You can't fix stupid...

[Dan-MO]

Over the years in my position as a manager for a medical equipment company it has been my responsibility to hire and fire employees. Now I absolutely hate to fire anyone and thankfully I have only had to fire one person over the years - and that person was interviewed and hired by my boss-not me. On his second or third day on the job he kicked the glass door in on a vending machine and stole and ate 17 candy bars-leaving the wrappers on his desk and doing a couple of hundred dollars worth of damage to the vending machine. When I ask him why he did it he told me that he had been hungry and didn

 

[Wayne in BC]

i was never lucky enough to get a "shirt button" interview tho
Enjoyed the glimpse into your world, Thanks Dan!

 

[david(tx)]

for other people,candy wrapper guy was a lost cause.

 

[VT Dave]

wouldn't have your job for anything. My sister-in-law was a regional director of personel for a large company that downsized. Shae had to cut over 2500 loose in two years. She no longer works there.

Great story Dan! Hope you don't have to fire any more!

 

[Royal]

You said it all when you said you just can't fix stupid. Most of the people you mentioned were just stupid.

They are sure fun to hear about though.

Firing a person has to be the hardest thing a normal person has to do though. The target might be a useless sucker but when someone fires them they are firing their entire family, wife, kids, etc. It is best not to hire the sucker in the first place.

Thanks for the post!!

 

[Jbird]

Reminds me so much of many people I have known down in southwest Louisiana. Come hunting season, they were going hunting, job be damned.

 

[Arkie John]

I laughed out loud--first thing this morning. Thanks for beginning my day on the right foot.

Sounds like you could write a book on this subject! <><

aj

 

[Micheal_R]

We had to let a couple of people go too. Of all jobs, that was the hardest. However, once you got good people, you treated them well and showed respect. And in the end, we always would up paying the staff more than we paid ourselves.

calm seas

M

 

[Sunny]

of interviewing, and handle mine quite the way you do. Still, I am NOT a good judge of character in some instances, and got burned a lot! I like to see if the person is really needing a job, do they have a family, etc?

And like Royal said, having to let someone go is just the hardest thing to do for me. I have been in that position before, and know how devastating it can be! I have always told my employees that we "share" in our company, and if we do good, they do good too! I have always stuck by this rule. When owners get "greedy", it can kill a company quickly.

My mother was my top paid employee. After her strokes, I was determined not to let her sit around her house and dwindle into nothing. She came to work for us sorting and opening our mail, stamping it, and getting it ready for people to post the payments, and work the correspondence. She came to work every day, and left whenever she wanted, usually just after lunch.

The promise me and the brothers made to our daddy was that we would always take care of mother, and this was the one way I could make sure she never needed money for anything. Plus it was good therapy for her to know she was needed, and had a reason to get up every morning. They way I figured it, she probably made about $20 an hour back then, but that was okay! It was my privelege!

Then there are the ones like you mentioned, Dan, who talked on cell phones, brought significant others with them or children. I think these are the ones that are come for the interview primarily to be "their unemployment contact" for the week, as I have hired some people thinking they would be good for the job, and come Monday they never show up! That's what I think your "candy bar" thief was all about.

I did hire two men. One was my brother, who was very loyal to me and Scott, and I loved seeing him everyday. He also worked with us the same time mother did. But he moved on to the hospital, which was a great move on his part, and he is happy. That makes me happy but I miss him terribly!

The other was a guy that was going to "market" for us when we first moved to our first office. He was great to look at, but almost bankrupted us when we got our first Amex card bill after he started. His expense account was more than I made! "You're Fired" came as easy for me as it does for Donald Trump when that happened.

I really enjoyed your story! Thanks for the laugh! I could just see that little girl struggling with the tank, and YOUR eyes when the buttons popped!

 

[Jbird]

n/t

 

[Sunny]

n/t

 

[Ol' Frank]

I once worked with a fellow who applied for a job at the Gates Rubber Company in South Denver -- he claimed that when the personnel manager interviewed him , asking what job he would be satisfied with, the applicant answered "Yours!" He didn't get the job... wonder why??

 

[Jbird]

I worked in a large chemical plant as an electrician. One day our forman, Tom, got a call from personnel saying they were interviewing a top notch candidate and needed Tom to come over and interview him and approve/disaprove him. Tom walked in, shook the guys hand, and started looking over all his paperwork. The first thing he noticed was that the guy was from Scotland. Tom was a bang-up sharp electrician but geography probably wasn't his strong point. Heleaned forward and asked very slowly. "Do.....you....speak....english?"

 

[Ron J]

many interviews,hiring auto techs. Gotta ask the write questions.Got tools? Know how to use them? "Yup,i fix my car in the driveway all the time!" Got any experience? Yup,fix my friends cars all the time!" The drivers license is a tough one in the Dealership. Massachusetts has a step system. If your driving record is higher than 21,see ya! Everyone i interview,always tells me,their record is fine. Sure it is!! Have had a couple with scores of 34!,Until then,never knew the score could go so high! If i hire someone as an auto tech,most of the time you can tell in a day or two,if they are gonna work out. We hire,on a 30 day trial period. Most of the time,it works out. I'm fortunate to have longevity for our employees. Most of my techs,have been with me for 5 to 15 yrs.In fact throughout the Dealership,the average lengh of employment is 15 yrs or longer,including salesman,parts people,bodymen and managers.Maybe i'm a fool,but i've been there since 1966! RJ

 

[Wayne in BC]

n/t

 

[Rob/Windsor Ont.]

Sounds to me like that girl knew what she was dealing with. That was a treat to read Dan !