Burning Bridges

I do not believe in burning bridges. I follow the saying that the people you step on going up the ladder are the same ones you meet going down. A good example of this happened to me this week. I manage an office and sometimes a person in your staff just does not fit in anymore and it is best if they leave. I do not have the heart to fire someone that has not blatantly done anything wrong but still I had to let one of my girls go. I took the positive approach. I called her aside and told her that she was stagnating in this job. She is young and bright and needs to move on. I told her to bring in her resume and I would work on it with her. When I reviewed it I saw why no one had called her for any interviews. I had her delete the line that said she was exotic and erase the phrase "if you are not serious about hiring do not call me. I don't like playing games". I explained that these 2 lines did not look professional and if they had been on her resume when I was hiring, I would not have called her either. She revised her resume and within 2 weeks found a higher paying job. Now I am coming to my point. Yesterday, all of my receptionists were sick and I would have had no one to run the front desk in the evening. I was desperate, as Mondays are the busiest night of the week.I called the girl that had left and she was thrilled to come and help out for the evening! What a lifesaver. I was glad I did not burn this bridge.