September 26, 2008 at 10:20 am
Sorry I didn't read http://www.cio.com/article/27099/_Signs_You_re_About_to_Get_Fired earlier...
1. Your company is sold. - true, about 2 years ago
2. Your company is not making money. - not as much as the owners (venture capital) wanted
3. Your company pursues a strategy you didn’t support. - unsure, there was no clear understanding of strategy
4. Your span of control has been reduced. - true, I was reduced to a "worker bee" and contributed by completing the high profile/complexity projects
5. You’re left out of key meetings and decisions. - true, previously I was an integral part of product discussions, but now I was considered too busy to attend
6. You’re not getting buy-in. - budget constraints existed, but didn't seem to impact my team
7. You have to fight tooth and nail to get anything done. - somewhat. I took two years to consider migration to SQL 2k5 (only one client is upgraded)...
8. You have a new boss. true. hired earlier this year, although not initially communicated to me as my new boss and realized too late
9. Your top priorities don’t match up with your boss’s. - tough to say because he was also too busy to communicate his priorities in complete thoughts
10. You can’t attract top talent. - looking back this could be an issue
11. You screw up big-time. - I don't think so, but everything I did was micro-scrutinized. I also was asked to review every task my team performed and still complete my work.
12. You engage in an unethical activity. - DEFINATELY NOT!
13. You’re on bad terms with a colleague responsible for generating revenue. - there were some conflicts (with no sales for over two years and customer service pushing harder for faster/cheaper enhancements)
14. Your boss places unreasonable demands on you. working 50+ hours or working during vacation was not enough to get the work done
15. Your boss minimizes your accomplishments. - true. My depth of knowledge and history with the application and clients became insignificant
16. Your boss hires an executive coach for you. - not really, but he would slap me around during our weekly (or more accurately every two or three weeks) one on one sessions
17. Your boss asks you to work on "special projects." - no, but he went around me to direct my team to perform his special projects without my knowledge
18. You see a confidential search ad that describes your job to a tee. - not yet, although yesterday my position was eliminated and there was no other place for me in the organization
I am a 10 year employee earning multiple awards and promotions
manager of team responsible for client configuration and production of a hosted solution (asp/sql) with shared 24/7 pager support duties
over 4 years of asking "what is my job description and responsibilities?"
company acquired about 2 years ago with little or no attempt to integrate across organizations
new supervisor hired earlier this year
project assignment by multiple individuals with little or no management guidance
responsible for direct report reviews, but not for their assignments
overwhelmed by highest priority/visibility/complexity projects as most experienced employee (5 year involvement with product since original development)
previous team members promoted out of team or left due to lack of growth opportunities
frustrations starting last last year affected my attitude - I became very defensive and lost respect of peers
worked harder by increasing my hours (6:30 am to 5:00 pm M-F plus some weekends)
I don't think I am an Erik, although my previous supervisor might.
September 26, 2008 at 10:30 am
mrpolecat (9/26/2008)
The new hire failed to live up to their resume. I found them spending time goofing off which usually means a lack of work but I couldn't hand over new work because their current work was shoddy. I counseled on the wasting company time and sent them to training. The came the medical and personal problems which used up all of the vacation time and sick time allotted as well as unpaid absences. Again I counseled with the understanding that "If you can miss this much time and goof off while you are here then maybe I don't need the position." I ended up with a layoff.I believe in giving people chances to improve themselves and you have to spell out the issues so they can improve them. I will invest in them if they show an effort to improve but at some point you have to cut your losses. I hate the idea of promoting people one level above their ability as I have seen companies go under because of that practice.
I had an employee like that once, only he was great for most of the first year, acing his six month review. Then he eased off and in his second year he started coming in late, especially on Mondays, then started not coming in and not calling in. He was counseled every step of the way, and his behavior was documented. Eventually he was fired. He tried to get unemployment, but the company disputed it, citing the issues, and that was that.
September 26, 2008 at 10:33 am
Matt Miller (9/26/2008)
Shaun McGuile (9/26/2008)
Phil you old rogue I just knew you would say that - promote him to his level of incompetence! 😀For what it's worth - this has been previously coined as the Dilbert principle.
As for me - I probably would have been sued for medical costs based on the door hitting his A$$$ so very hard. Why people don't actually use probationary periods for what they're designed for (i.e. figure out if someone is a slug, and if they are - they're history) just escapes me.
