Great article, thanks for sharing! If you have regular feedback sessions and use SMART goals with clear expectations and still no lasting results then it’s time to go.
You get burned once with Harry, and you learn it for a life. 😃
> The price everyone pays because of you
It has a double-dip effect when your company and reputation are on the line, and Harry is spending your profits. It's a terrifying feeling.
I've been in the business long enough to tell with high accuracy whether something will work after a month, mainly because I don't look for superstars. I look for people I can work with in the first place, and a month is plenty of time to see how it would feel to work with them in the long term.
This might be unpopular, but I think you can't make radical changes to people's work habits because that's strongly tied to their system of values. If it's OK for someone to disappear for hours, knowing there's a core work time, then it's their system of values. On the other hand, I've seen people disappear for days without prior notice and not get fired, which tells more about the company than the person.
Well, 1 month for me because it was usually super small teams, 3-4 people, and we worked closely from day 1. It probably takes more time if you have less frequent interactions, but I don't have experience with bigger teams (yet!).
I resonated with "every time you are getting close to making that decision, the employee makes some improvement, which restores your belief in their potential." That happened to me when I started managing a team.
The first time I had to fire someone was tricky too. The previous manager should have done it, but they didn't. So, when I started managing Harry, there were already unspoken expectations to let him go. It took me 3 months, but I'm pretty sure it would have taken me six if the pressure wasn't there.
I liked your perspective on "firing" the company. This is a difficult topic. Not all employees exhibit the same behavior as Harry.
I'm much more cautious abou this topic because law also plays a important rule here. Probation periods last 6 months in Germany. It is really difficult to fire someone after that. Managing the harm until you can let them go is something that I'm still getting used to.
It's definitely a difficult topic - and I've seen multiple cases like yours, where a new manager was saddled with baggage from the previous one, who couldn't make the hard decisions.
I would consider it, but not automatically. It really depends on why it didn't it work out in my team. If it's for professional or culture-fit reasons, yes. If it's work ethic, like in Harry's case, then no.
Especially if the requirements for the role changed with time, then it's the first thing I'll try to do.
Thanks for the reply. I asked because I experienced a similar situation when I was hired for a software engineering position (feature team), and I ended up in a platform team. My former manager didn't consider at all a team change where I would be a better fit, but just let me go.
(A reason of that decision could have also been the layoff happened next month, so I was an easy target without any effort, because still in probation period)
I think this is a good example of how NOT to fire someone (putting the layoffs aside). If you hire someone for a role with certain expectations, it's your responsbility to deliver on them. If the company needs a platform engineer and can't find a place in a feature team, they can choose to still fire, but I think they should at least try.
I have a good engineer, but not sure yet about team fit yet. It's for sure someone I will try a internal move team fit proves to be true. We are just doing the same for another engineer managed by a peer EM. She is looking for another team, the issue is again cultural fit.
In some cases, you do need to let someone go. In many cases, that won't be necessary if you have a conversation early and address the issue.
The crux is in the feedback. It needs to be quick. If it does not resolve the situation, you need to have more conversations.
There's a wonderful framework called The Accountability Dial that shows in practice how to do it. It is very in-line with the tips that Anton shared. I've been using it for years. https://www.refound.com/post/accountability-dial-what-it-is-how-to-use-it-and-how-it-will-help-your-team
Thanks Krystian, interesting framework!
Great article, thanks for sharing! If you have regular feedback sessions and use SMART goals with clear expectations and still no lasting results then it’s time to go.
You get burned once with Harry, and you learn it for a life. 😃
> The price everyone pays because of you
It has a double-dip effect when your company and reputation are on the line, and Harry is spending your profits. It's a terrifying feeling.
I've been in the business long enough to tell with high accuracy whether something will work after a month, mainly because I don't look for superstars. I look for people I can work with in the first place, and a month is plenty of time to see how it would feel to work with them in the long term.
This might be unpopular, but I think you can't make radical changes to people's work habits because that's strongly tied to their system of values. If it's OK for someone to disappear for hours, knowing there's a core work time, then it's their system of values. On the other hand, I've seen people disappear for days without prior notice and not get fired, which tells more about the company than the person.
Hard-earned lessons are the best, Anton! 💪
I agree with your sentiment on change - work ethic is something that is almost impossible to change.
I'm not sure about 1 month, but for me 3 months is definitely enough to understand where is it going to end.
Well, 1 month for me because it was usually super small teams, 3-4 people, and we worked closely from day 1. It probably takes more time if you have less frequent interactions, but I don't have experience with bigger teams (yet!).
I resonated with "every time you are getting close to making that decision, the employee makes some improvement, which restores your belief in their potential." That happened to me when I started managing a team.
Great article. Thanks for sharing.
Yeah, people know how to step up when needed - but what counts is the ‘real’ performance.
The first time I had to fire someone was tricky too. The previous manager should have done it, but they didn't. So, when I started managing Harry, there were already unspoken expectations to let him go. It took me 3 months, but I'm pretty sure it would have taken me six if the pressure wasn't there.
I liked your perspective on "firing" the company. This is a difficult topic. Not all employees exhibit the same behavior as Harry.
I'm much more cautious abou this topic because law also plays a important rule here. Probation periods last 6 months in Germany. It is really difficult to fire someone after that. Managing the harm until you can let them go is something that I'm still getting used to.
It's definitely a difficult topic - and I've seen multiple cases like yours, where a new manager was saddled with baggage from the previous one, who couldn't make the hard decisions.
If you hire someone not suitable for the role, will you consider refering
them to another team, instead of firing?
I would consider it, but not automatically. It really depends on why it didn't it work out in my team. If it's for professional or culture-fit reasons, yes. If it's work ethic, like in Harry's case, then no.
Especially if the requirements for the role changed with time, then it's the first thing I'll try to do.
Thanks for the reply. I asked because I experienced a similar situation when I was hired for a software engineering position (feature team), and I ended up in a platform team. My former manager didn't consider at all a team change where I would be a better fit, but just let me go.
(A reason of that decision could have also been the layoff happened next month, so I was an easy target without any effort, because still in probation period)
I think this is a good example of how NOT to fire someone (putting the layoffs aside). If you hire someone for a role with certain expectations, it's your responsbility to deliver on them. If the company needs a platform engineer and can't find a place in a feature team, they can choose to still fire, but I think they should at least try.
I have a good engineer, but not sure yet about team fit yet. It's for sure someone I will try a internal move team fit proves to be true. We are just doing the same for another engineer managed by a peer EM. She is looking for another team, the issue is again cultural fit.
Thank you for sharing this story openly. I made similar experiences.