To all: My apologies for the wall o' text. I didn't realize this would turn out this long and I don't really have time to write a short version.
To the OP - Don't feel bad. In my experience, firing someone is, in most cases and in the long run, a favor to both them and the organization.
A new manager (as in, new to management, having washed out of a job in a more prestigious division) came in and as was the custom in our organization, he was encouraged by mid-level to start firing someone, anyone, it didn't matter who. Firing was a long process and upper management considered a first-line who successfully fired someone to be really solid as a manager. My new boss had a choice of two. The other person was a general screw-up with no particular glaring weaknesses; she was weak at everything, pretty equally. I, otoh, tended to get lost in the weeds of the law and over-investigate; my completed cases were works of art but my overall case clearance rate was woefully inadequate.
He went through all the steps which required him to put me on a written improvement plan. Well, that fell right into my wheelhouse; I can follow written instructions. I perfectly and ahead of schedule accomplished every assigned task. The process of firing me had failed, ostensibly because I had improved. In fact, it had failed because my boss was forced to put into writing everything he wanted me to do and I was able to check everything off the list. Previously, his modus operandi had been an endless stream of "Yes, you did what I told you but you didn't do this other thing." "This other thing" was new and previously not required, every single time.
So, I wasn't a star employee. I was merely adequate. My strengths at some particular parts of the job were so superior that 30-year veterans were coming to me for advice within a month or two of me starting. That didn't make up for the fact that, overall, the job was mostly rote paperwork which bored me silly and I didn't get it done on time. I was, quite clearly, not a bad employee but certainly a bad fit to that particular job.
After the firing process had aborted and my boss had told me that I was safe, I reflected and reached some conclusions.
That same week, I directly called my boss 3 levels up, the lowest level who could summarily reassign an employee. He invited me to come up and talk. I took less than 3 minutes to explain to him that he knew my work from certain special projects and that I was capable of great things. However, in my current position, I would never realize my potential and, frankly, wouldn't do much to boost the numbers of his division. If he could reassign me to some place more suited to my skills and style, I would take a downgrade to get that job.
His response was immediate and a bit surprising to me. "I've been watching you and I'm aware of the situation. I have at least two other spots I think you could work. Go back to your group and clean up your cases; we'll move you within the next couple of weeks."
Two weeks later I got dropped into a "special projects" section. In my previous job, the emphasis was on standardized work, turned out as efficiently as possible. In this new section, the job changed every day and might be wildly different from one day to the next. For the next decade, I absolutely thrived. I had to prove myself, of course, so the good work didn't get assigned to me immediately. However, within a few years, I had to keep a go-bag in the office. It was not unusual for me to get calls that went, roughly, "Fly to Oakland. No, we don't know the exact job and no, we don't know who you'll liaison with. Just go, walk into the local office, and do what needs to be done. No, we don't know when you're coming back or if you're coming directly back. Stop asking questions and get to the airport!" My Dear Lord, I loved that job so much it makes me all gooey inside to remember it.
I said all that to say this: Sometimes, a forced change of venue is the best thing that can happen to someone. I wasn't exactly fired but I came as close as possible without actually being escorted out. I forced myself out of my job and, even though my ability to advance was forever compromised, I spent the rest of my career enjoying work at which I was very, very good and was able to help very, very many people.
tl;dr - Firing (or, at least, forcing someone out of a job) can be an extremely good thing for the person forced to move on and adapt.
An addendum: About a decade later, the manager who had attempted to fire me was a student in a class I was teaching. He talked to me over drinks after class one evening. He had washed out of management and finished his career doing the job he had tried to fire me from. He told me that his attempt to fire me had bothered him ever since. He now realized that there's a job for any particular set of skills belonging to a hard-working individual. He said he should have recognized that and helped me move on to a better-fitting job instead of wasting months trying to fire me. In the end, he apologized for needlessly setting my career back. He showed me better character than I thought he had and I was grateful to him for that. At that point, any lingering animosity I had toward him dissipated.
That middle year, though, was a grind of background work, investigations, public speeches, industry contacts, cross-agency coordination, and endless meetings with attorneys. We did quarterly 360s; in our annual we gave ourselves a lower rating. We simply didn't have enough tangible results to justify a high one, even though we were working just as hard. In fact, we mutually agreed on a numeric rating that caused us all to lose our bonuses that year.
Most people, it seems, find it surprising that 360s and self-evaluation can function at all well. They can; I believe they are worth the extra effort required to make them work.
To the OP - Don't feel bad. In my experience, firing someone is, in most cases and in the long run, a favor to both them and the organization.
I spent nearly 30 years in an organization that did have that luxury. I was put into the firing process just once.
