What others think
Firing by Phone Anyone?
Self-confessional...
I was managing a team of about 15 people. We'd just taken on a huge project and it was killing us to get it done on time.
All of us were putting in 14-16 hour days with no end in sight. But on the flip side, it was a job that would open a lot of doors for us in the industry. In fact, before we took it on, I presented it to my team and asked them to vote on whether we should do it.
Anyway, about 5 weeks in, we've got a few people that are crumbling under the pressure. Everyone has a full plate, but we're trying to help.
One woman in particular just keeps screwing up. She's not checking her work, not saving files in the right place or with the right name, over-writing other people's files. Screwing up left and right and the team is getting frustrated. I talk to her on several occasions and pair her with an experienced guy as a mentor. I also put her on formal notice that she needs to get it together.
A week later she asks for a 10 day vacation starting in just a couple of days. She tells me it's some family thing that can't be avoided. I tell her okay, but she needs to talk to her team-members and figure out how her work gets done while she's gone.
The other guys on the team step up admirably. Her task list is re-distributed and she's left with a handful of things to finish before she leaves. I make sure she knows that she HAS to finish them AND double-check her work (so there's no more work for everyone else). I also ask that she check check in with me before she leaves, and also check her messages a couple of times while on vacation in case we need to reach her.
That Friday she takes off at 4pm without checking in. By Saturday afternoon it looks like she hasn't fully completed any of the tasks. I call and leave a message letting her know that we're having trouble and could she call and let us know if she saved the files somewhere else.
The rest of the team get on with the other tasks. I have a related meeting out of town on Wed & Thurs. On Wed I get a call from one of the team. Not only did the woman apparently not complete her tasks, but she screwed up someone else's files. She still hadn't returned my earlier message from Monday.
I call her number AND SHE ANSWERS THE PHONE!!! (It wasn't a cell, it was a land line). She's very suprised that it's me. She says something about just getting back in town. I ask about my earlier message and she says "well I knew I'd done everything right, so I figured it was a mistake and didn't bother to call."
I tell her that not only could we not find completed versions of her files, but that she had screwed up someone else's work too. She goes off on how everyone in the group is trying to sabotage her and must have messed with the files. Everything was tracked with usernames, which I point out. Someone must have gotten her password. The files were all edited before she left. No way, she checked everything before she left.
I start to get annoyed at this point. She's blaming the very people that have been working additional overtime to cover her ass. So I tell her "Look, you were on notice. I told you that (a) you needed to check and double check your work and (b) you needed to check your messages in case we had a problem. You did neither and now you are trying to lie your way out of it." and I asked her to come down to the office the next day.
Then she starts freaking out. Why do I want to meet. Why can't she come by next week etc etc. I explain that this is serious. She was already on probation and had failed to do ANY of the things I had asked of her.
"Oh my god, you're going to fire me!" followed by sobs.
Now what could I do here. I was out of town. I could (a) lie for now and fire her to her face the next day or (b) tell her that I was indeed going to fire her.
Lying seemed worse (who wants to be told they're not fired only to be fired the next day) so I told her she was fired. Over the phone. Ouch.
So firing by phone is my personal all time low, but as I see it I didn't really have an alternative choice.
Any comments, anyone??? Lets crank up the prickometer...
You had to do what you had to do.
I think you were patient for longer than you should have been
You were probably too nice. People who can’t do the work are often brilliant experts at blaming others and extending their time on any job. It is a classic move that they go on vacation or get sick just after being told their performance is bad AND especially during busy times where their work is under more scrutiny and needed more. It’s too bad you can’t fire people like this with zero warning.
Thats nothing, I fired a guy for not showing up for work regularly. Calling in due to babysitting and relationship problems. Seems his girlfriend had left him and their newborn baby and had not returned. After several weeks of no show and about 20 “im not coming in today” voice mails..it came down from above to let him go. He came in with his 1 mo old baby on his lap and he was in tears when I let him go. I still feel like dirt.
In that situation, I agree, you’d done all you can. Better to be a bit of a prick (and she did bring on the situation herself!) than a liar.
You gave yourself no chioce in the first place when you asked her to come in to the office the next day. Of course that was telling her that she was going to be fired. If an employee says they need important personal time off, their word should be taken for the truth, because their personal life is their own, not the bosses.’ Asking her to come in when she was supposed to off is on you.
I wish more bosses acted like that. It’s frustrating and demotivating to work on a team with an underachiever. Once the employee had been warned and subsequently continued to demonstrate their incompetence, why wait? No need to prolong the agony until you could both get back in to the office again.
Serves her right, she knew she was an idiot. You did what you had to do. You shouldn’t feel bad for long.
Why did you wait so long to fire her if you already knew that she was a screwup?
I was responsible for a set of contractors directly hired by our company to work with a large team from one of the big consulting companies. While I was attending a training class in the application being configured I received a call that one of the contractors reporting to me was developing against the production server instead of the development server. I fired him over the phone, no waiting, no being nice, just GTFO.
In my opinion you did what had to be done, and obviously you’re a good and fair boss, and just got stuck with an employee who was either over her head, or just too lazy. The fact that you explained the situation, gave her probation notice, and even allowed her to take a vacation at an obviously stressful time seems to point out to me that you’re almost too nice. It isn’t fair to the other members of your team to have to correct every mistake she makes, and take on her responsibilities. I’d have done the very same thing, and kudos for being brave about it.
She sounds like a pro at stringing the boss along and postponing the inevitable firing. If you look into her past, you’ll probably find the same thing at other jobs where she worked. The time off to go out of town when she didn’t really go is classic. She just didn’t want to work.
You should have no regrets for what happened. It was her doing, not yours.
YOU SHOULD OF WAITED TILL SHE WAS BACK FROM HER PTO AND THEN ASKED HER INTO YOUR OFFICE NOT ASK HER TO COME IN THE VERY NEXT DAY WHILE SHE WAS STILL ON PTO HOWEVER WITH THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG U DID WHAT U HAD TO DO ON SOME LEVELS SHE KNEW IT WAS COMING SHOULDN’T BEEN THAT SURPRISING TO HER, BUT STILL FEEL LOUSY :)
With all the bad bosses that need to be exposed you feel the need to assuage your guilt?
She should have been reprimanded and fired long before this incident.
You let the entire group suffer due to your poor management.
Your story leaves out some very important facts; how long had she been at the company? Had she had performance problems before your team agreed to take on the extra work? Was being burdened with significant extra work at the boss’ discretion part of the job she agreed to? Before, or at the time that “the team” took on the task, did she express any concern to the effect that she felt unqualified, unable or unwilling to take on any extra work?
A team decision does not mean that everyone can or wants to “step up to the plate and take on extra work.” The fact that some people “are crumbling under the pressure” is an indication that
you did a lousy job understanding whether your team was even capable of taking on the task, and then managing the additional workload. Your inability to manage the resources assigned to you lead you to fire one employee because of it.
You should be fired.
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