How many people have you fired - Page 5

Hog's Gone Fishin · 01-11-2008, 02:23 PM

I'll bet I've got everyone beat. I don't know the exact number but I know for sure it's well over 200 . Over 20 years in the hog business I've been through a ton of losers. I'm firing 2 today at the end of the workday, they've been going out at lunch smoking pot. This work is way too dangerous for people that are stoned. They could get semen right in their eye or something. And if you've never got the chance to fire someone then how many times have you been fired ? Just wondering.

angelo · 01-12-2008, 09:01 AM

I have never fired anyone, they have always fired themselves.
I just fill out the paperwork and tell them that they no longer have a job.

By the numbers

Had to fire my boss 2 times
Quickest firing 42 minutes (poor attitude)
Most at one time (8 people)
Total over career over 150
Good friends (4)
Girlfriends (3)

I like to get it over quick and not go into detail.
It is never easy and I take no pleasure in it even if that employee is a
cancerous employee.

I have been fired one time for stupid stuff when I was 15. The sting from that embarrassment still lingers.

**Rain Man** · 01-12-2008, 01:41 PM

Here's a semi-interesting related story. It wasn't about a firing, but rather a project contract. It happened to me recently, though I'll use WWII names, dates, and tasks to protect identities.

I had a client who was very nice, but very disorganized. We'll call him Roosevelt. The whole organization Roosevelt works for is highly dysfunctional and has a lot of trouble making decisions, which doesn't help. However, it's a well-meaning and generally ethical group. We'll call that organization America.

In March of 1943, Roosevelt called me. America wanted a very large project, which made me nervous since they don't work very efficiently. Their goal was to invade France, and their deadline to complete the project was three months. We were supposed to hit French turf in July of 1943.

11 months after we started, they finally approved the invasion plan after several stops and starts. At times, the plan abruptly changed to an invasion of Crete, or a new rocketry program, or a plan to assassinate Mao Tse Tung. However, it would always eventually come back to invading France.

At that point, it was February of 1944, and I said, "We've got a plan, but it's now or never time. I've got to build and transport the army. That's very expensive. If I move forward with the next step, there's no going back. We have to invade France. Are you signing off to do that?" After another month or two of decision time, Roosevelt said, "Yes. 100% go. Churchill is on board, Stalin is on board, Congress is on board, it's a go."

I confirmed again. "Not 99%? 100%? Because it has to be 100%." (This involved a Ferrari-level expenditure of funds, so I was not playing any games with them.) "Yes," Roosevelt said. "Go. But one thing. Start the invasion on June 6, so we can record it in our new fiscal year."

Deal. So I get everything in place, assemble an army, ship them to England, train them, and run recon flights over Germany in April and May, which I share with Roosevelt. All looks good.

On June 5, 1944, I load the army into the boats and send a quick telegram/e-mail to Roosevelt telling them that the invasion is a go.

On June 6th, as I wave goodbye to the landing ships steaming out of Dover, I get a telegram/e-mail back. It says, "Uh....we decided not to do the project. Go ahead and shut it down."

I send a telegram/e-mail back. "SayWA?"

I get another telegram/e-mail as the ships sail over the horizon. "Yeah, the project is off. Thanks for understanding."

Now...seriously, I have incurred major, major financial commitments by this point. I have the largest army ever assembled chugging across the English Channel.

I send an e-mail back. "Dude, you have already invaded France. We can't stop. If you want me to withdraw, I can do it, but either way, you're paying for an invasion of France."

Roosevelt tells me to just keep my troops in the middle of the Channel, and there are emergency meetings of Congress (the Board of Directors) and the entire Allied command.

Now Congress steps in, and I get called in for a special hearing. "Why are you invading France? You weren't supposed to invade France."

I wave telegrams in front of them. "Roosevelt authorized it. Roosevelt gave me orders. I have a contract. I was given an invasion date. I've been sending recon reports."

At that point, things get weird. I go back to England, and I'm incurring thousands of dollars a day in costs as boats and troops sit off France doing nothing. Tons of money is going up into the atmosphere in diesel fuel and K-rations and comfort women. No one will tell me why Congress wants the invasion canceled, or what's going to happen.

Two days later, I get a call from Congress. "Invade France. Go for it."

I unleash the troops again, but without a whole lot of confidence now. The troops themselves are none too happy, either, since they've been cramped in landing boats for days. But hey, it was the only reasonable decision.

Now, I happen to know somebody who knows somebody who knows one of the Congressmen. I get a call from the Congressman.

"You wanna know what really happened?" he says.

"Yeah."

"Congress told Roosevelt to stop the project in May of 1944. In our meetings this week, he confessed that he forgot to tell you."

