Top 10 Reasons Employees Get Fired
89
Dishonesty, evasion, or lack of integrity on the job.
It is important to be honest, straightforward, and forthcoming on the job with management and coworkers. However, this does not mean that you should blurt out everything you know -- It is important to protect your company's proprietary information, such as copyrighted and trademarked materials, company manuals, program materials, and new projects, services, and inventions in order to prevent corporate espionage and theft. Time sheets and expense reports must be 100% true and accurate, without padding. Projects reports, especially facts and figures must not be faked.
Employees should not use company materials or equipment for their own personal purposes and this includes telephones, cell phones, copiers, laptops, PDAs, and the Internet. However, some employers will make an exception in some cases - for example, printing up few flyers for a charity -- but ask them first in order to preserve ongoing trust. Most employers also permit emergency phone calls from and to family members and allow parents to call to check on their children. Absolutely no employee should use company time, equipment, and materials to operate a personal business on company time, such as an Internet sales page, or a Pampered Chef or Tupperware business, etc.
Lying on a resume.
Icnreasing numbers of employers are checking every single reference a job candidate provides. If there are notations on your resume of more than one business "closed down" or one or more employers having died, or there are untraceable educational certifications, you risk being fired for fraud. Be prepared to show some sort of documentation for those closed down business and schools. Many employers now require that you show them, and provide them a copy of, your High School, Vocational School, and College transcripts and diplomas, so have them ready.
Please understand that reference checking continues after you are hired. Some employers even run credit checks on their employees every 6 months.
A local retail conglomerate containing a dozen chains of clothing and accessory outlets also owns a financial services division and a credit and collections division. Through vocational counseling duties, I learned that temporary employees in credit and collections underwent no credit checks, while full-time-with-benefits customer service reps were checked at hire and semiannually thereafter. The rationale supplied by a number of companies for credit checks is 1) to prevent theft, and 2) to prevent a] sloppiness and mishandling of funds/resources and b] low productivity. In the MSN article (xxxxx) evidence emerges that the poor credit check may not correlate with the problems supposedly linked with it in the workplace. During a national recession, the poor credit check may be even more meaningless and dropped by some companies. Financial and credit services seem to employee credit checks more often than other employers. As a professional in other industries, I have gathered background checks and these recurring credit checks, and can testify to their time-consuming nature. In my experience, the background check at hire is the more important and should not be eliminated during a recession.
If any one tells you to make up information to make your resume look better, they are either 1) naïve or ill-informed, or 2) trying to get you into trouble, because some people make it their hobby to hurt others.
Refusing to follow directions and orders.
This is pretty self explanatory. Your company owns your working time and you must do what your supervisors and bosses ask you to do. If you have a better idea, you must talk to them and go through proper channels in order to "do it your way." If you are asked to do something illegal, unethical, or what you consider immoral, you need to take a stand on that in a professional manner.
Sometimes, people who cannot follow directions simply need to start their own businesses, and that's perfectly OK. It's a part of the Multiple Intelligences phenomenon and absolutely acceptable. See our Link below for that Hub topic:
Multiple Intelligences and the Perfect Job
Talking too much and conducting personal business at work.
Don't be guilty of misusing company resources, including the Internet, office supplies, and especially telephones; too much idle (personal talking) with coworkers. Non-business talking wastes more company dollars than any other activity. It should be saved for lunch and break times. This includes talking on the phone/email with stockbrokers, travel agents, hairdressers, bankers, etc.
In the 1960s and into the early 1970s, many offices and factories did not allow any conversation - employees were to work, not talk. This policy loosened somewhat in the 1980s and 1990s and then as employers discovered how much talking costs them, they began laying off the talkers. HOWEVER, some employers allow a certain amount of this type of activity and it is important to understand YOUR company policies and follow them.
Inconsistency - unreliable work and behaviors.
Employees must be stable and consistent in behaviors and productivity in order to benefit the company and produce profits or positive outcomes. While most people have ups and downs, if these interfere with productivity and accuracy in their jobs, they need to contact their Employee Assistance Program or seek professional help. If employee reviews are given regularly, these trends can be caught in time to be guided into something more positive. If you are not receiving employee reviews, ask for one/
Inability to get along with other people.
Some people have a lower "Social IQ" than others, some are loners, and some are sociopathic or have personality disorders. Unless there is a mental health disorder present (like the sociopathic or personality disorder symptoms) people can learn to be civil and have productive conversations - even those with Aspberger's syndrome and other autism spectrum disorders. Management should notice extreme problems with employee's getting along with others and intervene professionally with a referral to the Employee Assistance Program for consultation and help or the Professional Development Program for training like awareness and communications education.
Without these latter two programs, many more employees would be fired and end up possibly in jail or homeless.
