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Where YOU work do they warn people before firing them for performance?
A friend of mine had worked in the accounting department for an organization for 21 years and had always got good notice for his hard work. A new boss came in about five months ago and basically ignored him and yesterday fired him. No warning- no notice, no severance- no apology.
Is this common in corporate America? Firing someone who had put so much effort and tenure into an organization. My friend was one of the first employees of the company and had put in tons of overtime through the years without complaint or compensation.
The boss got Human Resources to buy into the process and the HR Manager was part of the termination meeting. You would think that Human Resources would require some type of progressive discipline with a oral warning, written warning and a performance improvement plan and significant counseling if there were a set of performance issues. But my friend got none of these things, his termination was completely out of the blue.
Do you think this type of termination (without any type of notice or warning) is common in mid sized or larger companies with a professional college educated work force? Has it happened to you or your friends or coworkers?
I have seen it happen. And learned this lesson...work hard, do your job, but leave at 5 pm. Do not work weekends, take your vacation time. Being a workaholic, especially in a 40 hour a week job, will not help you keep it. New management can come in, and just fire you, just like that...
I doubt that there is a legitimate EEO issue here, but your friend can look into it. (even if it is age discrimination, companies have learned how to make it look like it is not).
If it is work related (For example...he is missing deadlines, work is not up to par..) then usually you go through the process of a write up, written, verbal and final warning. The only time I ever heard of someone being dismissed on the spot, was for something really serious not related to the work they do, like sexual harassment, or a serious crime being committed, or doing a no call, no show.
I think its more common that we'd like to think. From personal experience (thus, no hard evidence), the higher you are, the more likely you are to be excused without "due process". It becomes political basically. The new leadership sometimes bring in their own tried and true people.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jasper12
I have seen it happen. And learned this lesson...work hard, do your job, but leave at 5 pm. Do not work weekends, take your vacation time. Being a workaholic, especially in a 40 hour a week job, will not help you keep it. New management can come in, and just fire you, just like that...
I doubt that there is a legitimate EEO issue here, but your friend can look into it. (even if it is age discrimination, companies have learned how to make it look like it is not).
I think the key here is setting a goal for yourself - or understand what YOU are getting out of it. One has to look at the long term benefits. I think to simply approach this with the mindset that you are simply being paid for your efforts (thus, you just do the minimum to get paid) can be shortsighted. You certainly need to guard from being used or abused, but true top performers don't typically put in more to simply help their company - their doing more to add to their own skill sets.
The new manager probably already hand picked the replacement. It's likely someone he worked with at his prior job. Your friend likely got fired because of this - nothing related to your friend's work.
It happens, but companies usually have HR procedures in place to ensure this doesn't happen.
In reality, the new manager probably won't last but another year or two.
One good thing for your friend...the economy is picking back up and there are more jobs available compared to 3 years ago. He can collect unemploymen while he works on his resume and begin targeting new companies. The resume is going to be the hardest part...the format/structure has changed significantly compared to 21 years ago. He must follow the new resume format else his resume will be tossed aside.
I have seen similar discharges. In 30+ years of HR, have seen the good, bad & ugly of corporate life. HR's job is to protect the Company from lawsuits. But, HR is comprised of people who typically try and get the power holder (the manager who is supported by senior executives) to go through a decent decision process that usually includes inhouse transfers/reassignments or if its a performance thing thru progressive discipline. Usually when a new manager wants to shake up a department and there's no other place to put an unwanted employee, its a reduction in force and the job is eliminated. That means your friend was likely laid off and the department is being reorganized with a different operating model and likely the "new design" doesn't have a place for his skill set. It sucks. He needs to negotiate a good separation package which includes 1 week of severance for every year of service, one year of paid health insurance, and job search support with the help of placement firms at the company's expense. Time to gather himself and then reconnect with the company for this discussion.
Where YOU work do they warn people before firing them for performance?
A friend of mine had worked in the accounting department for an organization for 21 years and had always got good notice for his hard work. A new boss came in about five months ago and basically ignored him and yesterday fired him. No warning- no notice, no severance- no apology.
Is this common in corporate America? Firing someone who had put so much effort and tenure into an organization. My friend was one of the first employees of the company and had put in tons of overtime through the years without complaint or compensation.
The boss got Human Resources to buy into the process and the HR Manager was part of the termination meeting. You would think that Human Resources would require some type of progressive discipline with a oral warning, written warning and a performance improvement plan and significant counseling if there were a set of performance issues. But my friend got none of these things, his termination was completely out of the blue.
Do you think this type of termination (without any type of notice or warning) is common in mid sized or larger companies with a professional college educated work force? Has it happened to you or your friends or coworkers?
You have your "friend's" side of the story. Nothing more. How do you know the boss "got Human Resources to buy into the process"? Because your friend told you the HR manager was at the termination meeting? That's not uncommon.
You have no clue what went on behind the scenes there or what your "friend" was like as an employee, only what he told you. The lens through which they viewed him and his performance cost him his job. Or, they are looking to move the company in a different direction and the manager wants to clean house. I can think of a lot of people that I know that lost their jobs and were given the "we're moving in a different direction" speech. That does not equal a lawsuit.
What did this friend say at the termination meeting? "Okay, thank you"? What did the boss say was the reason for the termination?
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