I should have been fired, my boss is sorry that I didn't get much bonus

Question

Last month went really bad. I had a serious problem with my family, this significantly decreased my performance at workplace.

My boss says, he is so sorry that I didn't get much bonus.

However, I am actually happy that I didn't get fired.

How should I answer him?

The honest answer would be this: "That I could keep both my family and my job, it makes me actually happier than a huge bonus in ordinary circumstances!" This is the truth, but it sounds for me somehow... unprofessional.

How could I communicate this, or analogous information on a professional way?

Answer 1

Whether you should be fired or not is someone else's decision. Obviously that someone didn't think your performance was that bad. Don't beat yourself up about some perceived low performance. Sometimes we judge ourselves too harshly.

Don't apologize prematurely for something that doesn't seem to be a big problem. If you feel your performance was lower than you would have liked, you can ask your manager about feedback and see if your perception aligns.

If your manager knows you had rough times, you can say something less specific like "I'm just happy that last month is over, bonus or not". Don't mention getting fired.

Answer 2

I should have been fired

If you should have been fired then you would have been fired. Instead, you have a job and a small bonus.

Your post makes no indication of reprimand nor PIP so this just sounds like your anxiety talking.

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My boss says, he is so sorry that I do not get too much bonus.

Sounds like your boss values your skillset and appreciates that you stayed onboard during your family struggles.

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However, I am actually happy that I am not get fired.

Aren't we all?

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What should I answer him?

Concentrate on the positive, period.

Thank you, I am content with the bonus and above all very thankful for being able to work at a such a great place. I sincerely appreciate your understanding with my recent family issues and look forward to what's ahead.

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The honest answer would be this: "That I could keep both my family and my job, it makes me actually more happy than a huge bonus in ordinary circumstances!" This is the truth, but it sounds for me somehow... unprofessional.

This sounds like excessive gratitude and can end up putting your boss in a weird position in which they now feel like your savior. It will make them feel like you think they're the sole reason that you're not fired.

Don't make it awkward, he's just doing his job of balancing employee needs. Don't make this some over-the-top dog & pony show.

Answer 3

The honest answer would be this: "That I could keep both my family and my job, it makes me actually more happy than a huge bonus in ordinary circumstances!" This is the truth, but it sounds for me somehow... unprofessional.

I would advise against this for a few reasons. While you may see it as a "favor" your boss may just see it that if he hires someone else, he'd waste more time than if he simply waited for your problems to end.

I also think by sending him a letter that essentially agrees that your behavior warrants a firing, that it should be avoided in case they do actually fire you. They'd show that you agreed that you should have been fired.

Instead you shouldn't send any letter to your boss since none is required. It sounds like bonuses are given based on the previous month's performance. Since you were out of the office, no bonus was required therefore it was expected and accepted.

Answer 4

Last month went really bad. I had a serious problem with my family; this significantly decreased my performance at workplace.

My boss says he is so sorry that I didn't get much bonus.

However, I am actually happy that I didn't get fired.

How should I answer him?

It is perfectly acceptable to give no answer at all. But if you feel an answer is necessary, you could say something like: "I understand. I wasn't satisfied with my performance the past few months. It was in part due to a family issue, and I hope to do better in the future."

This assumes you have a very good relationship with your employer and want to keep it that way.

It is very professional to be aware of how well or how poorly you are doing and to talk about this with whoever is your manager. It is generally a good idea to honestly communicate when you believe you've done your job well and when you believe you haven't. This way, you can find out if you and your manager are on the same page.

One thing I would caution you about, however, is that it's very easy to think you performed more poorly than you actually did. Be careful not to needlessly undersell yourself. It's easy to imagine how you could have done more or could have done better and conclude that therefore you didn't do very well, even when your actual performance was better than expected.

I've personally experienced many times when I believed that I did something poorly at the time and went back and looked at it later, with a fresh eyes, and found that it was much better than I remembered. I'm not sure why this is, but you may suffer from this same effect.

Answer 5

Not everything on the job needs to sound 100% professional, especially if you have a good relationship with your superiors/coworkers. We are human, and sometimes it can be ok to let them have some insight into what's going on in your life.

So if you feel that you need/want to provide an answer, you can say what you cited as your "honest answer". But I would only do it if you're on really good terms with your boss (since it implicitly admits that your performance would have warranted being fired). And instead of writing, you could tell it to him in person; that way it's more personal and doesn't leave a paper trail.

Answer 6

I'm not currently a manager, but I would never fire someone over a single bad month and I don't think that any sane manager would do so (especially when there were extenuating circumstances like family problems). Think about it this way: you had one bad month due to circumstances beyond your control and (presumably) lots of months that weren't bad.

I assume that almost everyone will have some kind of problem that temporarily impacts their performance at some point in their career (family problems, health issues, etc.); if we fired everyone who had that happen to them we wouldn't have many employees left. For example, I had a fairly major knee surgery a few years ago; I was out sick entirely for a little while, and then when I came back I couldn't sit up for long periods of time (and I was on pain medication that impacted my ability to think clearly). Even when that changed, I still had to take time off to attend frequent physical therapy sessions. I simply communicated that that would be impacting my ability to function at "full" capacity for a little while, and they were quite understanding about it. I still got a good performance review that year, and they continued to have confidence in me as an employee.

Answer 7

TL;DR: You don’t, he’s said his piece and you don’t need to comment or acknowledge it further.

Long version, you ain’t that special.

I will take it as a given that your performance last month was less than what you consider acceptable. That does not mean that you should have been fired. There are various non-humanitarian reasons not to fire an employee that does sub-par work. The most common reason is that over an extended time period their work is acceptable or even outstanding.

People are very seldom doing their best work while using the restroom, why don’t managers barge into the restroom and fire people? Two main obvious reasons, first and perhaps most importantly, they know that the downturn in productivity will be temporary. Secondly, it would negatively effect retention. If people are fired for a temporary and understandable downturn in productivity, other people will reasonably fear that the same thing will happen to them and they will start looking for employment elsewhere. Which leads to a less obvious reason, hiring people is expensive.

You may have seen movies or TV shows where guys in pickups drive up and hire “day-workers” with just a nod. That only works because what they are looking for is basically a back and a willingness to work. The most unskilled of “unskilled” labor. If it’s something more complex like taking orders and relaying them to a chef and then bringing the food to the customers, well, replacing that worker is going to take some time and money.

You don’t say what industry you are working in, and it almost doesn’t matter, firing you for a bad month would almost certainly, under the same theory of management, be grounds for firing your manager.

Unless the companies continuing operations rely upon you, then in the grand scheme of things, your off month just doesn’t matter. If it does matter, they need to reorganize things so that it doesn’t. You’ll see advice all over that indispensable employees should be fired ASAP. I wouldn’t say that, I would say that indispensable employees should be turned into replaceable employees as quickly as possible, and only fired if they fight that process.