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It's Never Too Early to Fire

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41–50 of 189 posts

Re: It's Never Too Early to Fire

#41

Weirdly, I think we would all benefit quite a lot from a normalization of fast firing. Part of the reason it's hard to get a job is that companies are afraid to fire you, so they jump through all kinds of strange hoops to try to predict how good an employee you'll be based on, really, no information. This also forces companies to filter out "possibly good" candidates and only hire "probably good" candidates. If it we…

>If it were normal to get fired after a day or a week, you could get hired at 10 different companies over a span of two months and likely find a really great position, where you're a great fit. That might work well for people that are unemployed, but it'll be hard to attract anyone that has a secure job with such flimsy offers.

I don't really care about people who are happy with their current job.

Re: It's Never Too Early to Fire

#42

Weirdly, I think we would all benefit quite a lot from a normalization of fast firing. Part of the reason it's hard to get a job is that companies are afraid to fire you, so they jump through all kinds of strange hoops to try to predict how good an employee you'll be based on, really, no information. This also forces companies to filter out "possibly good" candidates and only hire "probably good" candidates. If it we…

>My next company will have explicit rubrics for what it takes to get fired, and your status will be tracked daily. You'll know at all times exactly how close you are to getting fired with how much severance.

Is this something out of Dilbert? Sounds like a quantification-obsessed culture -- the very opposite of ensuring qualitative assessment. Will probably just run to the ground as people flee the hell-hole as soon as they can find better pastures.

Re: It's Never Too Early to Fire

#43

Weirdly, I think we would all benefit quite a lot from a normalization of fast firing. Part of the reason it's hard to get a job is that companies are afraid to fire you, so they jump through all kinds of strange hoops to try to predict how good an employee you'll be based on, really, no information. This also forces companies to filter out "possibly good" candidates and only hire "probably good" candidates. If it we…

As we move to the gig economy I think what you are saying will happen. Whether it's good is another thing.

Re: It's Never Too Early to Fire

#44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>If it were normal to get fired after a day or a week, you could get hired at 10 different companies over a span of two months and likely find a really great position, where you're a great fit. That might work well for people that are unemployed, but it'll be hard to attract anyone that has a secure job with such flimsy offers.

I don't really care about people who are happy with their current job.

People who are good at their jobs will not care about a company with such Dilteresque ideas either.

Re: It's Never Too Early to Fire

#45
post #31
post #28

Given a shortage of supply for a job, firing early might not be a good idea. It takes months or even years to find an appropriate good fit for a job. Sometimes it's easier to just give the person another chance, than to fire him and have no one to do the work.

This is a similar logic to folks that "settle" with marriage. It's not a long term win, and if you're not building for the long term, why do it at all?

People in long term successful marriages are generally a lot happier and less stressed.

Re: It's Never Too Early to Fire

#46
post #16
post #13

I like the article, and it has some really good ideas. And it is not about making firing people easier or cheaper. It is about on how to decide when to fire someone. About firing fast and easy, it is a bad idea. I work in Sweden. I don't think I have seen ever anyone fired. What I have seen is some of the best hiring processes. The process looks at the candidate values, and skills. And there is a discussion about wha…

I have worked in Sweden, and I would like to offer a counter point. I don't think we disagree that the reason the hiring process is so involved in Sweden is because it's so hard to fire someone. This results in a situation where the company does everything they can to minimise the risk of hiring the wrong person. The downside of this is that companies will not take any chances when it comes to hiring people. I believ…

I work in the UK and it's similar. Except we have a lot of diversity due to a vibrant contractor (at-will) market. Which the Tories are trying desperately to destroy, for some reason.

Permanent employees are basically impossible to fire. It's a mixed bag I think. On the one hand, there is a large social benefit to having such gov enforced job security. On the other hand, it drives down wages, and hurts companies that get stuck with a really bad employee. At least as workers we can choose to earn more money and take the riskier route via contracting.

Re: It's Never Too Early to Fire

#47

Weirdly, I think we would all benefit quite a lot from a normalization of fast firing. Part of the reason it's hard to get a job is that companies are afraid to fire you, so they jump through all kinds of strange hoops to try to predict how good an employee you'll be based on, really, no information. This also forces companies to filter out "possibly good" candidates and only hire "probably good" candidates. If it we…

This sounds like a script out of Silicon Valley, satire included. I really hope you're not serious.

Re: It's Never Too Early to Fire

#48

Weirdly, I think we would all benefit quite a lot from a normalization of fast firing. Part of the reason it's hard to get a job is that companies are afraid to fire you, so they jump through all kinds of strange hoops to try to predict how good an employee you'll be based on, really, no information. This also forces companies to filter out "possibly good" candidates and only hire "probably good" candidates. If it we…

This sounds like a script out of Silicon Valley, satire included. I really hope you're not serious.

Re: It's Never Too Early to Fire

#49
I like this sort of mentality in companies that think they are some sort of hot start ups that can fire anyone they feel like. I dunno how it is with management types, but this sort of approach is extremely amusing to me in niche skill areas.

For example, this happened to me a few times, but as I am 1 in 25 people in the country that can do what I do, it takes that company 12-18 month to find a replacement, if at all.

Re: It's Never Too Early to Fire

#50
> Of course I’m being a bit provocative to open this post with, “I have never fired anyone too early.” I have almost always given people a chance to correct course, and suggest you do too.

For anyone that didn't reach the end.

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