Step into my office...

One of the hardest parts of a manager's job is firing someone. Although there are many people I feel the quickening for, when it comes right down to the act of termination, it is not always a pleasant action. It's not like it is in the movies. You don't walk up to someone and say, "You're fired." There is a lot of red tape that you must unravel before you can walk down that road. It would be much easier if it was like a movie. "You're fired!" The expression "to get fired" comes from centuries ago. When clans wanted to get rid of their unwanted people without killing them used to burn their houses down. Thank your lucky stars we don't do that anymore. Imagine that,

"Johnson, I'd like you to come into my office. You've just been fired. Not only do you no longer have any means of monetary support, you no longer have a home and all of your worldly possessions are gone."

That would send a message to the staff!

In England they use the phrase "get the sack" or "sacked." It comes from the time when tradesmen carried all their worldly goods and tools around in a sack. They had of no fixed home, so if they were employed in a certain building they were able to leave their sack in a safe place, probably equivalent to the boss's office nowadays. If at the end of the day they did good work they were allowed to pick up their own sack, however if the boss was not pleased with their work, or felt they had not done a fair days work for a fair days wage then the boss waited for them to finish for the day and literally "gave them the sack". That would have a different vibe.

"Mulchahey, come into my office. You see Johnson crying out there? Well, he just got fired. You, however, are getting sacked. Here's your things, on your way now."

It just seems so tough to tell someone you got fired from a job. It can sound truly terrible depending on your profession. Priests get defrocked. Lawyers get disbarred. I mean, shouldn't everyone else follow suit? Could a plumber be deducted? Florists deflowered? Butchers delivered? Electricians delighted? You catch my drift. But, you still have the difficult task of explaining to the human resource person why you want to get rid of them. If you ran an orange juice factory, could you fire someone because they couldn't concentrate? What about a doctor that didn't have any patience? Unfortunately, when it comes to human resources, they want specific reasons for why you want to fire someone. You can't be general because that won't hold up in court. If you manage a shoe making company you can't fire the guy who doesn't fit in. You also can't fire a tailor because you think he isn't suited for it. Or a barber because he just can't cut it. No sir, you have to have specifics. And, you can't make assumptions. You can't fire a fisherman with a family of four because you've decided he can't live off the net income. Or a musician because he isn't note worthy. It's times like that when you have to look at the root cause of the problem. You know, have a real, honest discussion with the employee and find out why they want to work for you and see if you can distinguish the problem. Who knows? Maybe you will learn something about someone that you never knew. Like the guy who worked second shift at the muffler factory and was constantly exhausted. Or the girl who is having trouble working at Dunkin Donuts because its always the same old grind. Sometimes people just want to try something new. There was a deli worker who tried his best, but any way you slice it, he just couldn't cut the mustard. I, myself, once wanted to become a historian. But there was no future in it...

Where am I?