How to Not Get Fired
Today I found out that someone I work with is getting fired on Friday.
The organization I’m currently working for includes many companies and many worthless, incompetent, disreputable employees. Throughout my contract position there, I’ve been asking, begging, pleading that these people be fired. They bring down the productivity, reputation, and overall success of the organization. But so far – nothing. The woman who will be unexpectedly dismissed on Friday is none of those things. She’s only been with the company for six weeks but appears to be responsible and hard working, quite the opposite of some of the other employees who have been around for years. Clearly skill and ability are not deciding factors in choosing whether or not to fire someone. So what causes one employee to be fired over another?
The answer revolves around three factors: time, money, and reputation.
When your supervisor is a manager of the company, the manager’s time, money and reputation are most important to them. That is, their time, their money and their reputation are more important to them than yours or the company’s. Therefore, managers will value you as an employee if you help them with projects and assignments, giving them more time to devote to other projects they see as more significant to the company, projects that will help them build a reputation as a key player in the corporate hierarchy, which will advance their career and ultimately earn them a bigger salary. More important than your ability to produce a flawless work product is your ability to take work, stress, and other obligations off the shoulders of your manager, and if you turn out a reasonably average work product and don’t distract him with questions or problems, your manager will see you as valuable to the company (i.e., to him) and will reward you by keeping you around and defending your work.
Many of the employees I work with consistently make mistakes, but the managers still find them useful, despite the negative effects on the company. What the employees lack in ability, they make up for in devotion to their managers, so the managers find them valuable and won’t fire them.
Recently some of the managers in my office started their own business, and they hired an employee to help them. This is the same employee who will soon be fired. These are the same managers who have retained countless useless (in my opinion) employees for years. What makes this employee different? She works for the owners of the business, not the managers. Business owners care more about the money and reputation of their business than their own and are willing to devote as much time as necessary to developing the business. Any employees that work for them represent their business and affect its reputation. Whereas managers want employees who will work for what is in their best interest, business owners want employees who work for what is in the best interest of the company as a whole. With the reputation of the business on the line, employees must not only be skilled and capable of completing the work, they must also be professional and portray the proper image of the company.
The soon-to-be fired employee at my company is hard working and willing to help in any way she can. She would make a great employee to a manager of a different business. However, she made some mistakes. Internal mistakes can be forgiven for a new employee. External mistakes, such as incorrect information given to outside investors and customers, can make the owners and the company look unprofessional and incompetent, which could cost the company its reputation and future profits. For business owners, without a good reputation, there are no customers and no money, so they need employees who can maintain a solid reputation for them on behalf of their business.
Money is important to everyone, especially in business. Helping people get it will make you an excellent employee and is essential to not getting fired. If you work for a manager, the key is time. Your goal should be to take on as much work as you can to allow your manager more time for projects that will enhance his reputation within the company, which in turn will earn him more money via a bigger salary. If you work for a business owner, the key is reputation. Your goal should be to be professional and proficient when dealing with outside business contacts as well as with coworkers to enhance the image and reputation of the company, which will earn him more money via new business contracts.
Remember, always respect the time and reputation of your supervisors. That is how to not get fired.