Can you raise your SOCIAL IQ?
Inability to actually do assigned job tasks.
If employees lie convincingly enough during an interview or on a resume, stating that they can do certain tasks, but proving unable to perform these duties on he job, they will likely be fired if they cannot learn to do them very quickly. However, some tasks that require certifications and licenses cannot be quickly learned on the job during the first weeks. These deficits will expose the employee as unable to perform assigned duties and having lied during the application process .
However, occasionally there is a lack of initial orientation and training on the job and the employee needs to ask for help early on. Sometimes, through misunderstanding, an employee will be assigned tasks that are beyond their training or education or in an entirely different field. This is certainly a mis-match. Such an employee needs to speak up right away in a professional manner and ask for help or reassignment. These employees may need to report their circumstances to Human Resources, an Employee Assistance Program, a Union Steward, or their attorney if the situation escalates.
Performing tasks slowly, with numerous errors.
Some employees are sloppy and not invested in doing a good job. Unless their attitudes change for more productive beliefs, they will likely be fired.
On the other hand, and unwisely, some employees try to "string out" their work and make it last longer in order to have job security. This is dishonest. A better plan is to finish their tasks at an acceptable rate and ask coworkers if they can help them, and after that, go to the boss and ask for more work. Not only is this honest, but it lets the boss know that you are a good worker and deserving of raises and promotions.
Unfortunately, some companies do not have adequate training and follow-up programs in place, leaving employees to figure out their jobs on their own. In these cases, slow work and high error rate are not actually the workers' fault. Alternatively, some people are simply in the wrong job for them and they need to be placed into jobs in which they can excel. These people need to ask for help from their supervisors and bosses and these management persons need to notice the problem and be prepared to help, either with training and coaching, or a job change.
Employee Asssistance Programs
High absenteeism rate.
When you are hired as an employee, your company owns the time that you are at work, except for lunches, breaks, and authorized time off.
It is not a sign of integrity to take every minute of sick time you have, just because you are allotted that amount and are not actually sick. Some employers have solved this problem by lumping vacations, mental health days, sick time, holidays, days for family funerals, and personal days into one category called "Time Off" or similar. You don't have to give any explanation. Longer family-leave and parental leave time usually requires previous authorization though. However, if you need to take sick time for another reason, confide in your bosses and they may make an accommodation for you.
If an employee is having problems with job burnout that often manifests as absences and tardiness or is suffering frequent accidents, drug/alcohol abuse, family difficulties, or other mental health or physical issues, many employers have Employee Assistance Programs to help guide and treat these problems. Employees should take advantage of this help to 1) increase the quality of their own lives and 2) become more consistent and productive workers.
Drug and/or alcohol abuse.
This leads to inconsistent work, errors, accidents, poor interpersonal relationships, increased absenteeism, lower morale among coworkers and supervisors, bad publicity for the company, and other negatives. Drug and alcohol problems both are usually only one of a set of serious disorders known as Co-Occurring Disorders, so there is usually much more to the problem than drug use or drinking that got out of hand.
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Comments
Thanks Stacie!
Best regards to you and yours!
Gobez!
thanks!
Thanks for the comments; glad to help with information!
Great facts and advice. Thank you very much.
Http://www.glamourandcompany.com
Flipping heck - Ican't even remember how many companies Ive worked for - and most of them don't exist anymore - NZ and Australia have a lot of mergers and takeovers - I assume its different in the US - if you wanted to go back 10 years with most employees here you'd never hire anyone!
Same here Lizzie - I've freelanced for three years now, but the company I worked for before that - for 11 years - was elminated when the government grants expired. The department in the medicaa college I worked for before that was elminated. The last two companies closed when the owners (very old) died. The McDonalds I managed combined with the one up the street in a merger.
So, same here!
Thanks for the comments, HRReviews!
Of course in California you would need to give several warnings before you could fire for most of these reasons.
Nice hub! Good information, thanks for sharing.
Thanks for the comment tommen. There are other reasons besides the ones listed above, but these are pretty important.
Most companies I worked for were small cozy companies, and many were owned and run by family members. What was not mentioned above was how to integrate and survive in a Nepotismic system. Im a survivor in family organizations and can tell you its none of the above that will keep you or boot you. Its all social networking.
That doesn't seem right - to allow employers to check employees credit history every 6 months? That's too invasive. Geez, the commitment employers expect I think is ridiculous sometimes. I work for a research firm that is very strict with everything - plus it's competitive. Smart people, but too driven. Thanks though - it was a good read!
yeah but u gotta also remember that with small family owned copanies,, u have a higher chance of a coorporation movin in to your terf. and so goes the family own , small mom and pop stores being persueded to sell...