Nope. It is called the Peter Principle (Google it, and you'll find there was a book with that title).
September 26, 2008 at 10:40 am
Often people don't know what is expected and perform poorly. They can not know the goal if the manager does not let it be known.
1. talk to Eric and tell him what is expected of him
2. tell him that it is being documented and there will be periodic reviews
3. start the paper trail and hold meetings
4. If Eric changes everyone wins.
5. If there is no change then free up his future.
Have a great weekend.
Miles...
Not all gray hairs are Dinosaurs!
September 26, 2008 at 11:02 am
Pick a manager or intra-division location that has been hassling you and have him transferred there. :w00t:
September 26, 2008 at 11:08 am
Or send him to Alaska :hehe:, let Bob deal with him.
September 26, 2008 at 12:02 pm
We followed Phil's advice on our "Eric". We sent him to Illinois. I think his name was omama or something.
He didn't like lipstick or hockey either!:)
September 26, 2008 at 12:31 pm
James Goodwin (9/26/2008)
It should be pretty clear by now to Eric that he isn't moving up in this company. But it is also possible that he doesn't really want to move up. Having a reliable drone is not always a bad thing.
And in some organizations, there's nothing wrong with being a reliable drone, either.
Resistance was futile, I was assimilated, and I'm OK with that. Plus, when I walk up to the coffee machine, these tubes automatically come out of the back of my hand and fill me up. :alien:
September 26, 2008 at 12:37 pm
Definitely failures on both sides: Evelyn shows to not be as good a manager as we might want, Eric is definitely not the employee that Evelyn needed. But she was stuck by needing an obscure technology role filled, and Eric could do the job. Eric definitely had an inflated opinion of his skills, responsibilities, and what he would do in the company and needed to be gently deflated and brought back to reality a bit.
Personally I think she would have been better off dumping Eric early and train an existing employee who wants to expand their skill set into this other technology.
We don't know how well Evelyn managed her other personnel, and that is key to evaluating her. We know she was unable to manage Eric well, maybe she was a perfectly capable supervisor with her other employees.
I don't get how Eric made it past probation. I have spent most of my career in government, and once you're past probation, it can get tough to fire you, which is where exhaustive documentation comes in to play. Eric should be counseled, improvement plans made, and if he doesn't make those goals (if they're reasonable) then he gets the sack. A good, strong manager should be able to help him improve.
We had an Eric at a previous agency. My group was responsible for the mini computers, and our Eric violated security by giving his favorites elevated and improper permissions on the system. My boss locked down his account so he couldn't do that, and warned him that he wasn't the security admin. So Eric used an operator's login and later did the same thing, at which point the operator's accounts got locked down (why operators had security permissions I do not know). My boss could have sacked him on the spot, but he didn't, and didn't document it. I reminded him later when Eric once again confirmed his status as an Eric through another bone-headed manouver and my boss realized that he'd missed an opportunity.
But I believe in second chances and in direct feedback if you're not meeting expectations.
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[font="Arial"]Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves or we know where we can find information upon it. --Samuel Johnson[/font]
September 26, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Phil's recommendations of exit-inducing praise are good and work for a lot of people... but it won't work for people who hold a long-time grudge and don't have an exit-ready resume (and know it).
Their names weren't always Eric, but I fired them all. Buh. Bye.
In previous lives, other managers asked to transfer their underperforming team members to my crew when it got down to cuttin' time. I'm not sayin' I enjoyed RIFing 70% of a team @ layoff time or firing them outright for cause four at a time, but in a small company that needs to make low-fat, low-drag full-speed-ahead progress... you do whatcha gotta do.
I got really good at filling out put-employee-on-probation paperwork, and sometimes that's all it took for the employee to self-select out.
:w00t:
'Bye, Erics. We won't miss you.
September 26, 2008 at 12:52 pm
jpowers (9/26/2008)
Matt Miller (9/26/2008)
Shaun McGuile (9/26/2008)
Phil you old rogue I just knew you would say that - promote him to his level of incompetence! 😀For what it's worth - this has been previously coined as the Dilbert principle.
