SLUGS

A direct quote from Dave Anderson, “The best time to fire is before you hire!” Not a bad thought however; once the decision is made to hire, it is cross the fingers time and hope you made the right choice. If it turns out that a new hire is a slug, terminate them quickly. Never vacillate - should I or shouldn’t I.

I had hired hundreds of folks during my career and also had to fire some. What I learned over the years was I never really fired anyone; a contradiction, not really. As I reflect back I have concluded - people fire themselves. Two examples:

Jet Lag

The office manager hired a nineteen year old for the receptionist position. During the interview the employee told the office manager that as a pre-condition to accepting the job she would need to take the second Friday off after she started work to attend a wedding out of town and would be back to work on Monday morning. The office manager agreed and the nineteen year old was hired. On the Monday when she was to return to work the employee didn’t show up at her starting time of 8:00AM. She called the office manager at 10:00 and told the manager she wouldn’t be in to work. The employee explained that she had returned from her out of town trip late and had jet lag. The manager asked the employee where she had been that caused jet lag. The employee said, Chicago. Since a flight from Chicago to Detroit Metro Airport is about forty minutes, it gave the manager pause and the office manager informed the employee she was history.

Christmas Eve

When I took a position with a dealership I had inherited an employee who was trouble from day one. Suffice it to say the employee should have been terminated eons ago. She was a problem child and kept pushing my hot button.

It was the policy of the store to be open for business on Christmas Eve until noon. At about 10:00AM she hit the hot button once too often and in a high blood pressure moment, she was fired. Now that may sound cold hearted and mean to fire someone on Christmas Eve. Not really, she looked at me smiled, extended her hand and said, thank you. She wanted to be fired so she could sit home, eat chocolates, watch afternoon soaps and of course collect unemployment. I did accommodate her wishes and never looked back or felt any guilt for terminating her on Christmas Eve. Twenty years later I can still see the smile on her face. She got the Christmas gift she wanted.