So many of these are self-explanatory, and yet I have worked at places that never fired the incompetent, the ones that got into fights with other employees, that were out all the time, that talked on the phone and misused company time constantly. It's all about who kisses the most ass, who the boss(es) and people in charge like the most. That's alway sbeen my experience. Those are the people that can get away with murder.
I completely agree with Tuesday, because I work at a company where people are constantly late, the very same people leave work early, misuse the company time, and violate almost every principle that was in this reading. How do they stay there? Politics, it's all about politics in the workplace and if they kiss ass the most, they get rewarded the most while the people who come to work and earn mony MUST pick up the slack of everyone else.
I agree with Tuesday.It is all about who kisses the most ass and who the bosses like the most. I just came from a company like that. Also my supervisor didn't know more than me.
An additional reason deliberately omitted from this article is that numerous employers are simply JERKS to work for, who fire workers unfairly all the time in the U.S., thanks to "at will" law which employers support because it's primarily for their benefit. I've been a victim of wrongful job termination, as have thousands of other workers. It happens every day in this country. An applicant's job application is tossed in the trash if he doesn't agree BY FORCE (via his signature) with "at will" law stated on most job applications. HOW ABOUT ADDRESSING THE PATHETIC REALITY OF LOW WAGES PAID TO MILLIONS OF DEDICATED, HARD WORKERS IN THE U.S.?????????
Thanks for all the insightful comments, Readers!
Family businesses can be difficult. During college, I worked several months for a family run business that also had alcoholism among its members. Then the building became full of cigarette smoke and occasionally, chemical fumes. It was too unhealthy, but they offered me a full time management job at minimum wage, so I turned in my resignation notice.
About office and corporate politics, see my Hub on corporate culture for a start. It's more about diversity, but politics is part of that diversity. Staying neutral is the best poplicy in my experience:
http://hubpages.com/hub/Office_Culture
Thanks again for the comments that make for a good discussion.
Hi jennifer; I think that's a different Hub topic, but one I'd be glad to address. I'll gather some information. Can you tell us your story? Perhaps you'd like to join Hub pages and write a Hub about it. People would like to know. Join here:
http://hubpages.com/_75aiggqmo0ge/user/new
I feel your pain Jennifer, but could you define what "law wages" are, and what level of jobs that you are referring to? Irregardless of the dedication and hard work, sometimes the level of the job doesn't warrant a "high wage". You have to take it all in to perspective. There are times when people (in general) should be just happy to have a job! That couldn't be more true right now, more so than in a very long time.
Blame, blame, blame the employee!!!! Employers have faults of their own, but most will never say, "I'm sorry" when they're wrong! Some even treat their independent contractors as employees! Employees, WAKE UP, get smart, & become self employed!
how do you become self employed.....I've been trying for years
I think that checking credit history is unjust and invasive for hiring. It can take a long time to find a job if you are out of work for ANY reason. What happens when you are out of work? Your credit suffers. If you had a job, you could rebuild your credit but you can't get a job because of your credit and you can't rebuild your credit because you don't have a job... ...etc. Is there anybody out there besides me who finds this totally illogical??? And what about families and individuals who have suffered catostrophic illnesses or have suffered from disasters and credit fraud? (I myself was a victim of fraud) Credit history alone is NO judge of a person's character, work ethic, or ability to manage income. This practice should be stopped. How could we bring this to pass?
Self employed people have a hard time, too, better think twice about this! No benefits, no vacation, no paid sick days, etc, you will be responsible for all retirement savings.
Worked at one job where six employees sat facing eachother, desk to desk, and we weren't allowed to talk except at "talk time". What was managment thinking?
Best solution: win the lottery
jennifer,most people get fired because they dont get the job done or feel like the world owes them something.you get what you deserve and earn! you agree to the wages before you start,if you make the co. money(more than expected) the boss will see this and reward accordingly.get the chip off your shoulder,get off the internet,and back to work.you speak from a victim mentallity,top sales people aren't victims they are go-getters.we bosses can pick you guys out from a mile away but sometimes have to hire and put-up with you until you quit or not work yourselves out of a good job.hows that for honesty.
I have to agree that checking credit history is invasive. Bad things can happen to perfectly honest people like losing a job, long-term illness, or even a divorce that can cause a person's credit rating to sour. A employee having bad credit doesn't necessarily mean that person is going to steal from the company, as some employer assume. Often when a employee embezzles funds from a company, that person is often the most trusted employee in the company, someone high up in the company, like in management; definitely not an entry-level employee like a bank teller or cashier in a store. That person usually has excellent credit. So credit does not tell the whole story when companies run background checks. I personally think criminal checks would be more relevant, than credit when determining a person's risk to the company.
