Firing Employees isn't for Sissies

"If we lived in a perfect world, there wouldn't be a need for managers."
- Bryce's Law

INTRODUCTION

I recently had a good friend experience a troubling termination
of an employee. This was for a national retail distribution
company where my friend serves as Sales Manager for one of the
company's regional outlets. The problem centered on a young (thirty-ish)
salesman who was well trained but acted like a loose cannon,
e.g., policies and procedures weren't always followed, and he was
caustic and abrasive with customers and suppliers alike. This
inevitably resulted in some serious customer relations problems
for the company. On more than one occasion, my friend was called
in to bail out the salesman. His conduct and attitudes were well
documented in his performance reviews and my friend went beyond
the call of duty to counsel the salesman. Regardless, the salesman
recently insulted a young female supplier by using the legendary
"f***" word on the telephone (along with several other choice
expletives). Not surprising, this traveled up and down the
management chain of command until it finally landed on the desk
of the Sales Manager who was told to fire the salesman. Dutifully,
my friend called him into his office, explained the situation,
and gave the salesman the option of allowing him to either resign
or be terminated. The salesman flew into a rage and called the
Sales Manager every name in the book and came close to exchanging
blows with him. It was very ugly.

I talked with my friend at length about the incident and told him
if he was guilty of anything, it was that he was too kind and
too often gave his people the benefit of a doubt. Whereas he always
hopes for the best from an employee, I generally expect the
worst and am pleasantly surprised when things work out. In
other words, they have to earn my respect; they cannot take it
for granted. This got me thinking about how we terminate
employees these days. In the old days, if you screwed up,
you were fired on the spot and shown the door. No questions
asked; it was a done deal. But in today's litigious society,
managers have to be more careful or face a costly lawsuit.

I remember firing my first employee several years ago. Even
though I hadn't hired the person, it was my duty to terminate
him. The night before the termination, I agonized over how
I would do it and what I would say. My stomach flipped-flopped
and I definitely did not look forward to doing it. Nonetheless,
the next day I called the employee into my office, explained
his services were no longer needed, and let him go. In
hindsight, I'm sure it was less than perfect, but I somehow
got through it (and had a stiff drink afterwards). Since then
I have had to terminate a fair share of people over the
years. I no longer get upset over it and have learned a
few things along the way. Perhaps the biggest lesson is
that firing employees isn't for sissies. There are not many
things worse a manager can do than botching a firing. We laugh
at Donald Trump saying, "You're fired," on television, but that
is a rigged situation where contestants already understand
there is going to be only one survivor. In the real-world, a
termination affects a lot of people other than the employee
and yourself; it affects the employee's co-workers, family
and, in the situation described above, customers and vendors. Firing
an individual requires great skill and, as far as I'm concerned
should be left to professionals.

BACKGROUND

There is a big difference between firing a person and letting a
person go. Whereas the latter could be the result of work stoppages,
the former is due to the performance of the individual. As such,
this article is primarily concerned with firing. From the outset
understand this, keeping a poor performer employed is a disservice
to the company, the co-workers, you (the boss), as well as the
individual. As mentioned in the beginning, a poor performer causes
co-workers and/or the boss to work overtime to cover for the
employee. Consider this though, it hurts the individual who is
either unskilled for the job or has risen above his level of
competency. This type of person has hit a "dead-end" in his
career and it is unfair to keep him in a position where you
know he will undoubtedly fail. Let him get on with his life in
another capacity where he might succeed.

Prior to any firing, a paper-trail is required to document the
person's performance. An Employee Performance Evaluation (or
"Review") should be conducted routinely, particularly in the
early stages of employment. Such a Review should highlight both
the person's strengths and weaknesses giving the boss an opportunity
to offer advice to the employee on how to better himself. Very
important, have the employee read the Review carefully and
SIGN IT. Thereby, the employee can never say he was unaware of
any problems.

If the employee is struggling and you have to put him "on notice"
(either improve or face termination), this should be written
into the Review as well. More importantly, if you put a person
"on notice" be sure to follow the worker's progress carefully,
not only to make sure he is improving, but to see if he is preparing
to bail out on you.

PREPARATIONS

Assuming you have adequately documented the employee's performance
and you are convinced you have just cause to fire him, now it is
time to properly prepare yourself:

1. First, you may need to get permission from your superior or
   someone in Human Resources to fire the person. Be prepared
   to give a detailed reason for terminating the employee and
   be able to substantiate your claim. This makes for a
   convenient rehearsal for the firing.

2. Consider the person's current work assignments and what affect
   his firing will have on your department (co-workers, vendors,
   customers, delivery dates, etc.). Even if a person is working
   on something critical for the company, and it is absolutely
   necessary to terminate him, do not let the employee hold
   his job hostage. Even if you kept the person, there is
   no telling whether his work would ever be completed to your
   satisfaction. If he has to go, he has to go. Do not
   procrastinate.

3. Determine an exit strategy. To minimize disrupting the
   work of others, determine a proper time and date to terminate
   the employee. More people are fired on late Friday afternoons
   than any other time or day of the week. Why? Simple. It is
   the end of the work-week and people are more interested in
   going home than listening to someone being fired. By Monday,
   the person will already be a memory.

   Psychologists might suggest Monday mornings are a better
   time for terminations as opposed to Fridays, simply because
   the employee won't have time to think about it over the
   weekend and become despondent or irrational. As for me,
   I am a Friday man as I don't want this to weigh too heavily
   on the staff.

   In preparing for the employee's exit, consider what corporate
   paperwork is involved (see Human Resources), what keys, locks,
   badges, computer passwords may need to be changed, and back up the
   employee's computer files. Under no circumstance should the
   employee be allowed to touch his computer after being dismissed;
   there is no need to invite sabotage.

