Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Enterprise Architecture: When good people get fired...
Most employees in the US can have their employment terminated by their employers at any time, for almost any reason...
Recently, I have heard many people talk about being fired. Some feel that the modern approach to management differs from being human (at some level I agree) but also without acknowledging all of the factors that go into a firing decision. So, I decided to outline some things to noodle.
Because employees cannot count on their jobs being around forever, employees need to take control of their careers and their economic security. If you save your money, keep your skills up to date, and maintain contacts outside your company, then being fired should not be a disaster. Don't become too economically dependent upon your employer, and don't let your self-esteem or sense of well-being be too closely connected to your job...
| | View blog reactionsRecently, I have heard many people talk about being fired. Some feel that the modern approach to management differs from being human (at some level I agree) but also without acknowledging all of the factors that go into a firing decision. So, I decided to outline some things to noodle.
- Employers don't want to pay the cost associated with replacing employees, but eliminating employees is usually considered to be a cost-saving measure. This is why you see competent people let go while incompetent ones remain. All depends on deployment.
- People are not fired only for incompetence or low productivity. Employers fire people for a lot of reasons: economic conditions, cancellation of a project, elimination of part of the organization, changes in marketing strategy, personality conflicts, managerial whims, etc. Employers have the same right to be stupid that everyone else has and may fire their best people when they are needed most.
- firing can be based on trivial factors, such as a single unauthorized telephone call, being five minutes late one day, number of lines of code written in the past week, etc.
Because employees cannot count on their jobs being around forever, employees need to take control of their careers and their economic security. If you save your money, keep your skills up to date, and maintain contacts outside your company, then being fired should not be a disaster. Don't become too economically dependent upon your employer, and don't let your self-esteem or sense of well-being be too closely connected to your job...
