Friday Funny-Take the Keys First

We're going to try something on our blog-our "Friday Funny" feature. This is an opportunity to share a humorous (and true) story from our own experiences, blunders and mishaps that will encourage you in whatever your line of work. This one is from Kristen's personal HR mishap files entitled, "Take the Keys First"

As a newer district sales manager, I was saddled with the task of engaging an inherited employee in a discussion of their work habits in an effort to determine if this person was, in fact, actually working. In the pharmaceutical industry, sales representatives are largely unsupervised in the day-to-day scheme of things. They drive a company car, have a routing system in place to interface with customers, and enter data into a computer documenting their sales activities throughout the day. Eyebrows are raised when such documentation is only made between the hours of, say, 10 am and 1:30 pm. And this is where I was with this employee.

After a thorough interview, the employee acknowledged that he was going home every day after 1:00 pm because "there was nothing else to do". This was a clear violation of company policy and grounds for termination. The decision was pretty cut and dry.

I had to set up an appointment with this employee for the purpose of termination. I was not looking forward to it at all. Another manager was present to assist me. We had all the official paperwork as well as the storage unit ready for the company car and shipping boxes for his office equipment.

At the appointed time, the employee strolled in to the conference room, tossed his keys on the table and sat down. We hadn't even made it through the first page of our official documentation and the realization that he was being terminated hit him. (I'm not really sure what he was expecting.) He jumped up, stated, "You'll be hearing from my lawyer", grabbed the keys to his company car, and literally ran from the venue. We watched in shock as he pealed out of the parking lot, smoking the tires on the pavement.

The other manager managed a weak smile and stated, "I guess we should have taken his keys first."