No one likes to fire an employee. It’s uncomfortable – even distressing – depending on the circumstances. But it’s one of the realities of managing; in fact, the rest of your staff will take note of how you handle it.
Here are a few examples of what not to do based on real situations that happened to three different clients.
+ Be fearful of provoking a bullying or disgruntled employee because you avoid confrontation.
+ Avoid challenging an employee who is clearly in the wrong job because you don’t want to admit that you made a hiring mistake.
+ Continue employing someone who is incompetent because you need someone to do the job.
Sound familiar?
The key to dealing with a prospective termination is to be brutally honest about the situation. Objectively assess the person’s performance and determine if the situation can be salvaged. In some cases, the employee may not have been trained properly; in others she may have floundered due to bad (or no) management.
Discuss your concerns with the employee and give concrete examples of your expectations for performance. If performance doesn’t improve, determine whether there is another more suitable job available in your company. If you decide that it just won’t work, have a calm, detached and dignified conversation about exiting.
The bottom line is this: face the situation in an impartial, realistic manner. Don’t hide behind your fear of confrontation, your embarrassment (real or imagined) about having made a mistake, or thinking that incompetent coverage is better than having none.
This is never easy. But being decisive and proactive is always better than hoping that they’ll quit. It’s a reflection of you as a leader – and remember – your people take their cues from you.
“The energy of the mind is the essence of life.”
– Aristotle
Header image by Katrin Bolovtsova/Pexels.