Thanks for the comments but most of that was common sense. Anyway i will keep them in mind though.
Response to Jay:
By "low wage" I mean a wage that doesn't cover costs for one's basic needs to survive. Apartment rent for a one bedroom can easily exhaust half of one's monthly net income. Add on an "emergency" of some sort, a car payment at some point, not to mention the other necessary monthly bills ....do you see what I'm getting at? Yeh, Jay, you're right ...we all should be "happy to just have a job", especially in this age where more & more employers think nothing of cutting off our incomes in order to outsource our jobs overseas (while still expecting us to purchase their products & services), OR by laying off workers, leaving the rest of the work crew to take on more work for no extra pay. I'm not suggesting the "average" worker be paid a "high wage" but a wage he or she can reasonably live on. Employers who can financially afford, but refuse to be concerned about its workers' economic survival DO NOT practice moral business ethics, the "Golden Rule", or the loyalty which it expects to receive from workers.
I WAIST AS MUCH AS THE COMPANY'S $, AS POSSIBLE, I BUY THINGS WE DON'T NEED AND I OFTEN BUY LUNCH FOR ALL IN THE OFFICE, THE OWNERS OF MY COMPANY ARE JERKS, THEY DON'T LOOK AT THE BOOK THEY JUST WANT THERE MONEY IN THE BANK WHEN THEY NEED IT, OUR COMPAY HAS MADE $1M OVER THE FIRST QUARTER OF 07, AND I PLAN TO GET A NEW LAP TOP'S FOR 35 EMPOLYEES AND NEXT WEEK WE ARE ALL GOING TO THE BEACH FOR A COOK OUT WITH OUR FAMILY'S.
Response to Barbara Blanton:
I'm in complete agreement with you that checking credit is invasive, downright "nosy", in my view. Given many workers' "too much month left at the end of the paycheck" reality, one out of work can quickly place their good credit standing in jeopardy. A defendant on trial, with all the evidence stacked against him, receives better treatment than this.
Michael, YOU are the one with a chip on your shoulder. I never said ALL bosses/employers were bad. I'm referring to the LOUSY ones. Don't you read? You've never been where I've been, witnessed the unfairness that I've seen in the workplace toward innocent workers, so how dare you judge US with such blame & absence of compassion. How old are you, Michael? I'm 53, & I'll bet my life I've far more experience in the workplace than you've got! As for your comment, "you get what you deserve & earn" is not always true. Your comment, "you AGREE to the wages before you start" is a new one on me! In an employer/employee relationship, the employer ALWAYS has final word on wages; the employee either MUST ACCEPT it, or receives none of it, but this does not constitute "agreement" by the employee. I'm happy for you that your career is soaring, but that's not the case for everyone who works just as hard & dedicatedly as you. I suggest you ditch the pride & arrogance as "PRIDE goes before destruction, and a HAUGHTY spirit before stumbling" (Prov. 16:18).
Hey Ray I want to work with you
Babette: Yes, it can be hard to become self employed, but it can be done. I don't have any easy answers for you. I'm still making my way. Think hard about what interests you. You may or may not need further skills training. If a "Small Business Administration" exists in your area seek out one of their volunteers for advice, who spent their work life being self employed. I hope the best for you!
I was fired from my most recent job roughly five months ago. This is what happened:
I applied for a position in August, and was called for an interview the very next day. The next week I was called back for a second interview to meet the team, ask any questions I wanted, and I guess to see if they thought I would be a good fit. I felt good about it, that is until the company started sending me all of these forms over e-mail saying, "Oh we forgot to have you sign this, or authorize this." So I signed everything and faxed it back to them. After that was done, I didn't hear from them for two months. Then one day I get an e-mail from the supervisor asking if I still wanted the job. I said yes, and she called and officially offered it to me. Two weeks later I started the job. And two weeks after that I fell ill, seriously ill, hospital ill. My mother had to call my new boss and say that I couldn't come in, I was sick, and she didn't know when I would be able to come back. A week later I was still in the hospital, and my mother went to my apartment to make sure everything was OK. She found a package at my door and brought it to me. It was a certified letter from the company stating that someone "claiming" to be my mother called and said I would be out indefinitely, and they wanted me to call them by a certain date to confirm this. Well, the day my mother went to my apartment was three days after that certain date. So she called the company's HR department to let them know why I hadn't called, and they refused to speak with her. A few days later, back at my apartment, there was another certified letter announcing my termination for not calling by that certain date. I was so angry. Up to that point, I had never been fired or even asked to resign. Why didn't they call me? They had my cell phone number. I know because they called my cell phone to ask me for an interview and to offer me a job. Why on earth did they think a certified letter would be sufficient? The person "claiming" to be my mother told them I was sick and had been hospitalized. Wouldn't it logically follow that a hospitalization might prevent me from receiving that letter? I'm still angry about it. I understand that an indefinitely absent employee is not a good thing, but come on. I'd rather have been offered the option to quit.