Bottom line, then. This client canceled my contract at a point that was a little too late, and where they were going to eat expenses that were the equivalent of maybe a Ford Explorer. They knew that and accepted it. But NOBODY TOLD ME. By the time the project was underway, they were obligated to Ferrari-level expenses. They tried to figure out a way out of it, but had no escape route. I had already incurred the major expenses under my contract, so they quickly decided that they might as well do the project since they were paying for it either way. Bottom line, my client forgot to "fire" me, so I kept the project.

I'm just very fortunate that the company is ethical and well-meaning, despite their dysfunctions. Otherwise, I would've been royally screwed and would've had to spend a lot of money on lawyers.

Stewie · 01-12-2008, 01:53 PM

I've never been in a supervisory/managerial role, so I've never fired anyone. Where I work one can't manage engineers unless you have a MS or PhD. My boss is a VP (BS ME/MBA) while other engineers report to a PhD. To find the combination of education and people skills in one person is rare. I guess I've been lucky as far as bosses go. Oh, I've never been fired either.

JOhn · 01-12-2008, 02:27 PM

Lets see, I know I've fired over 20 and probably closer to 30. The majority was when I was the general manager for a local fast food place. Then there were 3 I fired when I was the GM at another local retail store.

As far as being fired, I'm proud to say 2 times I got canned.

JOhn · 01-12-2008, 02:31 PM

WOW I'm surprised I forgot this one. I fired my best friend, who was my best man at my first marriage. That was the hardest thing I ever had to do. Lost a very good friend in the process. Since then I've never let myself become friends with anyone whom I have authority over.

**DaFace** · 01-12-2008, 02:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rain Man

...

Heh...I hadn't heard that the invasion was back on. So is the invasion going on as planned from the beginning, or are they scaling back to try and save the money?

blueballs · 01-12-2008, 03:17 PM

the bitch was using
to much teeth

**Rain Man** · 01-12-2008, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaFace

Heh...I hadn't heard that the invasion was back on. So is the invasion going on as planned from the beginning, or are they scaling back to try and save the money?

Hit the beaches, buddy. We're not stopping till Paris.

**gblowfish** · 01-12-2008, 03:43 PM

I've never had to fire anyone, I've hired a couple people.
I quit one job two weeks in -selling encyclopedias door to door-
Got fired at a radio station along with the rest of the staff when it got bought by a conglommo.
Most jobs I've worked for awhile then went on to something better. Was with one company for 20 years before I took a better paying job two years ago.

01-11-2008, 02:23 PM
Hog's Gone Fishin Fish are scared of me Join Date: Nov 2001 Casino cash: $-1579523	How many people have you fired I'll bet I've got everyone beat. I don't know the exact number but I know for sure it's well over 200 . Over 20 years in the hog business I've been through a ton of losers. I'm firing 2 today at the end of the workday, they've been going out at lunch smoking pot. This work is way too dangerous for people that are stoned. They could get semen right in their eye or something. And if you've never got the chance to fire someone then how many times have you been fired ? Just wondering.
Posts: 40,649

01-12-2008, 09:01 AM	#61
angelo Starter Join Date: Oct 2007 Casino cash: $9094965	I have never fired anyone, they have always fired themselves. I just fill out the paperwork and tell them that they no longer have a job. By the numbers Had to fire my boss 2 times Quickest firing 42 minutes (poor attitude) Most at one time (8 people) Total over career over 150 Good friends (4) Girlfriends (3) I like to get it over quick and not go into detail. It is never easy and I take no pleasure in it even if that employee is a cancerous employee. I have been fired one time for stupid stuff when I was 15. The sting from that embarrassment still lingers.
Posts: 775

