Why She Got Fired

This past week I was having lunch with a good friend of mine who owns a small advertising agency. He told that he had a difficult week because of a very difficult decision that he had to make. He had to fire someone.

Earlier in the week my friend had to discharge a woman who had worked for his company for many years. He told me that when he did she played the role like a charm. Tears, saying that she'd probably never be able to get a job like she had and how much she loved the company. According to my friend she could have won an Oscar.

The reasons she was fired were not because my friend or his company take delight in firing people. On the contrary. In fact, I've never met a business professional who did not hate to have to fire someone. I know when I've had to do, I've often put it off for weeks and months to find a way around it.

This woman was fired because she had gotten the idea someplace that the purpose of business was solely for the benefit of the employees. She had been doing her work in a half-hearted way for a long time. She often came in a little late. She was the first to sprint down the hall for the elevator at just before five every day. She pushed her lunch hour to the maximum, and the coffee breaks too. While she took full advantage of her privileges, when she was at her desk she didn't give as much as she was getting.

Chances are you've known people like this. They want everything they can get. In fact, they feel it's their due, but when the shoe is on the other foot, when the employer wants his or her share, well, they feel picked on or taken advantage of.

Well, anyway, this woman had been fired and it was the best thing that could have happened to her! In the first place, she'll find another job because she is talented and my friend is well connected in the industry and he'll give her a good reference. In the second place, she might realize the truth of why she had been fired, and decide not to make the same mistake again.

The biggest lesson I hope she'll learn is that unless a company can make a profit on an employee, it can't afford to keep that employee. This is simple economics. With the overhead, the cost of rent, payroll, and other expenses today, the person occupying the space becomes critically important, as a person, and as part of the earning capacity of the company.

I think you'll agree that many times people think that companies have unlimited cash reserves. That they should go right on providing jobs and paychecks whether or not a person gives a fair return on that job and paycheck.

I have met thousands of people over the years who are actually on corporate relief roles, who are getting paid for much more than they're worth, but in today's economy companies cannot afford to keep employees who are not producing on their payroll.

Employees who are doing less than they are paid are also hurting themselves. If they are not constantly gaining new skills and knowledge that will help their company, then they are not helping themselves either, and they don't have much of a future.

Believe me, if you've never had to do it, firing someone is one of the hardest things you'll ever have to do in business. Unfortunately, because of the fierce competition in the business world today, employees must understand that if they're not helping their companies grow and prosper, they won't stay employed for very long.