On the other side of the coin I fired 4 people last year. There's only me here, so I can't shove that stuff off on a secretary; not that I would.
The first one took the longest; I'd never fired anyone before. The thing is after 6 months the kid could barely tie a slip knot and the only tree he could identify was a doug fir; it didn't help that he was pretty wimpy to boot. I was going to give him 2 weeks notice, but then he did about $1500 in damage to my chipper. I wrote him a check on the spot and told him he was fired.
By the time I fired the last guy it was kind of like a reality tv show. After I'd yelled at him for being late a couple times he showed up 2 hours late and acting like he was tweaking on something. After I told him he was late he said, "Well I'm here now what do you want me to do." I thought a minute and said, "Why don't you go home." His jaw just dropped
Things aren't perfect now, but I do have somebody who shows up every day.