You are not truly a manager until you lay-off or fire someone “face to face“. I knew a manager who would not do the difficult task of laying off someone. I kind of lost respect for them.
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
#62> When people get promoted to manager their former peers become direct reports. It’s awkward.
This is why in, for example, retail, you will see people promoted, but to another location.
Re: Advice to new managers: don't joke about firing people
#63The reverse situation is interesting.
"I mean, you could just sack me if it goes wrong" is a personal go-to.
Built an emergency fund at age 20 and stopped giving a fuck, it's just business.
Obligatory "I'm not American, we don't die on the street if we break our leg whilst unemployed here" I guess.
I find dark humour amusing in general because it's just like, yeah, you actually could wake up tomorrow with a brick in the back of your head. Live as if it matters today. Important now more than ever.
Re: Advice to new managers: don't joke about firing people
#64While we're on this topic, managers don't invite your direct reports for one-on-one meeting out of the blue with no agenda. I've heard multiple people tell me they assume they're about to be fired.
I once had this happen to me. My manager asked me to stay behind after a meeting. Can't really remember the exact way that I reacted, but I imagine that I at least looked befuddled. My manager quickly added "Oh don't worry, it's nothing bad."
Turns out that it was a promotion.
Re: Advice to new managers: don't joke about firing people
#65Band of Brothers:
"Never put yourself in a position where you can take from these men."
Re: Advice to new managers: don't joke about firing people
#66I grew up believing having thick skin was really important. I took this to heart, and now nothing phases me (and I’ve been in a variety of nasty situations that confirmed this).
I realize this is not the norm, but I wish it was. Avoiding trigger words and peoples’ sensitivities is frustrating and further complicates complex discussions. I’m not saying we should be robots. I still have feelings. If someone I love shows me that I’ve let them down, I feel absolutely terrible.
Thick skin + freedom of speech (but not freedom of information or freedom to shout) + people being generally genuinely respectful (as in tough-love) = a pretty good civilization in my eyes
Buuut I accept we live in a world with sensitive people and as such must continue to be considerate of their feelings. At least it’s not illegal to trigger people!
Re: Advice to new managers: don't joke about firing people
#67The April fool's joke at my last job was, "we got bought, so, move to Colorado or lose your job!"
Hilarious.
Re: Advice to new managers: don't joke about firing people
#68This 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…
Do you have significant amount of control? Maybe I've been lucky to be part of mostly healthy organizations, but even managers have to justify/explain decisions. Either be for termination, compensation adjustment, reassigning to a different team, etc. I always had to document and explain why I thought an employee deserved a raise, or should not get a bonus, etc. Even as a director with ~20 reports I don't have unlimi…
You know that, but your underlings really don't. Yeah you can try telling them you're very constrained, but they'll think you're just passing the buck (which a lot of managers do, "it's out of my hands" etc etc). And I'm sure you can still influence things like who goes on holiday when, and stuff like that.
Re: Advice to new managers: don't joke about firing people
#69I 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.
Every single job, every single manager I've had, has made this "joke".
Re: Advice to new managers: don't joke about firing people
#70The basic rule of comedy, or making jokes, which is amateur comedy, is that you always punch up. It’s funny when you say “ha! you’re fired!” to your boss, but never when you say it to someone you can actually fire. Same reason why parents (should) never joke about punishment or disciplinary action with their kids - when you have power and authority you also have a responsibility not to belittle it. People will take y…
A US President once gave a speech joking about assassinating the Jonas Brothers with a predator drone to protect his daughter from dating them.
https://abcnews.go.com/WN/president-obama-tells-joke-jonas-b...
(Not singling out that President, but the incident was shocking.)