People get fired. It's horrible when it happens to you, and it's an awful thing to have to do as a manager (unless the person you're firing is a really bad person, which isn't usually the case).
My colleagues at Proteus and I are often in the position of knowing that someone is going to get let go before they know it. We may be coaching a manager through the process of firing an employee, or we may be in the loop with HR. I'm almost always surprised at how surprised people are, when they get fired. As a third party, I've generally been seeing the signs for awhile, and quite often, the manager has actually been giving pretty strong indications of dissatisfaction.
I suspect being fired takes people by surprise because most of us have a pretty well-developed self-delusion mechanism - that thing that kicks in when something important isn't going well, and we don't feel as though we have any control over it, so we just go, Oh, it's OK, and look away from the facts. We do it with relationships that aren't working, habits that don't serve us, and health problems we don't want to acknowledge. We also do it with jobs we're about to lose. So I thought it might be useful to share with you the 5 signs I've seen over the years that most often indicate your job may be on the line:
You're in a staff position and your company is getting acquired. Sorry, but it's true. One of the main reasons mergers and acquisitions happen is that a company wants the expertise, service, reach, or products of another company - and they figure they'll save money by eliminating staff functions that are already covered (they believe) in their own company. It's easy to think, But I'm much better at my job than the bozos at their company - they'll see my value. But this isn't about you or your skills, it's about two things: profitability and the acquiring company's trust in and commitment to their own people. It's possible they'll find a place for you, but it's not likely. Keep doing your job to the best of your ability, because that's never a bad thing to do - but also polish up your resume and start taking interviews.
Your function is getting subsumed or dismantled. When this happens, it generally means that whatever you do for your company is either no longer key to their survival or is now going to be done in a different way that won't require a separate dedicated function. Sometimes this one is hard to see because it can happen over a long period of time, and if you've made it through a couple of rounds of reductions, it's easy to believe that they're just "cleaning up the function and leaving the best folks." Maybe - but probably that's just wishful thinking on your part. Again, it's good in this situation to update your resume and start looking - but also think deeply about whether you might want and need to shift your career at this point. Ask yourself, is it just my company that's getting rid of my function, or is this a more widespread trend in my industry?
Your relationship with your boss degrades. This one is hard to acknowledge. You can start justifying/dismissing negative changes in your relationship with your boss in the same way you do in personal relationships: She has a lot on her mind, or He's really busy, or even We're just going through a bad patch. Let's be clear: if, over a period of months, your boss is spending much less time with you than before, without explanation or apology; or if he or she is significantly less open/supportive/warm/relaxed with you; or if he or she consistently interrupts you, disagrees with you, or dismisses your ideas in meetings (and that wasn't happening previously); or if he or she seems consistently more frustrated/uneasy/disappointed/angry towards you than before...you're in trouble. The best thing to do is schedule time with your boss, and say something like, "I want to make sure you're satisfied with my job performance. Are there things I need to do differently?" If s/he offers real, substantive behavioral feedback, listen as carefully and openly as you possibly can, and try your best to make the changes requested (if they're reasonable and doable). If s/he says any version of "No, you're/we're fine," the odds are very high that this is complete BS, and you're either close to getting fired or you're on the path to becoming so marginalized that you might as well be fired. Say thanks, keep doing your best, and get your resume on the street posthaste.
You stop being included in key meetings or projects. This is the group version of the problem above. It's all too easy to dismiss this as "politics" or the machinations of a single convenient "person who hates you." But again - try to be accurate about what's happening: if you are consistently left off the invite list for meetings or projects of which you were formerly a part, and if your requests to be included don't bear fruit, and if people are evasive or non-committal when you ask for an explanation...your job may well be on the line - and you're the only one who doesn't know it. The best response is the same as for the previous situation: go and ask your boss if there are things you need to do differently. You can note that you're asking because you've realized that you're not being invited into meetings or projects that are within your job purview - but don't do it in a complainy, make-those-kids-stop-being-mean-to-me way; just bring it up as the reason you're thinking you may need to change your behavior. Again, if your boss' response is to give you real feedback, great. If his or her response is "I wasn't aware of that, let me check into it" and the situation then changes, also great. However, if he or she feigns ignorance, or says s/he'll do something about it and then doesn't -- not great. Start looking for another job.
Your boss or HR says you're "not a good fit" for the company. This is the kiss of death. Most people, including managers and HR people, are terrible at giving clear, useful, behavioral, negative feedback. Often, "you're not a good fit" is the closest they can come to saying what's really true for them, i.e., "We see a big problem with you and don't know how to solve it." So if you get this message, immediately ask, "What can I do to change that?" You might get a clear and actionable answer - but you probably won't. Generally, when your boss or the HR person says the "not a good fit" sentence - they don't think it's fixable. This is the time to be as gracious and grown-up as possible, and start to negotiate a reasonable and fair exit.
I know that none of this is happy news. But it's better, in my opinion, to know what you're dealing with. That way, you can come up with a plan B, rather than getting blindsided and being left to twist in the wind of unemployment with no choices.
And what do you guys think...any important signs of imminent firing that I've neglected to mention?
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