Warning Signs you may get Fired
Being in Human Resources for a number of years, I have had the unfortunate responsibility of helping to exit people from the business. Sometimes it's not their fault, with layoffs or job eliminations. Those folks may not have seen their exit coming. I have a lot of empathy for them as human-to-human; it could be any of us in that situation.
The ones that consistently amaze me are those who just have not read the "writing on the wall" or clues from their own behavior. Perhaps some of us go through life counting on luck, but
Here are some signs that you might be on track to being fired.
1. You are no longer invited to routine meetings. At first you may say that this is a blessing. No more staff meetings that take hours and accomplish little. However, this is usually a sign that your boss is disengaging you operationally. Why are they going to share company knowledge with someone that is not staying with the company?
2. You have been a "performance improvement program (PIP)" at some point in the past year. In this age of litigation, due process is important to companies. They want a documentation trail. Although well meaning HR folks and managers state that a PIP is designed to "improve your performance" or "increase your level of engagement" or some other politically correct HR-speak along those lines, it really is setting the stage to allow the company to move you out.
3. You have received a poor review multiple times. Similar to the previous item about PIPs, a review simply allows a periodic review of performance and helps build the documentation trail. Former GE leader and management guru Jack Welch talks about cutting the bottom 10 percent to keep a high performing culture. Watch out, every once in awhile an executive picks up one of his management tomes and gets a bright idea.
4. Your rude and obnoxious boss is suddenly nice to you. Call it guilt or just perhaps they are realizing the task of firing you is looming. Either way, count of your emotionally unintelligent boss to ooze empathy before they are ready to lower the boom on you.
5. A meeting has been scheduled late in the day and your coworkers are fleeing. They know what's up. They might have been warned or just saw the storm brewing. Your coworkers will want to let you save face and avoid discomfort. So, if you have 4:00 meeting with your boss and everyone is conveniently disappearing, it's not a good sign.
6. The HR person is either on the meeting request or is lurking in your area just before the above meeting. Definitely, not a good sign!
7. You got caught doing something utterly stupid and/or against company policy. Drinking on the job, sleeping at your desk, porn on your computer, stealing, sleeping with your boss's wife, etc. You deserve what you get. Don't tell me you didn't see it coming!
Now, I am not saying that these are absolutes. But, if you are definitely paranoid that you could be fired, it's a good idea to look around you. Others will have a better view of what is happening than you. They might be in on it as well.
At the end of the day, if you didn't see it coming, perhaps its better than just sitting around waiting for the inevitable. But, if you can get out or be somewhat prepared, it might make things a bit more comfortable for you.
