i think you hit some great things on the head… when letting someone go, you can be human about it. it doesn’t have to be a cut throat act. being humble and human makes a huge difference – sure the guy probably did something to deserve getting cut but he has a family to go home to and bills to pay. he has to pick up the pieces tomorrow. the consistency is also HUGE for me – it lends to equity and being fair. if you are consistent with your decision making and treatment of similar circumstances, then at least there won’t be questions of whether it was really fair – you’ve treated this situation the same as the last.

good stuff… thanks for the post.

Sometimes it’s the nice guy who gets the boot and sometimes it’s the office jerk. I hope that most managers try to make the most ethical, objective decisions when it comes to firing, but sometimes our feelings get in the way without us even knowing it.

I think you just have to take each situation as it comes and use your judgement to make the best decision you can under the circumstances. Great post, Jason.

A pair of my own:

a) I’m of the opinion that when you get right down to it, we’re all pro-life. I mean, who’s raising their hand when we’re asking for “pro-death” volunteers? In that context, the abortion question is really: “when do you believe life begins?” And I have the feeling we’re not going to have a definitive answer as long as we’re on here on the blue marble.

Incidentally, as A. Whitney Brown used to say, it’s interesting that so many anti-abortion folks are also pro-death penalty. Must be the timing.

b) Regarding “jerks,” a perfect example is the Don Imus affair. His comments about the Rutgers women’s basketball team were similar to things he had said for years and years. It’s what WFAN and before that WNBC Radio paid him to say. In the end, Imus was not fired because of what he said. He was fired for a reason that makes sense — he was hurting bottom line.

WW