It took a few months for me to recover, and now I'm in the infancy of a new job search. It is pure hell. And now I have this massive gap in my employment. I was unemployed for four months before I got my last job. (I resigned from my previous job because I clashed so much with my boss that I was willing to quit without having another job lined up.) That makes about a nine-month gap. How do I explain that away in a cover letter? How do I make my resume shine enough for employers to overlook that? I don't want them to think I was fired from my previous job, but I don't want to sound like I'm making excuses. I'm college educated. I should be able to do this. I send my resume out like crazy, but I can't even get a call back. Being jobless makes me feel useless. I'm in my late 20s, and my parents are having to support me right now. It's like the definition of loser.
I don't necessarily disagree with everything you're saying Jennifer. However, covering the costs of daily needs of survival is relative someone's situation. It's not fair to say the employer is at fault for offering a $10/hr job, and the employee be upset that their raises don't cover inflation after accepting the job in the first place. In that person's situation, maybe they need to get another part time job. In the situation I just mentioned, if they can't make it on $10/hr, they aren't going to make it on $12/hr either(20% increase). I'm not sure what to tell you. One thing that I know for sure, the place I work at explains the starting pay and raise schedule during the interview before the person is ever hired, and the person being interviewed can then decide if they want to work here or not. It sounds like to me that you've really worked for some below average companies as far as the "Golden Rule" goes.
In some cases, if companies didn't cut jobs during tough times, they might not survive. Are you suggesting they should just close the doors and lay everyone off? Or should they downsize and try to survive? Which situation is better? What would you do if you owned the company?
So yes, I am "just happy to have a job".
Good luck Jennifer, I hope you find a company that treats you better than others have in the past. :)
That really sucks 'Chelle :( would it have been too much trouble to get a lawyer to get your job back that you lost when you became ill? It sounds like this was a very large company. A company in which you were just a number and had no one you could get in touch with to give the right story to. I hope you find something soon, and you're certainly not a 'loser'.
Jay, I agree about being "just happy to have a job." After all, while you're working your any-old-job, you can be searching for something more suited to you. As long as you can pay the bills, you're in good shape. I quit my last job as a newspaper reporter after 10 months because my boss and I just could not get along, and it made me miserable. I did not have another job lined up. I really thought anything would be better than what I had. Now I seriously regret having left that job before finding something else. It was a stupid decision, but also an important life lesson. Kids, if you learn anything from me, let it be this: appreciate your job, even if you hate it. I promise you it's better then sitting at home in front of the computer every day trolling the Internet for jobs.
Jay, thanks for the kind words. I'm trying not to feel like a loser. As for hiring an attorney, I was still pretty sick and figured something like that wasn't worth my energy. I needed to focus on getting better, so I let it go. Although, it does please me to see that the company has yet to replace me. (Either that, or someone else was fired or quit.) They're advertising my former job on several different job boards. Maybe things aren't going so well for them, which would serve them perfectly right :) And yes, it was a large company. My first experience at a corporation. Hopefully never again.
To Jay: $10 hr where I live isn't the "norm"; it's more in the $6.50-8.50 range. I'm married; therefore stuck here. There are jobs here paying no better than in 1997, as verified by 3 people I know in this city of 160,000 who work in job placement. I've never been presented with a "raise schedule" anywhere I've worked. I'm glad that exists for you; however, neither job security nor raises are guaranteed, and you have not a "legal leg to stand on" as your protection unless you have a written work contract....which is almost non existent, for obvious reasons favorable to the employer.
You're gullible if you believe that ALL companies who outsource or downsize do so out of financial necessity. Of course, those who do so out of greed want to fool the public that they're acting out of dire straits! You think they want to anger us, and therefore run risk of losing profit?
To Chelle from Texas: You have my 100% sympathy in regard to your job loss. I live in Texas, also. This is the 3rd state I've lived & worked in, and it is the most disappointing of the three with regard to jobs & employee rights. I never thought I'd see the day where I disqualify for certain jobs in my own country on the sole reason that I'm not "bilingual". Curses to me for being a born and bred English speaking American!
Chelle, I hope you can find your dream job. If you do, take good care of it, because they are FEW. Any one minor screw up, or no screw up, can knock you out of a job in a flash these days, as you know from your recent experience. Good luck!
I totally disagree with credit checks for a job, unless you're borrowing money from the employer. Which for most, is unlikely. Some things should be privite.
With the mortgage crisis and so many people losing their homes, and others defaulting on student loans because of extremely ridiculously high interest, credit checks ruin the chances of good people to find work.
