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About 10 years ago one of my best friends was working for the same company. i never hired him but my brother in law had. He was a great help as he had electronics expertise and could fix most things.He was a computer technician and we needed him for the motor control boards.
he had a few weaknesses like we all have and his one was he liked to talk. Once he started he wouldn't stop and it was just a bad habit.I moved him up to Johannesburg to help assist me as I saw it saving his job. He had become lazy and I heard via the grapevine his neck was on the block.
He fitted in fine learning what I did and followed me around. The problem is he didn't stop following me and didn't do much work either.He saw it as some sort of promotion and as much as I tried he just wouldn't lift a finger. I had a heart to heart with him and it didn't change a thing.
We decided to send him away for a couple of weeks leave hoping it would refresh him and give him some time to get his head together.On his first day back we were all watching and it was the same thing again. He achieved nothing and it went on for a few days and I couldn't take it anymore.
I took him out for coffee and cake and had a good chat.I asked him where he was in his head and what his thoughts were after his break. What he told me left me with no choice. he said that he had a good think on holiday and realized he had done the hard yards and now it was time to sit back and enjoy his position. I had little choice and fired him on the spot. He couldn't see I was doing all the work and over the 18 months had learned and done nothing.
I don't regret firing him,but I should have done it sooner. After that it became a joke that if you are invited for coffee and cake you are in trouble. It is weird though as the only other serious issues with staff members has happened over some food somewhere.I believed I could get their full attention without any interruptions away from the workplace.They would see the importance of this and it was more personal.
I know firing people is sometimes a necessity,but it is never easy. The only easy ones if they have been caught for theft or something.Thank god those days are in the past and the only person I can fire is myself now.