"Good Morning. I'm Fired!"

Jason Collins of East Coast FM in Ireland sent me a message over the weekend, saying "Did you see this?" I hadn't. 

It was the story of Kim Adams, midday presenter at WDZH-FM in Detroit. Or at least...that's what she was. The end came rather abruptly...over the phone...via her boss. Basically, he called to say "We're flippin format". Just like that, the output changed from Johnny Cash to Pearl Jam and Kim was no longer needed.  It's a tough business at the best of times but moments like this really stick in the 'craw' (as we say in Ireland).

That's Detroit. Across the border, in Windsor Ontario, a similar situation was happening. The two cities are historically linked on the dial...Windsor stations beam into Detroit and do very well there thank-you-very-much. 89X in Windsor spent the past thirty years pumping modern rock into both cities...until....the flip to Country. 

Mark McKenzie tells the same story as Kim. On air, when an email arrived to say that there was a very important conference call scheduled for that morning. The upshot being - bye bye rock, bye bye jocks! He was out, along with every other on air host.

Now, I've been party to mass firings myself in the past. You don't spend 30 years on air without some crappy experiences! In Toronto, the dark day involved myself and Kim Mitchell (PM Drive), Jeff Woods, Dominik Diamond, Brian Rodney (Music Director) as well as the head of news and about a dozen others. But we were treated well and looked after. I never felt cheated by the news...that was a business decision handled well and respectfully.

I've been on the other side too, where I was let go due to a personal dislike. That was actually a more painful and drawn out process over six months. Not pleasant but ultimately rewarding because I learned a huge amount from the experience.

Maybe the 'quick rip' method has it's merits. At least you're not dreading your work environment every day.

Nah, now that I think about it...the way I was treated in Toronto is best: a good atmosphere leading up to the moment, then a classy end with a hand shake and good wishes. The fact that I am still good pals with everyone I worked with there, says a lot. In comparison, I haven't spoken to anyone who works at the station where I felt badly treated since the day I left. Maybe that's just me being pig-headed!

Business is business. We all 'get' that. No arguments that a company has to make money. It's when the corporations become distant from their employees that mass firings and cold decisions can be made without any emotions...that's when the problems occur. The bigger the company, the less 'seen' you are as an employee. That can mean one of two things - you fly inder the radar for your career or your get shot at when you pop your head up! Killing the current career trajectory of someone you don't know isn't as tough as doing that to a friend. I'm a huge fan of the smaller station set-ups...where management and staff know and like eachother. Yes...it still happens. 

It all comes down to human beings being decent to eachother. When you treat the other person with respect, you get that back in return. 

I think the two presenters in Detroit and Windsor will learn a lot about themselves from this. Being fired isn't the end of the world...in some cases it's the beginning. For me, it meant a new country and a new positive direction. For them, it will mean something else.

Still, it was a bit crappy getting a text to say "See ya".

What do you think? Have you ever been fired? How did it go for you?

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