Comments on: Small Companies: How to hire and fire a technical person

By: major

major — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 20:58:15 +0000

@caleb: I agree 100%. You need to protect your reputation as well as the legal standing of your business. Also, having a plan before going through with letting someone go is the best way to succeed.

@robot_terror: I was the ‘critical man’ at my previous job, and my boss wasn’t the least bit concerned. I’d asked for him to hire someone else so that the company wouldn’t head south if I was hit by a bus. Also, I needed help getting everything done. One of the problems with the ‘learning to sail’ idea is that if the manager is a micro-manager, it can be a huge issue for the tech person to work around.

@Nicholas: Excellent point! I’ve used my own equipment in the past for jobs, and when I’ve left, my previous employer was fairly upset when he had to piece things back together.

By: Nicholas Orr

Nicholas Orr — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 13:47:02 +0000

To the techs.
Just do the right thing, its far simpler, less time consuming. There are way more fun things to do then mess with stuff your never going to see again.
I use Password Agent so all passwords are stored in there. I’d just give that over and the single password to unlock that - leave them to it.
Like what was mentioned in the article, if you’re the only tech then its going to hurt when you’re not there, be satisfied with that

Another thing to watch out for if you’re the business owner: If you’ve taken shortcuts on costs, be careful the tech hasn’t put critical infrastructure on his own gear. Not that you’d be able to find this out easily until he’s gone and he switches it all off (dns, smtp relay, etc)….

Good article.

By: robot_terror

robot_terror — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 15:53:43 +0000

Important topic. Especially for people with businesses having “one” technical person that is not the business owner! In such cases, blind trust in a person who can do things the owner cannot is dangerous. Trust must be high — and it goes both ways.

When interviewing a replacement consider early morning, too. Often times a tech person will be the kind that rolls in late and stays late. Or, interview at Starbucks or some other off-premises site.

More importantly, as soon as possible, rid your business of the “critical man” vulnerability and hire a team of technical folk or dig in and learn how to “sail the ship” yourself in a crisis. The team of technical people can keep each other honest and provide balance to technical decisions. It also dilutes the power of the single tech and forces the publicizing of technical secrets.

Regarding the “learning to sail,” a small businessman once told me he makes himself learn the critical pieces of all the jobs his employees do “just in case.” He pointed out that no one was more motivated than him to keep the business afloat, so having to depend solely on others was a disaster waiting to happen.

And good job mentioning sudo and ssh keys… so often these are forgotten.

By: caleb

caleb — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 18:51:07 +0000

I strongly suggest having the soon to be fired technician put together a disaster recovery plan before he leaves the company. This task will lay out the vital services of the company that the new technician can review to get up to speed quickly.

In addition, don’t be a jerk when letting somebody go. Former employees *will* be consulted by others in the technical community about your company. They might be your future employees or customers. Your former employees will not have all good things to say about you but do not add fuel to the fire by handling the process incorrectly.

Finally, consult a human resources expert or lawyer before firing an employee. Know your rights and responsibilities and do not be surprised by the events that follow.