Grace Under Fire: Termination is a Tough Job

As an Outplacement consultant, I work with companies as they go through the painful process of laying off one or a group of employees. No matter the circumstances, terminating an employee is one of the toughest jobs a manager will ever encounter.

Coming from a Human Resources background, I dealt with hiring and firing on a daily basis. For those not in HR, lots of managers would rate themselves proficient in hiring new employees, but few say they are good at firing people.

Terminating an employee can be difficult for several reasons. First, some managers think that anyone doing a job is better than none. Second, most managers don’t document a failing employee’s record, making it tough to build a case for termination. And third, many people get caught up in the emotions of firing an employee, so they avoid conflict and ignore the problem.

I would argue that none of these reasons are valid enough to keep a nonproductive employee.

When to Terminate

There are many different scenarios that can lead to the termination of an employee. One of the more challenging situations for a manager is when he or she is faced with firing a nonperforming employee. Typically, a manager just doesn’t let someone go for one minor mistake (emphasis on minor, barring illegal activity or extreme circumstances). An employee is usually fired after a series of documented incidents through a process know as progressive discipline. Using progressive discipline, the manager documents performance with the employee and the Human Resources department. A typical scenario would include verbal notification to the employee who did something wrong, followed by written notification to the employee who did something wrong, followed by written notification if the offense is repeated. Through the series of documenting the performance issues, an employee can be terminated if sufficient improvement is not made.The goal of progressive discipline is to help the employee improve, not to “build” a case for firing someone. The written notification should be specific and should outline steps being taken by the manager and employee to improve the situation as well as a time frame in which performance will be evaluated again. Depending on the situation, the follow up evaluation could be in a few days or as long as a few months.

It’s the managers and the employees dual responsibility to follow the plan as outlined. If the employee does not improve, or continues to make the same mistake, he or she may need to be terminated. If that is the result, it may be important to have documentation of the situation on hand, should the employee make a claim of wrongful termination. Also remember that there are some situations where a single offense can warrant immediate termination as dictated by company policies.

Financial Layoffs

Not every employee is let go as the result of performance. In some cases, the decision is strictly financial. A layoff not related to performance must have a legitimate business reason behind it. I have seen companies layoff one poor performer calling it a “job consolidation” just to avoid giving the employee the real reason. A company can get into trouble doing this, especially if someone else is hired for the position that they claimed to eliminate.
No matter the cause of the layoff, companies should follow a process for determining who stays and who goes. Some companies operate on a “first hired-first fired” scenario. Others offer voluntary early retirement to qualified employees in order to reduce the ranks. But a company cannot select an underperforming staff member for the layoff and retain top talent, disregarding company policy, or it could open up the company to potential claims.

Has the Job changed?

A lesser used layoff scenario is one where the job changes and the employee is no longer technically capable of handling the responsibilities. In this case, additional training may be impractical and insufficient to bring the employee up to speed. As an example, a small company might have an administrator/bookkeeper handling the finances. As the company grows, more and more outside vendors assist with financial matters. In order to reduce the cost of outsourcing the work, the company expands the bookkeeping role into one that requires and accounting degree or CPA. Unless the bookkeeper has that degree or designation, he or she is no longer suited for the role.

Whenever you terminate an employee, be sure to follow any Equal Employment Opportunity Commission considerations and/or relevant legal guidelines.

Terminations are an unfortunate, but a necessary part of doing business. Keep in mind that those employees still with the company will watch and learn from how management handles terminations. Train your managers to treat the outgoing employees with dignity, so they will gain the respect of the remaining staff.