not putting strong women characters in the games and then marking them down for it.

You should meet the woman and offer to get her a job at another place which is doing well. You sacked her now you got to help her get one elsewhere or nobody will want to work at your business due to the conditions. Maybe you should just accept that the schools training the people are never going to be perfect and as long as they get their money they don't give a fuck if the students found work or not because they already got their money.

[Candy Arse]

I think my main concern for calling her was that given her obvious distress and emotional outbursts.. and that she ran out of here.. like literally ran (is that because she's in the fitness industry? maybe? Burn calories while getting the boot!) out of the place. I had this concern for her safety like she may not have made it home because she had sobbed that hard while driving that she could have had an accident.

It's a business decision and you have to do what's in the best interests of your business. You're guaranteed you can't please everyone, but tough titties.

Also some really good advice I'll give you is to not take business advice from GameHED.

[GeneraL CyberFunK]

I actually don't feel bad that I let her go. I feel sooo much better actually. PLUS.. I would recommend all small business owners who are struggling with getting work done to fire someone because you get sooo much work done in the lead up to having that meeting. I was a fucking machine.

GameHED gives business advice how he makes love - with an iron fist to his own anus.

[GameHED]

Candy how do you know the woman was bad at her job? You are only taking his side because you know him on the game board. You got to figure out that some people are just mean and hate women with kids. Business taps into the female workforce and must understand that women are mothers who have to raise children so they may not have the same amount of free time as a single male with no kids. It's why he mentioned that she accused him of picking on her for her sex and that she had children.

Businesses only want workers they can control easily, and having no kids is a bonus.
You got to train your workers and protect them. If you can't do that the business is not a good place to work at. The people working there will feel like the only reason they want to work there is the pay. So if they see higher pay somewhere else they will leave that business as soon as possible once they get better skills or start their own business to compete with you.

He is a negative person always look at things as half glass empty.

[GameHED]

I actually don't feel bad that I let her go. I feel sooo much better actually. PLUS.. I would recommend all small business owners who are struggling with getting work done to fire someone because you get sooo much work done in the lead up to having that meeting. I was a fucking machine.

GameHED gives business advice how he makes love - with an iron fist to his own anus.

If you feel good at firing a bad worker why would you need to post asking for advice about her sobbing?

It's guilt dude. You feel guilty and want people to reassure you that you are not a mean boss.

Those kids will probably end up angry and pissed that their mum's boss was not good enough to train workers because he was too lazy to help the worker.

Deep down inside you know you are a bad man. Hurting women by sacking them and then quickly hiring new women who you can later sack because it makes you feel good to make them sob. Then giving your friends their contact number so they can come in as hero to rescue them. Pretty sick man.
As I said just work fast and harder than anyone else so there is enough time to compensate for the crap worker. It allows for your own personal growth. As a business you want to be better than other businesses so people want to work for you. You are taking the easy way out and then blaming the worker for the poor training at the school they went to. Not even giving them a fighting chance. Shame on you. She probably ran out of the place because she thought you were a dangerous person. Your behavior on these boards is pretty scary.

[selfish]

No no no no no. She's not your responsibility - keep the fuck out of it is my advice. I've had to fire people, only from casual shit, and calling afterwards is a terrible, terrible idea.

It's like calling an ex to apologise for hurting her. All it's doing is encouraging the crazy.