{"id":2559,"date":"2009-05-19T12:58:51","date_gmt":"2009-05-19T19:58:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/?p=2559"},"modified":"2013-02-07T19:43:27","modified_gmt":"2013-02-08T03:43:27","slug":"eddins-on-how-not-to-fire-someone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/05\/19\/eddins-on-how-not-to-fire-someone\/","title":{"rendered":"eddins on how not to fire someone"},"content":{"rendered":"

This scorching (but oh so appropriate) post<\/a> from conductor Bill Eddins is required reading for every arts administrator out there in these times of “right-sizing” (or bottom-line-sizing, more accurately put):<\/p>\n

I know that you’re supposed to be wedded to the bottom line but do keep in mind that the people who you are about to let go have, in many cases, dedicated their lives to your organization, and if your organization has been successful it’s most likely because of them, not because of you. They are human beings, and you are about to have a profoundly negative impact on their life. Have a little compassion.<\/p>\n

If you are running a major arts organization do not refer to it as “The Company.” It is not the CIA. It is an arts organization, full of bright and creative people on every level. Do not demean their love of whatever art form it is by trying to sound highfallutin’ and corporate. It just ends up being so much bullshit, and there is already quite enough of that in the arts world.<\/p>\n

Do not use the current economic crisis as an excuse to get rid of people who actually force you to do your job for this will come around to bite you in the tuchus.<\/p>\n

If you do end up firing somebody please say something more than “we are restructuring and your position is being eliminated.” Try words like “I’m sorry” or “I wish this didn’t have to happen” or “It’s a damn shame because you have been a valued member of our arts organization for a gazillion years.” It may not mean much to you…… hell, it probably won’t mean much to the person you just fired…… but it’s at least polite. Sticking to your prepared script just proves what a complete asshole you are.<\/p>\n

Please do not treat the fired person like so much garbage that you are eager to get rid of. Do not have the person frog-marched to their cubicle\/office by the HR lackey, where they have only enough time to grab their purse\/murse and jacket before they are kicked out of the offices. Please do not have the bad taste to have their phone disconnected and their computer turned off while they are stuck in your office being fired. Once again, this is not the CIA, and a little respect for your staff is warranted.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And here is the prequel post<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This scorching (but oh so appropriate) post from conductor Bill Eddins is required reading for every arts administrator out there in these times of “right-sizing” (or bottom-line-sizing, more accurately put): I know that you’re supposed to be wedded to the bottom line but do keep in mind that the people who you are about to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[115,1088,2],"tags":[86,1620],"class_list":["post-2559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music","category-recession","category-the-orchestra-world","tag-conductor","tag-william-eddins"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8kC-Fh","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":650,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/01\/09\/more-eddins-audition-news\/","url_meta":{"origin":2559,"position":0},"title":"more eddins audition news","author":"Charles Noble","date":"January 9, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Check out the latest posts from conductor Bill Eddins (music director of the Edmonton Symphony) as he contends for a post with the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra. Good stuff.UPDATE, SON OF REDUX: fourth fifth sixth\u00c2\u00a0seventh installment added today Charlotte Prelude Charlotte Part I Charlotte Part II Charlotte Part III Charlotte Part\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "conducting"","block_context":{"text":"conducting","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/conducting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"bill eddins, conductor","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/eddins_william_eso_050119.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":595,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/12\/17\/wild-bill-on-jacksonville\/","url_meta":{"origin":2559,"position":1},"title":"wild bill on jacksonville","author":"Charles Noble","date":"December 17, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Bill Eddins, conductor A shout out to Bill Eddins and his excellent blog, wherein he engages in a lively discourse over the lockout situation at the Jacksonville Symphony.","rel":"","context":"In "labor issues"","block_context":{"text":"labor issues","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/labor-issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6793,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2011\/08\/24\/racist-boards-you-betcha\/","url_meta":{"origin":2559,"position":2},"title":"racist boards? you betcha","author":"Charles Noble","date":"August 24, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Conductor Bill Eddins has another incendiary blog post, this time about racism on orchestra boards. Eye opening, to say the least. Read it and pass it along to your friends, especially if they serve on non-profit boards. http:\/\/www.insidethearts.com\/sticksanddrones\/2011\/08\/19\/billeddins\/3287\/","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/eddins_william_eso_050119.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8066,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2012\/12\/03\/deep-pessimism-in-minnesota\/","url_meta":{"origin":2559,"position":3},"title":"deep pessimism in minnesota","author":"Charles Noble","date":"December 3, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I hope that Bill Eddins' most recent blog post is off the deep end of the pessimism scale, because if it isn't, then what is happening with the Minnesota Orchestra is an epic catastrophe for that organization. \"... there is no room for artistry in the \u201cvision\u201d being laid out\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "administration"","block_context":{"text":"administration","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/administration-the-orchestra-world-music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":644,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/01\/06\/wild-bill-takes-an-audition\/","url_meta":{"origin":2559,"position":4},"title":"wild bill takes an audition","author":"Charles Noble","date":"January 6, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Conductor and blogger extraordinaire William Eddins writes an excellent post about taking part in a music director search - as a prospective candidate - by the Charlotte Symphony.\u00c2\u00a0 Always candid, Eddins gives a unique viewpoint (and one rarely, if ever, heard in public) of the music director audition process from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "auditions"","block_context":{"text":"auditions","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/auditions\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6901,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2011\/09\/15\/smaller-orchestras-matter-more\/","url_meta":{"origin":2559,"position":5},"title":"smaller orchestras matter more","author":"Charles Noble","date":"September 15, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"At least that's what Bill Eddins says in his post from Thursday where he talks about how important it is for smaller ensembles to maintain that all-important personal connection with their audience. The larger the orchestra the more one can be removed from society in general, mainly because your life\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "outreach"","block_context":{"text":"outreach","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/outreach-music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/To-aCcbT1YU\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/303"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2559"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2559\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}