Was doing some late-night Slashdot reading and came across an article submission which had a blog post about a facebook employee who had been fired. Although it seems like personal rant, there are some interesting points which give insight on how companies think about employees.

http://okdork.com/2012/09/29/why-i-got-fired-from-facebook-a-100-million-dollar-lesson/

Quoting:

“When you hire people there are three types of employees:

1- Grower. Someone who starts when the company is small and improves / adapts their skills as the company scales.

2- Show-er. Someone who can be good for the company where they are now but NOT where they are going.

3- Veteran. They’ve done it before and it’s second nature for them to teach you how to do it in your company.”

…

“Firing:

1- It stings the person WAY more than the company. I thought every day that the company missed me but I’ve learned they just keep going on with business. AND (UN)FORTUNATELY most businesses get better. So be stern when letting someone go but be reasonable and thoughtful to how it must feel. I encourage everyone to get fired once so they know that feeling. It’s unbelievable and something to definitely learn from.

2- EVERYONE is replaceable. You are NOT special and there is guaranteed someone better than you on this planet. So be the opposite, find the way to be invaluable where you work. This doesn’t mean locking things into you but opening things up so you are trusted and subsequently valued more.

3- Most people when they get let go, they know it’s time. They may not want to accept what their subconscious tells them but they know it’s right and it opens them up to something better. Instead of throwing them away, help guide / work with them to see what is their true calling and better suited for them.”

edit

I also came across another article which highlighted a video about motivation which I had posted before on this blog. It tries to explain why we do what we do in this open source world: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc ( http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pink_on_motivation.html )