   Select a witness to attend the termination meeting (this should
   be done in all cases regardless if you are expecting a hostile
   firing or not). Even better, be prepared to record the
   termination if possible in case it is needed in a court of law.

   If necessary, have a box prepared for the employee to empty
   his desk.

DO IT PROFESSIONALLY

Now the hard part; actually terminating the employee. Now you
have to prepare yourself psychologically. If you go into it
with any emotions (guilt, anger, sympathy), you are doomed to
fail. Always remember you are an emissary of the company, not
an individual with a vendetta. It is hard to be cold in situations
like this, but you have to be well organized and in the proper
state of mind to pull this off. Ideally, the objective should be
that the employee being terminated comes away from the dismissal
knowing he had been fired by a pro, not a clown.

Just prior to the dismissal, talk to your witness and let
him/her know what you are about to do and what will be expected
from the witness during the termination (which should be to simply
observe and not to speak during the firing).

When ready, invite the employee into a private room, preferably
away from the co-workers. Be cordial but avoid idle chit-chat as it
is not relevant at this point. Inform the person of the purpose
of the meeting and why he is being terminated. It is important
the person understand why they are being fired. Some people feel
this is unnecessary. I don't for two reasons: First, if a person
starts litigation against you or the company, he cannot claim he
didn't know the reason for the termination, and; Second, if the
person is ever going to improve in the future, he should understand
why he is being dismissed.

It is very important you remain in control of the meeting at
all times. Stick to the facts and do not waver. The employee will
react one of two ways: either surprised by the termination (didn't
see it coming) or knew it was inevitable. The emotional
reaction to the termination may take many forms:

• Grateful it is over (allowing them to move on to something else).
• Understands reasons and accepts it.
• Embarrassment.
• Anger.

Regardless of the emotional reaction to the termination, stay in
control of the meeting. Do not show weakness by back-peddling or
allowing second chances. Remember, you reviewed the employee's work
performance in the past and the employee should have already adjusted
his work habits. Providing an employee a second chance at this stage
only invites sabotage.

Do not prolong the termination either; keep it short and to the
point (do not give him time to think and react). Sympathy is
not necessary, nor is gloating. Also, it is not necessary to be
apologetic, after all, you have a valid business reason for terminating
the employee don't you? Just keep things in a "matter of fact" tone
of voice. Again, you represent the company in this capacity;
maintain your composure.

If it is necessary for corporate papers to be signed as part of the
exit, have the employee sign them at this time. If the employee
refuses, have it so noted by the witness. Also explain to the
employee how he will receive his final paycheck.

In some situations, it is better to try and get the employee to
resign as opposed to being fired. If the person is fired, they
are automatically eligible for unemployment (which the company has
to ultimately pay). If the person resigns, collecting unemployment
is considerably more difficult to obtain (although the government
loves to give away your money anyway).

If the employee shows signs of being upset, allow them to regain
their composure before exiting the meeting. An emotionally distressed
person can have an adverse affect on the staff. It also allows
the employee to save face.

POSTMORTEM

Fired employees should clean out their desks of their personal
items as soon as possible. This should normally be supervised by
someone, preferably not the witness or the person who just fired
the employee. Further, when the employee is gone, make sure the desk
is cleaned out to your satisfaction; leave no traces.

Farewells are not necessary and should be discouraged. The less
contact the employee has with your staff, the less chance he has
of "infecting" your people. Some companies also find it
necessary to escort the person off company premises.

Following the termination, prepare a report reviewing the
termination which should be filed in the employee's personnel
jacket. Keep it factual and to the point (include time, date
and the length of the meeting). If the employee made any threats,
this should be documented. The witness should also make a
similar, but separate, report. Both reports should be simple
and to the point and reflect what actually transpired during
the termination. Also, if the termination was recorded, it
should also be filed in the employee's jacket.

Your staff will inevitably be wondering what happened. It
may be necessary to briefly discuss it at a staff meeting (do
not call a meeting just to discuss the termination). When
reviewing the termination with the staff, it is not necessary
for you to rationalize why the employee was terminated (if he
was a loser, they should be able to figure it out). Further, the
fired employee may have friends on the staff who might testify
against you in the future. Instead, keep it simple; that the
employee is gone and discuss who is going to pick up the
pieces. Do not belabor the firing. Its over. The only thing
you, as boss, should be concerned with at this point is problems
in staff morale as a result of the firing.

After the employee has left, be careful of requests for job
references for the employee. You can state the employee's job
title and length of employment but little else. Do not discuss
why the employee was terminated or his job performance. If
you make disparaging remarks about the employee, he might learn
of them and initiate a lawsuit; In contrast, if you give a glowing
report on a former employee and he turns out to be a dud, the
employee's new company may consider a lawsuit over false claims
and misrepresentation. Therefore, do not discuss the employee's
performance. The only exception is if you are asked if the
former employee is eligible to be rehired (a simple Yes/No will
suffice).

CONCLUSION

We live in a strange time where managers are afraid to fire
employees in fear of possible litigation. Instead, there is a
great temptation to transfer or promote the misfit to another
department, thereby transferring your problems to someone
else. This is horribly irresponsible and does your company a
disservice by allowing the employee to screw-up elsewhere (and
badmouth you to boot). Do not prolong the agony. Get on with
it. As my old football coach used to say, "Have a little STUG"
(that's "Guts" spelled backwards).

Firing a person is an important part of being a manager. It
goes with the territory. Do not procrastinate and never live in
fear of firing someone for if you do, you will become ineffective
as a manager. But if you are going to do it, do it right. Let
the employee know he was fired by a pro. If done properly, you
will win the respect of your superiors, your subordinates, as
well as the person you are letting go.

Firing employees isn't for sissies.