TGIF

"We find it's always better to fire people on a Friday. Studies have statistically shown that there's less chance of an incident if you do it at the end of the week."

So today at noon, I found myself at the table. The proverbial chopping block. The 15 minutes leading up to it, when I realized that it was inevitable, was the longest 15 minutes of the week. I made myself a cup of coffee and tried to check my email, a knot in my stomach the whole time. I was dreading the conversation I was about to have.

I look at my watch and it's noon. So I turn to Bruce, one of the nicest and most diligent guys who has ever worked under my command, and said "Bruce, can you follow me? I need to talk to you for a minute."

Let's back up a couple of days, Tarantino-style. On Tuesday, the president of my company casually mentioned to me that our receivables are behind. While I can't divulge actual numbers, let's just say it's more than substantial. Yesterday the bosses spent the entire day behind closed doors, sending rumors of staff reductions around the entire company. I learned a bit more about the targets of those cuts, and several people approached me and asked for details.

One girl in particular, whose name was first on the list, asked me around 3 PM yesterday if there were going to be layoffs. "I haven't heard anything," I lied. "Our clients are taking too long to pay so all I know is that we are evaluating all our options to avoid losing clients over service deterioration."

Today, around 11:45, the president of the company called me into the executive offices.

"We are going to out to lunch. Nothing has happened yet. Can you take care of the Bruce thing?" I responded in the affirmative. "OK," he replied. "We will be gone by noon and back by one. Keep it quiet."

I have fired many people in my various management roles throughout the years. And in nearly every case I did so knowing that their abilities were not up to par with my simple expectations. A few of those people were also extremely difficult to manage, or they weren't team players, which made it even easier.

Bruce, on the other hand, was an exceptional team player. He is a 62-year-old seasoned sales veteran, pleasant and he always acted on the best interests of the company, uncharacteristic of experienced sales people. He was also my only full-time inside sales rep, but his numbers were nearly identical to somebody who works half the hours.

At noon today, I brought Bruce into the executive offices and explained the situation. For somebody who just lost his job, he was incredibly professional and understanding. I almost think that he was calmer than I was. Of course the end result of my position was more desireable than his but that doesn't mean I wanted to be in that position.

At 12:30 I walked him out to his car and shook his hand. I told him that the moment we are in a position to start putting asses in chairs again, he will be the first person I call. The rest of the staff saw me return to my office without him and the chattering began. 45 minutes later a door slammed and I saw the girl from yesterday getting into her car crying. And so began the rest of my afternoon.

After a short re-evaluation of our marketing plan we prepare for next week. We are now officially short-staffed but we can manage. Today was a stressful day for a lot of people, and not just those who lost their jobs. Once my kid goes to bed I'm going to celebrate the end of the day by drinking some beers and getting killed by Timmies in MAG, ready for a much different new week.

On the bright side, parking won't be an issue any more.