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Jason Calacanis at his finest

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Re: Jason Calacanis at his finest

#91

Post by jacquesm »

endgame wrote: post #86
jacquesm wrote: post #14

Suggested rewrite: Hey Evan, We're mighty sorry, but we understand. If things don't work out at yahoo! as planned we want you to know the door is always open to return, after all we hate to see you go. Please tell the rest of your team that you go with our blessing and that we look forward to seeing you do great things in the future. We all know if there is one thing they need over there it is quality people. Since w…

That's good. It reminds me of TheDailyWTF's piece on a "culture of quitting": http://thedailywtf.com/articles/up-or-out-solving-the-it-tur... It would be ideal if an employee parting ways didn't seem like a betrayal or bad break-up.

I'm still in contact with quite a few of my ex employees from over a decade ago. It's a small world, and burning your bridges is always bad form and potentially very harmful to your company.

If you fire the wrong person like that/send off emails like that it could easily lead to a mass walk-out by sympathizers, so it is not only 'nice' to be nice, it also makes good business sense.

Who knows when and how you run in to each other again.

Re: Jason Calacanis at his finest

#92

Post by scorxn »

jacquesm wrote: post #84
scorxn wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm admittedly assuming, based on the severity of Jason's reaction, that the email was the first he'd heard of Evan's resignation. Had it been a face-to-face conversation, then a letter, the fireworks could have been avoided. Speaking from first-hand experience, it can be absolutely gut-wrenching, but ultimately feels like the right thing to do.

In light of the response, you could even say that mahalo employees might prefer to resign via email rather than to face the full brunt of the response in person, your assumption could easily be right and there might be a good reason for it.

In which case you have an opportunity to wake up the next day, decidedly the bigger person, wholly assured in your decision to leave, and with no regrets about how you did so.

Re: Jason Calacanis at his finest

#94

Post by MikeCapone »

nfnaaron wrote: post #38
MikeCapone wrote: post #8

This wasn't meant to be public, but then, lots of things that aren't meant to be public should be to deter people from being total jerks. I think this falls in this category. And I say this as someone who used to quite enjoy Calacanis's podcasts a few years ago.

Actually just not wanting to be a jerk should deter one from being a jerk, public or not.

If jerks thought like that, they wouldn't be jerks...

Re: Jason Calacanis at his finest

#95

Post by btilly »

ck2 wrote: post #13

I've never worked at a company where I tried to be professional and gave 2 weeks notice and was NOT immediately shown the door (hence I learned to prepare and not be surprised). Does it really happen in this day and age? Don't companies lockout high value employees immediately as a matter of security and anti-sabotage?

Your experience is diametrically opposed to mine. Here is how my last 4 jobs have worked out. (This is all in the USA.)

#1: I gave several months notice. At their suggestion I took me my last week off paid in return for being willing to answer emails if problems arose after I left.

#2: I gave 2 weeks notice. I was personally thanked by multiple people for how I wrapped it up, and for a final project that I took on and did in my last 4 hours. They asked me to contract for them some time later, but it didn't work out.

#3: I gave 2 weeks notice. I got contracting work from them after I left, and still have VPN access.

#4: I gave a month notice and had a break before my next job. (A vacation which I spent contracting for #3.) I told them that during that period I would be available on an emergency basis if anything broke. They were happy to take me up on this offer.

In every case I was considered a high value employee. However I had established trust, that was maintained through the process of my leaving, and to the best of my knowledge that trust still exists. (As a matter of corporate policy, my access was usually withdrawn after I left. But not because anyone was concerned about me personally.)

Re: Jason Calacanis at his finest

#96

Post by throw_away »

spamizbad wrote: post #74
exit wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

we do know calacanis went on to publicly denigrate the former employee. it doesn't make me think there's more to "his half" than juvenile petulance. >"Free advice for entitled Gen Y trophy kids: if you spend 12 months at a company over and over you look like a flake." 10:06 PM Apr 21st via Twitter for BlackBerry® http://twitter.com/Jason/status/12621363849

I'm beginning to resent that my generation has been dubbed the "Trophy Kids." Those trophies were more for parental egos than our own self-esteem. We weren't dumb, we knew it was just a meaningless participation trinket. Most of those things ended up going in the trash unless your parents mandated you keep them (Mine didn't, thankfully). I think I'd keep them around for a year or two just for the sake of having a kni…

I always thought that "trophy kids" didn't refer to trophies earned for kid-competitions, but rather as an allusion to "trophy wives".

Re: Jason Calacanis at his finest

#97

Post by jacquesm »

_delirium wrote: post #59
mikebo wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've had several developer coworkers leave -- it's always been with 2 week notice, a nice lunch, and a farewell e-mail from the boss thanking them for their contributions. Would not work somewhere that handled employees leaving that way. Sorry Mr. Calacanis!

I've even seen companies ask people to stay for more than the two weeks, to make sure they have time to document miscellaneous loose ends and do some mini-training of their successor. But those were at big engineering firms, which might operate differently? I've never heard of an engineer at a place like Exxon being locked out after giving notice. A VP or something sure, but a petroleum engineer typically sticks arou…

The only employee I ever fired on the spot and locked out had started a competing business on the side and was actively poaching our customers+, other than that it always was amicably, whether I asked someone to find employment where they fit better or whether they found a place where they could do better there never ever was a reason to 'lock someone out'.

Admitted, this was a small company, at a larger company it might have been different because of rigid policies.

When I was employed myself (long long ago, fortunately) I usually ended up with some contract work from my ex employer to help them tide over until they had found a good replacement, in one case this period extended for 6 months.

edit:

+) To be fair, he actually emailed me last year, almost a decade after it happened that he was terribly sorry about what he did, so in the end even with him I'm still in contact of sorts, and I've forgiven him for what he did, he really seems to have learned his lesson.

Re: Jason Calacanis at his finest

#98

Post by narag »

kwyjibo wrote: post #41
jayliew wrote: post #23

Having been through a few conflicts myself, as an independent observer and as one of the parties in the conflict .. I'm not taking sides, but just wanting to note that although the employer definitely could have handled it better, I have a feeling we're only scratching the tip of the surface and we don't know much what really happened between the employer-employee. The "pack and get out now" is actually very standard…

Is 2 weeks notice common in the USA? Here in Europe it's 1 month or 3 months, depending on what contract you have.

In Spain (last I checked we're in Europe) the most usual are two weeks by default. Contracts can extend it or you can leave at once while in the "test period", fair because during this period the employer can fire you at once too without cause.

You can leave immediately even subjected to this clauses, but then you suffer a penalization (one day of pay each two days you cut). Most times, the company owes you money at any given time (holidays, extra pays), so it's wise to stay unless the new salary nulls the difference. Also it's always good to keep good will with former employers, you never know.

Re: Jason Calacanis at his finest

#99

Post by barrkel »

ck2 wrote: post #13

I've never worked at a company where I tried to be professional and gave 2 weeks notice and was NOT immediately shown the door (hence I learned to prepare and not be surprised). Does it really happen in this day and age? Don't companies lockout high value employees immediately as a matter of security and anti-sabotage?

The last company I left I worked for over two months after handing in notice, bringing new employees up to speed on the code base I'd created, etc. I also kept notice of my leaving secret from many of my co-workers at my boss's request.

This was Ireland, though.

Re: Jason Calacanis at his finest

#100

Post by mrkurt »

jacquesm wrote: post #28
brk wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course they've hired considerably more, I think that's why the parent to your comment said "(proportionally)".

I could have sworn that wasn't there when I first answered. /me needs glasses ?

It's an eisenclarification!

It was there. :)

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