How to fire a friend

[Alana360]

May I simply suggest trying a bit harder in the future to keep relationships strictly professional? You should never mix business and pleasure for several common sense reasons, and this would be one of them. I used to be an Assistant Manager and I hung out with all of "my" employees regularly. There was one in the bunch that thought because we were friends outside of work, he could do as he pleased (or didn't please) at work. There needs to be a clearly drawn line, and it needs to be made by you since you're the boss. If this is a problem you find with mere friends, please do not ever hire family!

Good luck with your situation, and here's a prosperous 2009 to you.

Alana

[terryxu]

if i am boss, i would not hire a friend.
when he make big mistake, you fire him??? that's quit difficult to fire a friend.

[BusinessAdviser]

Enough with the psychological crap. Just fire him already. This is business. There are no friends. Period.

You should read "Cash Flow Quadrant."

[ikeswholesale]

I've got a really difficult situation on my hands, where it's really become time to fire a friend of mine who has been employed with me for about 10 months. I hired him back in February - we actually became friends after he was hired.

So have you fired him yet and if so, how did it go?

[fthom]

I agree....sounds like a character you wouldn't want near a business!

You can either fire him directly, or make it so bad (ie working conditions, pay cuts, more hours) that he decides to leave by himself!

[RLorenzen]

You should read "Cash Flow Quadrant."

Read it. Thanks anyway.

[GSD]

The good news is you hired him and then became friends, so the foundation is still business.

My suggestions:

1. identify the actions they have done that are bad for business. You like him, but not his actions. Ideally by the time you fire him, he will have seen it coming and it won't be a shock.

2. Remember this is your business and cutting a friend slack is sending a bad message to everyone else.

3. Keep it professional but let him know this is tough for you. 100% business makes you a cold hard bastard. Being soft and emotional is weak and lacks the respect your position requires. (I value your friendship, but...point to actions)


Good Luck

Sam Goodman
Me-2-B.com
People you can count on

[GSD]

By the way, have you fired him yet?

[TheRule]

Be hard. Tell him he hasn't met the requirments of the job and you must let him go. If he can't accept and understand that kind of decision he's probably not the caliber of friend you deserve anyway.

Only the strong survive, in business.

[rpermana]

go out, have a drink with him and do friend to friend talk.. then bring up the issue regarding how other colleagues think about his undesirable behaviour & performance in work. Then ask how is he going to tackle it as a friend.

If he treats you as best friend, I believe he will do it willingly.

If not... tell him that the best solution is to fired him haha... no point of having such friend that make your life difficult ...

[EBITDA]

The Golden Rule - do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Nick
TransCapital Pro

[The Stealthy One]

Thanks for the feedback all. Sorry it's been awhile since I could update.

I have put the employee on notice, and he has 30 days to show marked improvement or he's out. Funny thing is, I think I (accidentally, of course ) embarassed him by offering to help him out, and I have noticed an improvement in performance!

[Lars Grenstedt]

Fire friends sounds tough. I guess it's better to take care of the situation as soon as possible and just tell him how the situation are. The longer one wait the hardet it will get.

[Neustance]

I think I (accidentally, of course ) embarassed him by offering to help him out, and I have noticed an improvement in performance!

Good news then!

When you began your business I bet you where super picky when enrolling new staff, why stop being selective now? Its your business, you need to keep it in the best shape possible.

BTW the quote above has to be the best advise I have heard in a while! Offer him help, he'll know he has some work to do.

[jcharnock]

You need to seperate your business from your feelings of friendship. Firing him is nothing personal, its a professional decision for the commercial benefit of your business. Inaction wouldn't be fair on any employees who are performing well. Just because you're friends in work doesnt mean that he is entitled to preferential treatment. If he really is your friend he won't take it personally.

This is the reason I avoid employing friends and family. Its hard enough firing people you don't know that well. Avoid nepetism!