Unfortunately, corporations sometimes take the stance that workers with poor credit histories are the same people that will increase company medical/health insurance, liability insurance, and loss (theft) insurance rates. Some companies check credit not only BEFORE employees are hired, but also once every six months AFTER they are hired.
And, you have to think about identity theft if a company representative asks you for a credit check permission before they even offer you an interview. That is also happening from time to time.
Jennifer, you're gullible if you think I believe that. There are crooked companies everywhere, nowhere in the discussion did I say that there aren't. You grilled someone else earlier in this discussion with the statement, "Do you read?" Now I'm asking you to practice what you preach, and read what I said, which was: "In some cases, if companies didn't cut jobs during tough times, they might not survive." That is the truth, and I'm not concerned if you believe that or not.
I'm sorry you've been dealt a bad hand Jennifer. I hope everything works out for you. :)
This is why I love the books The Starbucks Experience and The E-Myth. Far too few employers have the respect of their employees. I might add that far too few employers really deserve the respect of their employees.
Thanks for al the comments. The American worker can voice opinions and facts here and I hope it will do us all good.
Phew theres a lot of information and advice on this page, I have never been sacked and hope not to be!
How about using work computer for blogging and other purposes? It's kind of serious too.
In the coming years, we may see a rise in firings for computer and other digital misuse on the job. In my region, firing for this reason is done primarily by a few government offices. A few firings and prosecutions have occurred in govt and private business because of child porngraphy. In some businesses, it may depend on whether the business can afford the personnel and time to search digital logs and look for the misuse.
Thanks for the comments!
Very good stuff. Something everyone should remember from time to time!
I think the infomration is useful; I'm glad you do as well. As we advance further into the Digital Age, perhaps technology will indeed add to the list of reasons. Thanks for reading!
In my experience, using the company's equipment as your own is the best way to get fired and many people lose their jobs over this. Because of new technology, they cannot put down their cell phones or internet browsers for one second.. .or enough to get work done. This is unfortunate as this is opening up lines at the unemployment office and shutting doors for opportunity.
That's a wonderful and astute insight, Bianca Bardo - I like your writing style as well. Many thanks for dropping by and I'll be reading your Hubs soon.
Best wishes.
Patty
Excellent information in this hub, Patty. Thumbs up!
Hello, helena, how have you been! Thanks for visiting. :)
Cool hub, can I copy it? ;)
Hahaha. Thanks firetown, you made me laugh.
I think the problem is on both sides. We live in a society that a strong part of the work force is impatient, more selfish, expecting promotions, pay raises, etc. to happen much quicker than they probably should. Employees also bring their personal life to work far too often, and cell phones and internet haven't helped this issue.
On the other side of it, many companies throw much more on the upper management now than in the past, loading up their plates to the point where it is very challenging to manage the tasks at hand, and in the long run, it hurts the employee, as training is affected, proper team building, and important issues are neglected.
The agenda for the management becomes cloudy, as they get caught up too many times just trying to get through the paper end of things, and the most important part of the business - the people, become bitter for the lack of direction, communication, or the problem employee is not addressed or monitored, causing more dissension among the employees.
Communication with the employee is crucial, and vital to their development. In short, companies at times force upper management to wear too many hats, as the core of the business slips through the cracks.
Lightstruck, your observations are astute and most welcomed here. They reasonate with me and will with other readers -- Thank you!
I've noticed that in come companies, a sector of younger employees (but not all) arrive late, leave early, do liitle work and expect large wage increases and promotions. They don't connect the cause and effect of working/results and the rewards that must be earned.
Management is indeed overworked a times with unrealistic expectations and demands. I've been there. It was gruieling, but it taught me how to organize and when to say "No" or to insist on appropriate help.
Training is essential -- employees left to figure out things for themselves sometimes invent their own ways of work and sometimes these succeed and sometimes they are disastrous. Training & Communication are key, as you say.
I've noticed a decline with each decade, in the work ethic instilled in my town's youth from 5th grade through 12th -- This deacde, about half of the kids that come into my 1) martial arrts classes or 2) youth employment programs are shocked that appropriate behavior is required to stay in the program. For the martial arts, they are even more shocked that good grades, actual physical effort, and clean language are required. Some of these kids are even from higher-income homes and active in churches and other places of worship -- so I wonder what is being instilled, exactly, or if entertainment media is taking it all away.
A 5-year old and a 4-year old were brought to me a couple years ago. I introduced myself to the children and the oldest smiled and yelled "F**K You!" while the parents laughed, saying they'd seen it on TV. I explained to them that they were to immediately leave my property and not return, because of the obscenity and their attitude towards it.
it is also hard to find good customer service here. I went into a Starbucks in a Target Store recently, and the two employees on duty yelled F**k and F**kin' Yeah 6 times in 15 minutes. Neither chain's management responded to my complaint.
