A couple of days ago I put up a post about the rise of email terminations and how inappropriate I thought that practice was. Well I must say I have now learned of one example of a termination that does this one better (or should that be WORSE!). I talked with a salesperson this morning and would like to pass along his story of his termination experience.

The President of his division was going to be in town and wanted to meet with him so they scheduled a time to meet in the morning. When the day came the salesperson was in bed with the flu so he called his manager to inform him that he would not be able to make the meeting with the President.

The manager said not to worry and to stay home to get some rest. Here is were it gets interesting. Later in the day the salesperson was feeling a little better so he decided he should check his cell phone voicemail to see if there was anything that may need immediate attention.

He had this message from the President:

“Being as you failed to make your meeting with me today, you leave me no alternative but to inform you that you are fired. Please bring your equipment to the local office as soon as you get this message.”

As I write, I am still taken aback and at a loss for words. Bizarre, cold, wow, I just don’t know how to describe this behavior.

This is not the whole story.

The salesperson is waiting on his last payroll check which is a week late and an expense check that is 8 weeks late. Obviously the company has some serious issues. Again, I am at loss for words in describing these actions.

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From CNNMoney.com’s headline:

Jobless claims post surprise fall

New applications filed for unemployment benefits fell by a sharp 15,000 to 298,000 last week; economists expected claims to rise to 320,000.

We continue to see great activity in our own business. At some point you have to wonder if the media is attempting to “talk down” the economy. I give you this sentence from another CNNMoney.com article titled Economy shows growth, but misses forecasts (emphasis mine):

A deepening housing slump and a painful credit crunch since the spring has darkened the mood of individuals and businesses alike.

Stephen King would be proud of that writing especially in light of a 3.8% growth in GDP last quarter. The economy is going to slow down at some point, but I think the eagerness of that expectation is clearly evident within some mainstream media outlets.

Further, at what point do you fire your current crop of economists and get some new ones? I wish these present economists were in my weekly football pool – I’d be rich.

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Reading through sales ads this morning, I came across this line:

Bachelor€™s degree preferred but not necessary with qualified experience.

I think that is a good way to frame the requirement.  I would not want to prohibit a strong sales candidate from applying because of a degree requirement.

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