THERE IS A HELL! - - - IT IS CALLED RETAIL ARE YOU AFRAID OF LOSING YOUR JOB? | Page 6

ARE YOU AFRAID OF LOSING YOUR JOB?
And here’s the thing: When I stood up to this team leader
and told him that I would not stand for his unpleasant
approach and exactly why his abrasive style creates
problems for the company, he listens. Nobody has ever
told him this at the company these things before, and for
the first time the company has an employee that is totally
unafraid of doing so.
The result: This particular team leader was slowly
changing his ways. And he certainly pulls none of his usual
attacks on me, who he knows I would simply not stand for
it.
The risk of being fired is the biggest axe a company or a manager holds over employees’
heads. It’s a mostly unstated, but well-known fact of working life that if you as an employee
get too far out of line, you’ll be fired. Or terminated/axed/given the chop – don’t you just
love those terms, with their unsubtle flavour of death?
And of course we have tacitly accepted that being fired is a terrible thing and should be
avoided at all cost, which is why many of us will accept bad, actually appalling conditions at
work and otherwise go to extraordinary lengths to keep our jobs.

Do this, or else…
People who live in fear of being fired tend to:
 Take crap from management
 Follow unethical or immoral orders
 Stand for bullying or harassment
 Go along to get along
 Mask their real personalities
 Hide their real opinions
 Accept too low or unfair salaries
 Kiss butt
 Avoid complaining about any problems they see
Wanna bet how many people at Enron had a sense that something was wrong long before
the company was exposed, but kept it to themselves out of fear of losing their jobs?
So I say it’s time we take the stigma out of being fired. If you can rid yourself of that threat
(or at least reduce it greatly) then you grant yourself much wider latitude at work. Trust me;
our workplaces will be better and happier for it.
You say I’m fired like it’s a bad thing…
And when you really think about it, what’s so embarrassing about being fired? Here are some
of the most common reasons people are fired, and why that doesn’t reflect badly on the
fired:

dodie ste®eo p®odu©tion ™

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