Thanks for your comments.
Posted this link in www.surfurls.com
Thanks; looks like an interesting site as well.
corporations are the root of all evil and they feed off the needy. i just posted some reasons to leave a crappy employer on my blog. check it out. i've worked for some great people in the past, but some people just love to take advantage of those trying to make a living.
I love this hub, it's covered many of the things I've found as an employer. What happened to an actual work ethic? Too many people seem to think that because they get a money month after month that there's no need to work for it.
Finding decent employees is one of the biggest reasons small businesses are struggling to survive.
jidimond! - Thanks for posting. I have been in this position. Twice in 15 years, I was in a department (different companies) in which the firm downsized and cut from 10 staff to just me. I was exhausted.
FiancePortal - I see this all the time, too. Customer Service needs improvement coutrywide and I don't know if work readiness programs are as effective as they could be. Motivation is needed and a desire to work.
Beautiful and so very useful and practical hub about getting fired. It makes me to think a bit deeper and to start to value myself in a bit different perspective. Much more objective. I simply need to go out of my own gated subjective perspective and to look over my professional abilities, advantages and weaknesses in much broader and much more OBJECTIVE manner. Patty, you really know your professional topic very well!
Here's a positive spin on the credit check issue.
If an employer sees that you are in debt, he/she is more likely to hire you/keep you on. They know you are desperate for a job, will keep your head down and not complain and will work loads of overtime.
Bad credit+need for money=being owned by the "man" and they know it. ;)
solarshingles - Thanks for visiting and presenting a comment. Your writing is not only eloquent and flowing, but also full of meaning -- It causes me to think more about my own perpectives on this topic. So, I am happy to have written it for all to view and enhance with their own experiences.
twohandtouch - What you are saying may indeed be true for many companies. Thinking back, I have seen this occur a few times! Thanks for reminding me.
For other companies, the administration may suspect that this person might steal, embezzle, or fritter away company funds and place the firm into the same debt status as well.LOL
Credit is so fouled up in this nation, I believe, and worsened by lack of education in school about credit (some schools have included it, thankfully) - that I think people deserve another chance. Especially to work!
Have any of you seen the Credit Report Dot Com commercials that take on just this topic of poor credit and work? They are funny, but sadly true.
Patty,
Owning a small business, we see these issues all the time. I know it is not always the case, but we do try and recognize the efforts of those employees who are valuable and reward them accordingly...On the same note, those who are not "team players" simply have to go... prolonging the issue only makes it worse for all involved. Great Hub for those wishing to know how to avoid losing their job!
I work in a company, which outsourced it's activities to Eastern Europe. From what I've seen, sometimes the employer does not know what the staff is doing. You might be on your way to discover cure for Cancer, but if they are not aware of it, they will keep treating you like (there is no other way to say it) s**t.
From my modest experience I can say that about 60% is what you do and 40% how you present it. If you can't "sell" yourself you are not going to get far.
I have seen that happen from time to time - the employer not knowing what the workers are accomplishing. That is really a big problem when it occurs.
Unfortunately, our culture now tells us two opposing things at once; 1) sell yourself, and 2) don't self-promote so much. Which is correct, we ask?
And I agree that those that do not want to help the team are detrimental. A balance of helping the team and selling oneself a bit is probably good.
i work for a big company in the timber industry
i injured myself playing sport (aussie rules football) and so i have been off work for a month
i got fired the other day because of lack of attendance. thats not right is it?
i have someone looking in to it.
good hub
Hi, joseph.
In my state, an employer cannot legally fire someone for taking off sick time that they have legally accrued and are entitled to use. If that is your case, then your attorney may be able to sue for wrongful termination, punitive damages, back pay, and reinstatement in your job.
Much success to you!
Patty
Wonderful hub! While it doesn't cover ALL of the reasons one can get fired, it does cover all the reasons within an employee's control.
Some people are jerks, some people will fire for no good reason, some will fire based on personality. The one job I ever got fired from (sort of, I didn't make it through the trial period) was over "just not fitting in" At the job in question for a small, family run racehorse farm, fitting in was important and my interests diverged too far to make for a tight community. There's nothing we can do about firing reasons outside of ourselves, and it's a waste of time and emotional energy railing against it IMO. What we can do is control our behaviour and attitudes such as attendance and professionalism.
I recently read the wonderful satire "The Art of Demotivation" from Despair.com. It addresses the problems both of corporate mismanagement and workforce laziness with a light, sarcastic touch. Through my laughter, I noticed both the sociopathic state of most current corporations and the apathetic, slug-like behaviour of many co-workers I have suffered through. According to modern psychiatry, many corporations (see Enron) would be diagnosed as sociopaths or even psychotics if the company were an individual human instead.
