Wanna Get Fired? Do These 10 Things

Written by David Gee

February 3, 2012

Most of the posts here on the pages of Staffing Talk have to do with hiring people, not firing them. And that is as it should be. But when a member of the editorial staff at this fine site sent me a survey about the Top 10 reasons companies fire people, I thought I would share it. As for the source, we found the write-through on Hub Pages, but their source wasn’t credited. Crazy bloggers.

Speaking of crazy, before I get started on the list, I want to share a funny little story. After I posted the headline and wrote the first paragraph, I did a Google image search of “You’re Fired” to see what was available. Of course, there were the usual Donald Trump pictures featuring his colossal combover and pointing finger. But then I saw a very amateurish stick figure drawing that came from a Chicago law firm’s blog. I did a double take and realized it was a drawing I made myself for Staffing Talk last year. Oh, well, I’m sure I ripped a photo off before. Once anyway. I never dreamed there would be a day when my art work would be in demand though. Take that Mrs. Vail, my 6th grade art teacher who told me I didn’t have a shred of artistic talent.

So anyway, let’s going going with the list, best ways to get fired.

1) Dishonesty

This one is kind of a no brainer, even though it tops the list. Of course if you lie to your boss, share proprietary company information, fudge or fake time sheets or expense reports and the like, this is always potential grounds for firing.

Add some social media wrinkles to this one though now. Doing things like tweeting/blogging/sharing disparaging things about your boss, co-workers and/or company can get you in trouble, as can taking a sick day and then posting Facebook pictures of yourself tubing at your friend’s lake cabin. That last one is hypothetical by the way.

Read more on StaffingTalk.com.