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Advice to New Managers: Don't Joke About Firing People (2020)

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Re: Advice to New Managers: Don't Joke About Firing People (2020)

#21

Post by jagtesh »

terramex wrote: post #11

As a more general advice - person in position of power should not joke about causing harm. Whether is is manager joking about firing employee, stronger person joking about beating up weaker one or parent joking about throwing child out of house when they misbehave. This kind of humor works only when it is coming from weaker position and even then only in certain situations.

Good general advice. Had a manager who would say to folks “you won’t get fired for xyz”. Even the mention of firing made the environment unpleasant. Now I fully appreciate how words can have a profound effect on morale.

Re: Advice to New Managers: Don't Joke About Firing People (2020)

#22

Post by nullspace »

stevage wrote: post #14

It's weird, I have worked at many organisations - and at almost none of them did my manager have the ability to fire me. Is this an American thing? In most of these orgs, getting rid of someone is kind of hard work, usually involving a lot of HR. A manager would have much more luck getting you moved to a different team.

Yep, it’s usually not possible for a manager to unilaterally fire you here either. However, a manager who has built up trust, by delivering and building a strong team, can tremendously influence that process.

Re: Advice to New Managers: Don't Joke About Firing People (2020)

#23

Post by jagtesh »

tailspin2019 wrote: post #4

No one told me this prior to becoming a manager, and I did make this mistake once and immediately regretted it. It seems like obvious advice, but the circumstances where this sort of thing could happen are described very well in the article. I revert to humour in awkward situations, like a lot of people, but I quickly realised that there are some things that you can’t joke about when in this position. Thankfully I do…

Apologize, move on and hope for the best. Management is an art and mistakes (in hindsight) are bound to be committed. Never stop learning and don’t be hard on yourself.

Re: Advice to New Managers: Don't Joke About Firing People (2020)

#24

Post by xwdv »

stevage wrote: post #14

It's weird, I have worked at many organisations - and at almost none of them did my manager have the ability to fire me. Is this an American thing? In most of these orgs, getting rid of someone is kind of hard work, usually involving a lot of HR. A manager would have much more luck getting you moved to a different team.

You can be moved to a bad batch team where you are put on a performance improvement plan that is impossible to satisfy and then be fired. Pretty simple workaround.

Re: Advice to New Managers: Don't Joke About Firing People (2020)

#25

Post by School-Cotton »

stevage wrote: post #14

It's weird, I have worked at many organisations - and at almost none of them did my manager have the ability to fire me. Is this an American thing? In most of these orgs, getting rid of someone is kind of hard work, usually involving a lot of HR. A manager would have much more luck getting you moved to a different team.

It's not possible at most companies in the US either, although of course, your manager would have a lot of influence on the decision.

Re: Advice to New Managers: Don't Joke About Firing People (2020)

#26

Post by checkyoursudo »

arthur_sav wrote: post #7

What about quitting? I always joke about quitting

I know a person who started joking about leaving if they gave him a pile of money and showed him the door. He was super valuable to the company and very senior. New CEO and VPs come in and start demanding cuts. A couple of months later, guess who was given a pile of money and shown the door?

Re: Advice to New Managers: Don't Joke About Firing People (2020)

#28

Post by freen »

terramex wrote: post #11

As a more general advice - person in position of power should not joke about causing harm. Whether is is manager joking about firing employee, stronger person joking about beating up weaker one or parent joking about throwing child out of house when they misbehave. This kind of humor works only when it is coming from weaker position and even then only in certain situations.

Now, think about your position of power in a historical context. Are you a member of a group that has traditionally held power? A gender that has traditionally been considered “superior” or “acceptable”?

Same thing applies there too.

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