I’ve spent the last year trying to make it work with one of my guys.
At first, I told him the rest of the team was having trouble connecting with him. He would wander off without telling anyone where he was going or what he was doing, which gave the impression that he wasn’t working. I explained that optics matter, because we’re all in this together. If we can’t count on each other, it makes it harder for everyone. He appreciated that conversation, but things didn’t improve.
He continued to show up late or call in sick, often on days when he knew we’d be busiest. I talked to him again about reliability—how it’s the most basic form of respect. Not just for your workplace, but for yourself. When you say you’re going to do something or be somewhere, it’s vital that your word means something. If you can’t be counted on, how can anyone rely on you?
I didn’t just tell him this. I lived it. I showed him with kindness and consistency how important those basic values are.
Last week was the busiest week our team has ever faced. It was also one of the most critical in terms of proving what we could do together. I prepped the team ahead of time and told them how proud I was to step up to the challenge with them.
On the first of the two most important days, he was late. The first 15 minutes were the most crucial of the entire day, and he missed half of them. I wasn’t angry. I handled it myself. But when he arrived, I told him how stressful that time was for me, and I reminded him again how important these two days were. He said he understood. He said he was sorry.
The next morning, I was 15 minutes into busting my ass alone. I texted him: Where are you? Nothing. Radio silence. No reply that day. Not a single call or message.
The next day, he told me he was sick and had a doctor’s note. The note was timestamped 3:45 p.m., and it said he was cleared to return to work that day.
I just stared at it for a moment. I didn’t get angry. I didn’t yell. I just said, “Okay,” and continued working. We worked in silence for most of the day.
Later, he said casually, “I heard you were upset yesterday morning.”
I replied calmly, “I was. Yes. It was stressful.”
He shrugged and said, “Sorry about that.”
I didn’t respond. I just kept working. Then, just before I left, I turned to him and said this in a calm but measured tone:
“Let me clarify something. Yesterday, I was upset because it was stressful. I’m not upset today. I’m disappointed today. I wanted to be able to say to the rest of the team that I could rely on you when it mattered most. But I can’t say that. I can’t defend you to the team when they feel like you leave them to figure it out on their own, because you left me when I told you I needed you the most. I’m not upset. I’m deeply disappointed.”
He tried to defend himself with the doctor’s note, but I raised my hand to stop him. He waited for me to say something else, but I didn’t. I let the silence speak, then walked out.
I’m sharing this because I saw this meme and it made me feel sad and reflect. I know it may be counter to the fun of the meme, but I thought the point was worth sharing.
Sometimes, jobs are crappy. Sometimes you work for people who don’t care but still expect you to. In those cases, I understand the temptation to stop caring or to burn bridges that don’t seem worth crossing.
But here’s my advice:
Respect—not because others have earned it, but because you are worth giving it to.
Hold yourself to a higher standard, not for them, but for you. Elevate yourself because it’s worth doing. Be better to yourself.
And when others who also respect themselves find you, they’ll recognize that quality in you. That’s when you find people worth teaming up with. That’s how you build something greater, something that’s not just productive, but meaningful and fun.
Whenever I have an employee that I really need to get rid of, I call them in and say… “We need to formulate an exit strategy for you”. I leave it up to them. Want to resign today or in 2 weeks. Accepting your fate gains you a good recommendation for future employment. (Hoping that they will get a job with a competitor and continue to be inept)
Don’t give 2 week notices. The only incentive you have is if you are leaving on good terms you can use them as a reference or maybe come back if the circumstances work.
The downsides far outweigh the benefits. They could terminate you, cut your hours, get mad that you’re quitting and give you bad references.
I think is different in different markets, in my actual job, during the interview I said that I would need a month I’m advance to give to my old boss, to close projects and prepare my junior for my leave. After being accepted my new boss told me that this stipulation weighted a lot in the decision to hired me, because they knew I would do the same. I’m an actuarie, our jobs are kinda complex, and someone leaving the company without any notice can complicate everything a lot.
I was pretty high up in Actuarial at a fortune 500 insurance company. At my old company, if you went to a competitor, your account was shut off that day and none of your unused time off was paid out.
You don’t owe your company anything they won’t reciprocate. The company will continue to operate no matter who leaves under whatever circumstances - don’t fuck yourself for a faceless corporation.
If you know your manager is very employee-centric and you have a great relationship, maybe approach it with caution, but otherwise, your interests should always come first.
This is what I mean, in Brazil if they do that they have to pay a lot of money, I guess in other parts of the world with basic workers law works like that.
This is the way to do it - also, it’s nice to have some vacation stocked away in case they do get mad and fire you before the end of the 2 weeks. If you don’t get fired, it’s like getting a bonus check once you start your new job.
Getting fire is the best case, almost everywhere but in the US. In Brazil every month the employer have to deposit 8% of your salary in a savings account that pays 3% interest rates annually. If you are fired without legitimate cause, they have to pay 45% of the value of that account to you, and you are free to liquidate that account. Government bonds today are paying way eay more, so you can just buy bonds and get a 400% value on the long term.
Grew up in a village and this movie hit so close to home it’s actually disturbing
Two weeks is bullshit. Not a law nor rule.
In my area there is an actual law regulating this. You can leave earlier, but you won’t get payment for the last period if you do so, unless your employer agrees to pay it out anyway.
if it means you don’t get paid for hours you didn’t work then seems fair enough, if it means they can avoid paying out your time off or other benefits then fuck that
Not only “fuck that”, wage theft is illegal. Not getting your last paycheck is very easy to prove and you can sue for way more in damages.
No! My permanent record!
I mean - it kind of is? I believe a company is allowed to ask another company if they’re eligible for rehire - and they record those things in their HR systems.
This is true. The other company can ask HR to consult the big book of grudges to determine if there are indeed grudges.
They do keep records, but rarely share them.
If your prospective employer says that they didn’t hire you because of what a previous employer said about you, and that previous employer doesn’t have rock solid evidence, then you can sue for lost wages, defamation, and get a nice chunk of money.
When people called the store I was managing to get info on past employees, the only thing we would confirm was the time range they worked for us,
There’s nothing more satisfying than quitting in person so you can look your boss in the eye and tell him he is a piece of shit, making them so mad they threaten to call the cops on you for trespassing as you are literally walking out the door lmao.
I don’t mind giving a 2 week notice normally, but at this particular job one of my coworkers put her notice in and they fired her that day. They immediately lost their 2 week notice privileges from me with that slick move.
I love how companies expect you to give them 2 week notices, but how many of them give you any notice before laying you off or firing you? None- that’s how many. They literally value their own profits over human beings, fuck them.
The whole point of my submission was too many times you try to do the right thing but the clown who is your boss simply terminates you immediately. You don’t get to work the 2 weeks. You don’t get paid. And you are screwed for 2 weeks until you start your next job
My asshole boss got what he asked for. He was hired in 2023, +15workers quit during his first year in charge, and by surprise 2024 was record breaking bad year for the company. I guess things can happen when you don’t respect the ones bringing in the revenue.
this is the old baseball analogy. Fire all the players or fire the manager. If everyone quits it’s not the players but an asshole manager
