Advice to new managers: don't joke about firing people
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Re: Advice to new managers: don't joke about firing people
#2Employees who can't take a good joke about being fired should probably be fired, they are not chill enough...joking obviosuly ;-)
Re: Advice to new managers: don't joke about firing people
#3This is sound advice. You have a significant amount of control over people's lives as a manager, and that should be treated with a level of respect. You have no idea how people feel, and it is quite possible that someone you manage doesn't know where they stand with you. At times that is more than enough to cause them stress and even convince them to look elsewhere. Work is stressful enough, and you don't need to add to it.
I should also note. If you're a manager, your job is to do things that make you uncomfortable. If you can't handle sitting there and telling them you're letting them go in person, it's probably not the path for you. Have the decency to look someone in the eye. Don't pass it off to HR, because that's more convenient.
Re: Advice to new managers: don't joke about firing people
#4Someone who can't take a joke like the one that's mentioned in the article is liable to be problematic in some other capacity anyway.
Re: Advice to new managers: don't joke about firing people
#5I am really surprised one has to write a blog post about this.
I am not a manager, but here is a question for managers, have you or anyone you know, joked about firing someone?
In my opinion, that would be incredibly cruel and stupid.
Re: Advice to new managers: don't joke about firing people
#6Employees who can't take a good joke about being fired should probably be fired, they are not chill enough...joking obviosuly ;-)
People in power who don't understand that they shouldn't joke about abusing their power, probably shouldn't be in power.
Re: Advice to new managers: don't joke about firing people
#7... Huh. I would have thought this was too obvious to need saying, really. I'm kind of amazed that anyone would do this.
Re: Advice to new managers: don't joke about firing people
#8I am really surprised one has to write a blog post about this. I am not a manager, but here is a question for managers, have you or anyone you know, joked about firing someone? In my opinion, that would be incredibly cruel and stupid.
I have had multiple managers make stupid jokes like this. It never gets any better. You appear to have been more fortunate than I.
Re: Advice to new managers: don't joke about firing people
#9Re: Advice to new managers: don't joke about firing people
#10Yeah. Also, don't joke about leaving the company.
I have been passed over for promotion because of a complete joke remark like that made in presence of a person with whom I did not have very close working relationship.
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Making a joke about firing your subordinate would require perfect understanding of the state of mind of the person you are talking to. As a manager your job is to understand it is not possible to understand exactly how your words are going to be interpreted. Thus, telling a joke about firing your subordinate is a sign of bad judgment at best.
Another responsibility of the manager is to ensure his/her team is productive. This can't happen when people feel unsafe about their financial situation. Strike two.
There is absolutely nothing good that can come from telling a joke about firing someone. Even if the person you are joking about completely understands you are joking, somebody else might overhear the conversation leading to bad results. Another reason to treat it as a sign of bad judgement.
In general, as a manager, never say things that you don't mean. When people know they can depend on every word you say it makes every word this more powerful and better tool to accomplish your goals.