The Art of the Termination
Posted April 23rd, 2012
No one, with the exception of despots and tyrants, enjoys having to fire an employee. But terminations are a fact of life for any manager or supervisor.
Read below for seven tips on how to let someone go with grace and professionalism:
- Give the person at least one more chance. Unless the person has been caught stealing, or otherwise has committed an infraction that warrants automatic termination, sit down with the employee, let him or her know of your concerns and let the person know that you will give him or her a set amount of time to improve, or you will have to terminate.
- Better still, when someone is underperforming, you should aim to speak with the employee as soon as you notice such a pattern. Sit with the person and professionally and congenially say you’ve noticed a decline or steady erosion in performance, an increase in tardiness, etc. Ask if there’s anything that’s bothering the employee either at home or at work (if it’s a personal matter, tread very carefully). As you listen, let the employee know you understand there always are challenges in any aspect of life, but that the person was hired to perform a certain task or complete a certain project and that you will help him or her improve performance. Give a deadline as to when improvement must be seen.
- If you do decide to terminate, aim not to have the termination meeting in your office. Instead, pick a more neutral spot such as a conference room.
- Don’t dither. Get right down to business and let the person know that you’ve decided to terminate his or her employment.
- Show empathy but remember that you are not the individual’s comforter. That role belongs to family members. Show compassion, but don’t act as a shoulder to cry on.
- Especially since the person has been given warning (see steps 1 and 2 above), don’t enter into a discussion with the employee about what he or she can do better in order to keep the job. Don’t yell, cry, or pound your fist.
- It’s definitely OK to be sympathetic and offer the employee resources to help with finding a new job. This can be especially helpful if the employee is losing the position due to a layoff rather than being terminated for cause.
Using Bayside Solutions to bring on temporary staff means you never have to fire them…they’re our employees, not yours! If a worker isn’t meeting your expectations, let us know and we’ll replace him or her quickly, sometimes as quickly as the very next day. Learn more about our staffing solutions for San Francisco-area companies by contacting us today!
