WTF is "people skills"?

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i was hired by Pavillions about a month ago and i was reciently let go because i didnt have "people skills"
wtf does that mean?!?!?!?!?!

Sounds like you got screwed because of your "disability". You may not have been there long enough, but you could consider contacting my favorite government entity, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, to see if you have a case for discrimination against them.

"People Skills," something that comes intuitively to most people. For better or for worse, I am not "most people."

Here is a list my employer handed me when I was hired. Apparently my job requires that I get a handle on these elusive "people skills."

"A person with 'people skills' knows how to communicate with others and knows that communication is a two-way process. Listening to others and taking pains to understand others are just as important as speaking well. The person with 'people skills' knows how to build effective relationships with even the most difficult people and practices teamwork – in other words, supporting the efforts of others for the good of the company."


# They understand themselves and how their behavior impacts others.

# They control their responses; they try to be less impulsive and to think before acting.

# They have a sincere desire to assist others in the pursuit of goals.

# They are able to "tune in" accurately to the feelings and needs of others and then treat people accordingly.

# They work at managing relationships, building networks and finding common ground in order to minimize conflict and maximize rapport.

# They are consistently approachable.

# They create an environment of trust.

Personally, I think every single one of those is open for individual interpretation, especially because I've had more than one run-in with management over my lack of "people skills." Fortunately, I have been able to explain myself. I was terminated from the previous job because I spent 30 minutes "lecturing" a customer on why failing to pay bills negatively affect his credit. I was just trying to be helpful and informative, but he took it personally and---Bam! Right out the door. (It was a terrible job anyway.)

Do you have to reveal AS to an employer to be able to get a case for discrimination? I've occasionally wondered if my lack of "people skills" were eventually going to get me in deep doo-doo at work, but I have not revealed AS at this point.

So far my job coach has been really nice to me and explained people skills, and I understood them. You probably needed consulting first in order to understand it.

I think so. Employers are required to provide "reasonable accomodation" to people with a disability. Can you think of a way your employer could help you so don't get in deep doo-doo?

Revealing a diagnosis of AS may not be the most effective way of dealing with 'lack of skills'; as an employer has an obligation to ensure the professional development of individuals irrespective of whether they have a 'disability' or not. therefore if the situation is right an employee could approach a senior memberof staff for advice on how to improve their emploment skills. It is also relevant to keep in mind the possible outcomes of disclosing a diagnosis of AS; both Negative and Positive!! !

It's a sticky problem. You can only claim discrimination if they were informed about the disability before you were fired (and preferably before the problem arose). Otherwise they may have a good case for dismissal because you took a job you knew you were unable to fulfil. Equal Employment Opportunity would not, for an extreme example, cover a blind man taking a job as a bus driver.

Fahreeq, the big question is: were you informed that people skills were a requirement during the application/selection process for the job? Or rather, did you know they were required before you took the job.

CuriousPrimate -

No, "people skills" never was officially listed as part of my job description. However, I don't seem to interact all that effectively with other people, at least from my view.

Pretty much EVERY job is going to demand that a person have "People Skills". It's one of those implied things that everyone is suppose to take for granted.