However, as an American I see my fellow countrymen going out on credit limbs to finance lifestyles they can't afford and haven't earned all too often. It's one thing to not have enough to buy basic food and shelter, and any who suffer under such conditions have my condolences. It's quite another to run up credit balances for gaming platforms, the latest computer, and this year's model of car. This lack of self-discipline and forward thinking often seems to permeate all areas of life, from recreation to finance to job behaviour.
I like working from home because I can do it my way, and I'm fairly successful at it. However, if I hadn't become a dyed-in-the-wool tightwad years before trying to start my own business, I'd never have had the self-discipline to meet my own deadlines and manage my own time. Barring extreme unfortunate circumstances, if you can't meet the standards of professionalism, quality work and time management at a job for at least two years, you shouldn't try to start your own business IMO. Note that I didn't say like it, agree with it, or want to do it forever, just consistently perform up to standard for two years.
Up until the rise of the DOT.COMs, the APA's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual declared it a Personality Disorder Symptom to change jobs more frequently than every 2 years. Then in IT careers, it became the practice to change almost yearly. Two years is still a good foundation to me, though.
this is helpful. attitude counts a lot in most or all of our jobs. good attitude always get good promotion
It's funny, I run a company in which I am constantally letting people go from my organization because of these exact things. Thanks for the hub, I will have to let my managers and team leaders read this so they know what to look for more often.
Glad to be of service, shuey 03!
Hi its very nice information. Every one has to go through this hub to know wht employees are fired. Its very valuable information.
well, i've read the comments and have to conclude that you can be fired for one or none of the above reasons - an employer doesn't have to be accountable for firing, they can actually fire you if your boss doens't like the way you look. There is no accountability. Now on the matter of technology, if a company fires one employee for emailing, surfing, etc. then it would stand to reason that all employees emailing, surfing, etc. would have to be fired if it is solely on that principal. Therefore, I have completely discredited all reasons for firing. If you are loyal and well liked by your manager/boss/supervisor, you will never ever get fired because they will cover your a$$ as long as you worship theirs.
In a money crunch in some companies, if it is a case of the boss keeping his job & bonuses/perks or you keeping your job, you will still lose yours no matter what you do. Survival.
Patty, You've put a lot of time and work into your HUB. I also learned much from the comments made. My husband just lost his job and we worked at the same company. We only worked together one day a week.
Let me send one by you that hasn't been addressed yet. My husband was LAID OFF (even though there was a new hire for his shift the same week). He was the most liked and respected employee there. He had 30 yrs experience and had worked for the company over 8 yrs. He had been told by the general manager that he wasn't going to get her job because she has worked too hard for it. He never wanted her job but always did an excellent job in his department. He stopped kissing her a-- and worked as hard as possible. He is a 67 yr. old man who keeps up better than most younger employees. I still work there for the same boss which is very difficult. I just grin and bear it because we need to make the bills. We have downsized but aren't sure if one income can cover us. I did my thinking out of the box and e-mailed an editor of a magazine and offered my stories and sent him to my blog. He did an entire 4 page feature on me and wants more stories. I didn't think my writing was good enough but I took the chance. What does it take to send an e-mail to an editor? Check me out at Poker Pro Magazine and I have the feature on the first woman poker dealer in Las Vegas. No cash but I am using it as a vehicle to do other things. Poker is the biggest phenomanan in the history of the world right now. So I am hoping for good things but do not leave my computer for one day. Keep thinking and if you love writing then dream of the places you can get to and then write your heart out. Hope this can bring a fresh idea to even just one person.
I will certainly look at Poker Pro and I wish you every success.
When you have time, you and/or your husband might silently have a free consult with an employment attorney about your hsuband's case; if for nothing else except peace of mind. Competition is going become stiffer for good jobs, and with the retirement age rising, seniors deserve to have them as well as anyone else, espeically is they can produce better results.
All good thoughts and prayers going out for you!
Thank you Patty. You are truley an exceptional lady!
Thanks denise, always glad to share crucial information, :)
"In my state, an employer cannot legally fire someone for taking off sick time that they have legally accrued and are entitled to use. If that is your case, then your attorney may be able to sue for wrongful termination, punitive damages, back pay, and reinstatement in your job." Too late in my case; I was foolish to go through an arbitrator, who decided in favor of the employer. I should have hired an outside lawyer for this clearly wrongful termination.
Astute observation. Success to you in the future!
Sticky circumstances of credit checking for employment:
http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Banking/Yourcr
Stacie Naczelnik says:
2 years ago
Good information. Thank you for sharing.