A new manager (as in, new to management, having washed out of a job in a more prestigious division) came in and as was the custom in our organization, he was encouraged by mid-level to start firing someone, anyone, it didn't matter who. Firing was a long process and upper management considered a first-line who successfully fired someone to be really solid as a manager. My new boss had a choice of two. The other person was a general screw-up with no particular glaring weaknesses; she was weak at everything, pretty equally. I, otoh, tended to get lost in the weeds of the law and over-investigate; my completed cases were works of art but my overall case clearance rate was woefully inadequate.
He went through all the steps which required him to put me on a written improvement plan. Well, that fell right into my wheelhouse; I can follow written instructions. I perfectly and ahead of schedule accomplished every assigned task. The process of firing me had failed, ostensibly because I had improved. In fact, it had failed because my boss was forced to put into writing everything he wanted me to do and I was able to check everything off the list. Previously, his modus operandi had been an endless stream of "Yes, you did what I told you but you didn't do this other thing." "This other thing" was new and previously not required, every single time.
So, I wasn't a star employee. I was merely adequate. My strengths at some particular parts of the job were so superior that 30-year veterans were coming to me for advice within a month or two of me starting. That didn't make up for the fact that, overall, the job was mostly rote paperwork which bored me silly and I didn't get it done on time. I was, quite clearly, not a bad employee but certainly a bad fit to that particular job.
After the firing process had aborted and my boss had told me that I was safe, I reflected and reached some conclusions.
That same week, I directly called my boss 3 levels up, the lowest level who could summarily reassign an employee. He invited me to come up and talk. I took less than 3 minutes to explain to him that he knew my work from certain special projects and that I was capable of great things. However, in my current position, I would never realize my potential and, frankly, wouldn't do much to boost the numbers of his division. If he could reassign me to some place more suited to my skills and style, I would take a downgrade to get that job.
His response was immediate and a bit surprising to me. "I've been watching you and I'm aware of the situation. I have at least two other spots I think you could work. Go back to your group and clean up your cases; we'll move you within the next couple of weeks."
Two weeks later I got dropped into a "special projects" section. In my previous job, the emphasis was on standardized work, turned out as efficiently as possible. In this new section, the job changed every day and might be wildly different from one day to the next. For the next decade, I absolutely thrived. I had to prove myself, of course, so the good work didn't get assigned to me immediately. However, within a few years, I had to keep a go-bag in the office. It was not unusual for me to get calls that went, roughly, "Fly to Oakland. No, we don't know the exact job and no, we don't know who you'll liaison with. Just go, walk into the local office, and do what needs to be done. No, we don't know when you're coming back or if you're coming directly back. Stop asking questions and get to the airport!" My Dear Lord, I loved that job so much it makes me all gooey inside to remember it.
I said all that to say this: Sometimes, a forced change of venue is the best thing that can happen to someone. I wasn't exactly fired but I came as close as possible without actually being escorted out. I forced myself out of my job and, even though my ability to advance was forever compromised, I spent the rest of my career enjoying work at which I was very, very good and was able to help very, very many people.
tl;dr - Firing (or, at least, forcing someone out of a job) can be an extremely good thing for the person forced to move on and adapt.
An addendum: About a decade later, the manager who had attempted to fire me was a student in a class I was teaching. He talked to me over drinks after class one evening. He had washed out of management and finished his career doing the job he had tried to fire me from. He told me that his attempt to fire me had bothered him ever since. He now realized that there's a job for any particular set of skills belonging to a hard-working individual. He said he should have recognized that and helped me move on to a better-fitting job instead of wasting months trying to fire me. In the end, he apologized for needlessly setting my career back. He showed me better character than I thought he had and I was grateful to him for that. At that point, any lingering animosity I had toward him dissipated.
The only other time I got a less-than-perfect review was one year (of three) that I spent in a workgroup that decided to do a 360, group-only review. There were no individual reviews; we jointly wrote one review for the group and it was copied to each of our personnel files. It was a three-year project. In year one, we went like gangbusters laying groundwork and rated ourselves highly. In year three, we wrapped up and delivered a killer final product. Again, we rated ourselves highly.
That middle year, though, was a grind of background work, investigations, public speeches, industry contacts, cross-agency coordination, and endless meetings with attorneys. We did quarterly 360s; in our annual we gave ourselves a lower rating. We simply didn't have enough tangible results to justify a high one, even though we were working just as hard. In fact, we mutually agreed on a numeric rating that caused us all to lose our bonuses that year.
Most people, it seems, find it surprising that 360s and self-evaluation can function at all well. They can; I believe they are worth the extra effort required to make them work.
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