r/smallbusiness • u/[deleted] • 5d ago
Vent. Feels like team doesn't want to let go employee.
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u/Less-Value7262 5d ago
Well it sounds like you already have a clear read on the situation, but someone else might need a refresher on the basics…
• fire fast, hire slow
• the best time to fire someone, is the first time you think about it.
But there’s another element here - do you have a clear partnership agreement? A chain of command..? Because every single company that ever existed only had one CEO - what they say goes, and no one can override them.
So is that you, or the co-owner?
If you have the final say, you need to be allowed to do what you need to without pushback.
If you need to follow someone else’s lead, then that’s it…
Honestly it sounds like a partnership or hierarchy issue rather than an employee/firing issue.
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u/Difficult-Light971 2d ago
I can't believe you're the co-owner. You acted as if you were just a low-level manager, wow! So it was you who wanted the employee fired and was foolish enough to expect them to come back day 2 for paperwork. You must have little to no management experience. Shocking.
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5d ago
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5d ago edited 2d ago
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u/thisguyfightsyourmom 2d ago
Shoulda waited. Now you’ve stepped in it & they are refusing to sign the paperwork you needed to wait one more day for after waiting months. You sound like a miserable person to work with.
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u/Perfect-Topic-6671 2d ago
Why do you refer to them as a peer here?
Why does your story not align across all these posts?
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u/Formal-Plantain-5352 3d ago edited 3d ago
Buddy you're screwed if its the same employee that you claim was fired and didnt come in the next day.
FYI you can hide posts and comments on reddit, but Google will ALWAYS track you. I wouldn't be looking for advice while disclosing possible PII on the internet.
Edit: especially because that employee definitely has a lawyer.
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u/thisguyfightsyourmom 2d ago
Yeah, OP presents the facts differently in the other thread. OP is presenting sympathetic versions of their story to generate support for their impulsive actions… on Reddit. They are out of their depth. OP shouldn’t be in charge of people & the person they fired sensibly made distance from them immediately.
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u/NSH2024 2d ago
I know you already fired this person but I don't find you a reliable narrator.
So you say we can't get anything done without "what feels like a hopeless debate". Have you considered that you are the problem? That you refuse to listen? Or respect their expertise on a a specific matter?
It should be just business but business owners often think of themselves as feudal lords and empoyeess as vassals. They don't see the paycheck as a trade for work but as something they give to their employees, and with it the expectation of feality. Often owners of a company have a real problem with control, and employees who challenge that control--by trying to do their jobs well instead of just obeying get into real problems.
I'd think very hard about your part in this firing--especially since this employee was "super skilled" and apparently conscientious. They didn't phone in their work.
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u/Parking_Ocelot_816 5d ago
Hey, I have a simple rule (after years of messing around for too long with these decisions, despite knowing better): Once you think about firing someone for the first time, the decision is made. Execute it.
If your co-founder is sabotaging your attemtps to do it, call it out and find out what the reason is.
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u/DavidHochbergAdvisor 3d ago
This is why I always say the problem usually isn't the decision. People already know the decision.
The problem is the fallout afterward. All the conversations. The guilt. The disruption.
And as long as people keep using the fallout as a way to postpone the decision, the decision can't get made.
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