Worst Ways To Get Fired

If you’ve never been fired or laid off, then you can’t begin to imagine the feeling.  Every situation is different.

One of my friends who went through a lay off came into work one morning and everyone who had boxes on their desks were told to pack up and go home.

For me, I was told that after six years I was incapable of doing my job and then treated like a criminal, not allowed back near my desk as the boss who hated me went through my belongings, even my purse, and boxed up my things.  I had to wait in security for an hour and then be escorted out of the building by an army of police-wanna-bes.  My former co-workers were not allowed near me.  This was their usual procedure.

Companies are getting more and more efficient and cold in the age of technology and big business as CNN recently reported.

Just recently, Radio Shack laid off 400 employees via email, if you can believe it.  According to CNN, other methods companies have been known to use to fire people are: by FedEx, registered letter, text message, voice mail and conference call.  How personal!

One company herded employees into an auditorium and gave them one of two color-coded information packets. Those with the same color packets sat together. The two groups were then escorted out of the auditorium through different exits. One led back to the office, which meant that group of employees could stay. The other led to the street, which meant the workers should file for unemployment.

One company deliberately left a new organizational chart on the photocopy machines. Some employees were left off entirely, and others were moved to new positions.

[…]

Some companies in the middle of a merger have asked all employees to resign and reapply for jobs. The goal: to disengage from the old and reinvent the organizational structure - with fewer employees.

I liked the bit on the end of the article about possible fallout for the companies.

Laying off employees by remote indicates a very low emotional intelligence on the part of management, said workplace stress expert Al Siebert, director of the Resiliency Center.

So, too, does creating an atmosphere where the outgoing employees are treated like potential criminals or are otherwise embarrassed.

The problem isn’t just that it’s an affront to the dignity of the employees - although it is, and research has shown that workers who have been through a poorly managed layoff take longer to find new work, Klamfoth said.

“Companies should consider who is watching,” he said.

Customers who see companies treat their employees poorly may be less likely to do business with them.

Potential future hires may be less likely to want to work there.

While I was looking for a new job and my resume was circulating, I was contacted by a company who was considering an outsourcing partnership with the company who had fired me.  They weren’t looking to hire me, mind you.  They wanted to ask me questions about the outsourcing company’s policies, actions, behaviors, etc.  They were mostly concerned about their current employees — would their current employees be treated well, would they be pushed out the door.

This company was doing it’s research.

At the time, I was considering a lawsuit for wrongful termination, so I chose not to discuss my former employer with them in any detail.  However, I did point out to them that I had worked at my previous occupation for 6 years before the outsourcing and then 6 months later I was unemployed.  I told them that they were welcome to come to any conclusions they wanted from that but that I was at that time unwilling to discuss those 6 months.

I heard later that the company with with a different outsourcing firm.  I think it’s called karma.

Source: Worst ways to get fired (CNN.com)

Tags: fired, job recovery