01-12-2008, 01:41 PM	#62
Rain Man Seize life. Be an ermine. Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: My house Casino cash: $-762449 VARSITY	Here's a semi-interesting related story. It wasn't about a firing, but rather a project contract. It happened to me recently, though I'll use WWII names, dates, and tasks to protect identities. I had a client who was very nice, but very disorganized. We'll call him Roosevelt. The whole organization Roosevelt works for is highly dysfunctional and has a lot of trouble making decisions, which doesn't help. However, it's a well-meaning and generally ethical group. We'll call that organization America. In March of 1943, Roosevelt called me. America wanted a very large project, which made me nervous since they don't work very efficiently. Their goal was to invade France, and their deadline to complete the project was three months. We were supposed to hit French turf in July of 1943. 11 months after we started, they finally approved the invasion plan after several stops and starts. At times, the plan abruptly changed to an invasion of Crete, or a new rocketry program, or a plan to assassinate Mao Tse Tung. However, it would always eventually come back to invading France. At that point, it was February of 1944, and I said, "We've got a plan, but it's now or never time. I've got to build and transport the army. That's very expensive. If I move forward with the next step, there's no going back. We have to invade France. Are you signing off to do that?" After another month or two of decision time, Roosevelt said, "Yes. 100% go. Churchill is on board, Stalin is on board, Congress is on board, it's a go." I confirmed again. "Not 99%? 100%? Because it has to be 100%." (This involved a Ferrari-level expenditure of funds, so I was not playing any games with them.) "Yes," Roosevelt said. "Go. But one thing. Start the invasion on June 6, so we can record it in our new fiscal year." Deal. So I get everything in place, assemble an army, ship them to England, train them, and run recon flights over Germany in April and May, which I share with Roosevelt. All looks good. On June 5, 1944, I load the army into the boats and send a quick telegram/e-mail to Roosevelt telling them that the invasion is a go. On June 6th, as I wave goodbye to the landing ships steaming out of Dover, I get a telegram/e-mail back. It says, "Uh....we decided not to do the project. Go ahead and shut it down." I send a telegram/e-mail back. "SayWA?" I get another telegram/e-mail as the ships sail over the horizon. "Yeah, the project is off. Thanks for understanding." Now...seriously, I have incurred major, major financial commitments by this point. I have the largest army ever assembled chugging across the English Channel. I send an e-mail back. "Dude, you have already invaded France. We can't stop. If you want me to withdraw, I can do it, but either way, you're paying for an invasion of France." Roosevelt tells me to just keep my troops in the middle of the Channel, and there are emergency meetings of Congress (the Board of Directors) and the entire Allied command. Now Congress steps in, and I get called in for a special hearing. "Why are you invading France? You weren't supposed to invade France." I wave telegrams in front of them. "Roosevelt authorized it. Roosevelt gave me orders. I have a contract. I was given an invasion date. I've been sending recon reports." At that point, things get weird. I go back to England, and I'm incurring thousands of dollars a day in costs as boats and troops sit off France doing nothing. Tons of money is going up into the atmosphere in diesel fuel and K-rations and comfort women. No one will tell me why Congress wants the invasion canceled, or what's going to happen. Two days later, I get a call from Congress. "Invade France. Go for it." I unleash the troops again, but without a whole lot of confidence now. The troops themselves are none too happy, either, since they've been cramped in landing boats for days. But hey, it was the only reasonable decision. Now, I happen to know somebody who knows somebody who knows one of the Congressmen. I get a call from the Congressman. "You wanna know what really happened?" he says. "Yeah." "Congress told Roosevelt to stop the project in May of 1944. In our meetings this week, he confessed that he forgot to tell you." Bottom line, then. This client canceled my contract at a point that was a little too late, and where they were going to eat expenses that were the equivalent of maybe a Ford Explorer. They knew that and accepted it. But NOBODY TOLD ME. By the time the project was underway, they were obligated to Ferrari-level expenses. They tried to figure out a way out of it, but had no escape route. I had already incurred the major expenses under my contract, so they quickly decided that they might as well do the project since they were paying for it either way. Bottom line, my client forgot to "fire" me, so I kept the project. I'm just very fortunate that the company is ethical and well-meaning, despite their dysfunctions. Otherwise, I would've been royally screwed and would've had to spend a lot of money on lawyers. __________________ Active fan of the greatest team in NFL history. Last edited by Rain Man; 01-12-2008 at 01:46 PM..
Posts: 145,597

01-12-2008, 01:53 PM	#63
Stewie MVP Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: West of the Equator Casino cash: $-1900099	I've never been in a supervisory/managerial role, so I've never fired anyone. Where I work one can't manage engineers unless you have a MS or PhD. My boss is a VP (BS ME/MBA) while other engineers report to a PhD. To find the combination of education and people skills in one person is rare. I guess I've been lucky as far as bosses go. Oh, I've never been fired either.
Posts: 13,890

01-12-2008, 02:27 PM	#64
JOhn El' Barto Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Cody, WY / Tucson AZ Casino cash: $9964900	Lets see, I know I've fired over 20 and probably closer to 30. The majority was when I was the general manager for a local fast food place. Then there were 3 I fired when I was the GM at another local retail store. As far as being fired, I'm proud to say 2 times I got canned.
Posts: 25,529

01-12-2008, 02:31 PM	#65
JOhn El' Barto Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Cody, WY / Tucson AZ Casino cash: $9964900	WOW I'm surprised I forgot this one. I fired my best friend, who was my best man at my first marriage. That was the hardest thing I ever had to do. Lost a very good friend in the process. Since then I've never let myself become friends with anyone whom I have authority over.
Posts: 25,529

01-12-2008, 03:17 PM	#67
blueballs Banned Join Date: Feb 2006 Casino cash: $10004900	the bitch was using to much teeth
Posts: 14,233

01-12-2008, 03:43 PM	#69
gblowfish Be Kind To Your Pets Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Glorious Independence, MO Casino cash: $16856178 VARSITY	I've never had to fire anyone, I've hired a couple people. I quit one job two weeks in -selling encyclopedias door to door- Got fired at a radio station along with the rest of the staff when it got bought by a conglommo. Most jobs I've worked for awhile then went on to something better. Was with one company for 20 years before I took a better paying job two years ago.
Posts: 41,023