As for me - I probably would have been sued for medical costs based on the door hitting his A$$$ so very hard. Why people don't actually use probationary periods for what they're designed for (i.e. figure out if someone is a slug, and if they are - they're history) just escapes me.
Nope. It is called the Peter Principle (Google it, and you'll find there was a book with that title).
Oh I'm fully aware of the Peter Principle. The Dilbert version of the principle is much more entertaining though...:)
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Your lack of planning does not constitute an emergency on my part...unless you're my manager...or a director and above...or a really loud-spoken end-user..All right - what was my emergency again?
September 26, 2008 at 1:37 pm
I really like jpowers' solution:
jpowers (9/26/2008)
I ended up hiring someone better than him that I put in charge of the technical team, over Eric. That made sure the right engineering decisions were made. I also had a heart to heart, and we had some mutual sessions with my boss and HR (Eric tried to go over my head, claiming I had it in for him). I also had to enforce some rules: he claimed he had been hired under my predecessor with the understanding he could work from home four days a week. There was nothing of this in writing, and I told him that the team needed him in every day so the face-to-face input of casual conversation would allow all members to learn from his experience. If he couldn't deal with that, then he was welcome to leave and we would find a replacement for him. He stayed, and the Chief Engineer of the company repeatedly commended me in front of my boss and others for making this Eric a productive member of the team.
This allows Eric to continue to work the job that he does fairly well (and no one else does), sends the message that he needs to tow the line on certain expectations, and if he doesn't like he, he can leave! (and you already have the person to fill the void, so the company doesn't suffer until you find a replacement)
September 26, 2008 at 2:07 pm
This story remind me about "Bartleby The Scrivener A Story of Wall-street " from the last century.
September 26, 2008 at 2:14 pm
In the spirit of Steve's request to stop at the end of page 1 and join the discussion, I have also not reviewed anyone else's comments yet. (5 pages worth!)
Eric has been at the company for years, and no one has dealt with this issue yet? Evelyn should be censured! She's left this problem festering for the managers that followed her; not a good leadership characteristic, in my view. Why didn't she take care of this years ago, instead of leaving Eric to continue in his bad habits (thus cementing them into his working personality).
Eric is moderately competent at his job (which no one else seems to want). He has a bit of an ego (what programmer doesn't?), but would like to suceed and has asked his managers (plural!) to help him develop a plan so he can be promoted. There is no indication any of them have done so. He's not the fastest learner on earth, but takes on new tasks with a good attitude and applies himself to learning what he's told he needs to.
What Eric needs is a decent manager! If it was me, I would sit down and develop specific expectations, help him write up a plan, let Eric know what he needs to do and learn, and what the benefits are (i.e. what accrues to Eric if he meets the goals and expectations). What position does he want to be promoted to? What are the qualifications for that position? Let's work on the steps to meeting those qualifications. I think this situation could be turned around. Assuming I also follow thru with my end of the deal (the "what accrues"). And if the plan is made and documented (as it should be), then if Eric fails to follow thru there may be other things that accrue to him, including more free time (i.e. being let go).
I might involve HR for certain aspects of the plan - is Eric eligible for company re-imbursement of outside training (college courses, etc)? Sounds like a course in leadership and communication skills wouldn't hurt. What in-house resources do we have that could be utilized? Does the company have a contract for employee training that might be utilized? What kinds of benefits can I use to reward good behavior and the meeting of expectations? Is Eric really over-paid after all these years, or is that a left-over fallacy from his original hiring? If he's really in the middle of his pay grade, I have more options available to me.
Beyond that, the only other role I see for HR is to assist me if Eric fails to meet expectations - they are the experts on probationary periods, and what documentation we should have on hand if we reach the point of letting go.
And by the way, what is up with Eric's neighbor, giving out restricted company information? Hope they found that person and applied a little discipline; it put Evelyn in a bad position to start with (and may have affected the way she treated Eric later on, given the guilt possible with over-paying someone.)
Steph Brown
September 26, 2008 at 3:16 pm
I'm curious what one could do when "Eric" works for a school system and has tenure. Where tardiness, unexcused absenteeism, incompetence, and being a general all-around-a$$hole are useless grounds for termination.
And unfortunatley, the boss is another "Evelyn".
I think he stole some equipment and sold it on ebay too. Everyone keep a lookout for some new 3Com S7900E switches at a great price. They're stolen!
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