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Effectively Handling Employee Termination
By Barbara Gibson
Dec 26, 2005, 21:58
Ideally, every new hire would be a perfect fit and the need for termination would never arise. Unfortunately, most managers will face this unpleasant task at least once, so its best to plan a strategy that protects you from lawsuits, guilt and employee panic.
When the need to terminate an employee arises you can avoid some of the pitfalls by handling the matter with considerate effectiveness. If you have ever fired someone you are probably familiar with at least one of the pitfalls:
Guilt and/or second guessing yourself .
Avoid this trap by:
Checking new hire references carefully
Evaluating current staff for gaps/missing talents and making new hires accordingly
Taking time for adequate training
Providing clear responsibilities and expectations
Offering constructive feedback so employee can monitor his or her progress
Lawsuits
Avoid the trap by:
Addressing any concerns as they arise. Do not wait or assume that problems will correct themselves
Providing honest and constructive assessments. Unfairly positive reviews create confusion and resentment when you finally decide to be truthful and move to terminate
Addressing the problem not the person. Restrict your comments to the thing that displeases you. Avoid name calling or belittling
Documenting any verbal warnings
Providing verbal warnings that are clear and specific. It is not enough to say that you want to see some improvement. It is more useful to say what is happening or not happening that displeases you; e.g. I am concerned that you have been excessively absent or consistently tardy. Follow this with a restatement of expectations; e.g. I would like for you to be in the office each day at 8:00am. You must then let the employee know the planned course of action if the problem continues. Again, the conversation should be documented in the employee file. Have the employee sign the document and provide a copy for the employee to keep.
Providing written warnings that detail your expectations for improvement and expected consequences if no progress is made within a specified time period. For example Problem: Employee has been consistently tardy; Expectation: Employee will arrive and be ready for work by 8:00am each morning; Consequence: If employee is tardy more than two times in the next ninety days, termination will follow. Only state consequences that you intend to carry out.
Employee Panic
Employee morale often takes a dip when a co-worker is terminated. Avoid this trap by:
Adopting policies that are fair, consistent and transparent. Employees must not be allowed to believe that they can be terminated unfairly or arbitrarily as it creates a difficult work environment, impacts performance and ultimately, your bottom line.
Mentioning the departed employee briefly during the next staff meeting. Share as much information as you can without violating the terminated employees privacy. Doing this will allay unfounded worries and runaway imaginations.
It is a rare manager that has never made a bad hire. When you find yourself in such a spot dont beat yourself up, muster the courage to correct your mistake.
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