Firing an Employee: The Inside Scoop from a Human Resources Specialist

There is something you have to learn on your own that is not taught at any school, so far as I know. Human resources specialists spend an extraordinary amount of time sourcing and recruiting, but we don't spend much time at all with the opposite side of that equation: how to fire an employee, or in the parlance of the profession, how to terminate employment. How that critical meeting is handled can change everything.

There is a natural appeal to making a job offer to a candidate. From the professional perspective, it signifies a completion of a task, a moving on in a direction, and adding another person to an organization. It is generally a happy thing, and generally marked as a job well done.

Reaching the decision to fire someone for performance is the antithesis - it signifies we made a mistake, it means that someone will be leaving the organization and likely with ill will, and it means the start of another recruiting cycle. On a personal level, we know or suspect what that person will face - job searches, family problems, financial worries.

It is fraught with pitfalls: how the actual termination meeting is handled can change the course of what happens next with that now former employee. The job of firing someone is an important one, requiring skill, and it is one that is often neglected.

It is neglected not without good reason - we don't expect to fire people, and we don't want to create an atmosphere where it is okay for hiring managers to make mistakes to be rectified with termination. Quite frankly, just the thought someone is going to be fired is enough to damage morale, never mind the thought that managers might actually be pretty good at the job.

Over the years I have seen some masterful managers do an abominable job in termination interviews. On the converse, I have actually been thanked by some folks whose employment I have had the misfortune to have to terminate. The decision was based on the same criteria, but the execution of the meeting had everything in the world to do with the outcome.

Proper decision making, planning, and demeanor all play a role in making a difficult situation go as smoothly as possible.

Reaching a decision

A manager and organization owes itself and the employee to give that person the opportunity to improve and meet expectations. If the decision is truly based on performance, there should be no reason an employee should enter that meeting not believing that, at the very least, termination is a possible outcome of that meeting.

When the decision is reached, it is imperative to terminate as soon as possible thereafter. ALWAYS set the meeting to terminate employment promptly - if the problems are important enough to fire someone for, then it is important enough to do so promptly.

Do not string a person along, working on finding the person's replacement before terminating. This invites further transgressions and performance blunders. Remember, if a situation occurred several weeks previous, that employee may have a legitimate reason for believing termination is not a possible outcome of this meeting. If you're dealing with a position of great sensitivity that cannot be left vacant for extended period of time, you may have to relax this one piece.

Candor

I believe it is of utmost importance to set a tone that this will be a difficult meeting early. Acknowledge up front that this will be a difficult conversation. Be candid, be clear, be concise, and be factual. Candor does not mean apologetic; candor does not mean argumentative. Candor means a forthright conversation about that which went into the decision.

I once had the great misfortune to be a lower level human resources person asked to sit in on a termination meeting being conducted by a plant general manager and a long term employee. As I sat there, I listened to the general manager verbally toy with the person - a person for whom he clearly had no professional respect and apparently little personal respect. Mindful that he knew there was a reason he was being called into my office, the employee was asked how he liked his job and how long he had been doing it. This went on for what seemed like forever to me and must've seemed even longer to the employee. This only prolongs the agony for all involved and did nothing to advance the purpose of the meeting.

Control and Planning

It is important to maintain control of the situation. As the person required to terminate the employee, the situation is under your control. Plan where and when the meeting will take place. Know the exit strategy. Know your supports. Know your obligations - final check, accrued vacation, collect keys and access badges.

The context is yours to create and control.

Be certain you have an appropriate location. A centrally located conference room near a lunch room would not be a good choice for an 11:30 AM termination meeting.

If there will be more than one person with you, be certain everyone is clear on their role in the proceeding. Know what the plan is for the person to retrieve personal effects from his/her work area. Know what the plan is in case of emergency.

In the instance described above, the plan was that the general manager would do the termination, he would leave and I would discuss with the employee his insurance and his final check. That was the one saving grace to that meeting; after the manager left, my job was strictly facts and while it didn't provide a "positive" note for the man, it did provide a "less negative" note on which he could leave the building.

You must control your own emotions and control your own actions in the face of this person acting out. If you are unsure of how this person will respond, it may well be in your best interest to have another person with you, if for no other reason than to take notes. You are the one in control of the situation; the employee will be the person responding. Do not allow yourself to lose control by responding to innuendo or pleas.

To effectively maintain control over the situation, you must have your facts. You must understand the decision to terminate. For example, a decision was made to terminate a janitor. Organizationally, we knew the building was understaffed, but this particular person had difficulty getting his assigned work done.

As the meeting progressed, he grew more agitated and complained that the building was understaffed and there was no way he could get his own work done while helping others to do theirs. The facts were that this person took overly frequent breaks during his shift to smoke and to take cell phone calls and that when he was hired it was made clear to him that the performance expectations were great because the building was understaffed. With this information, it was explained that while his point was valid about the short staffing, his own poor performance exacerbated an already difficult enough situation.

Which leads to the last point:

Respect.

This is a person who is about to lose his or her job; respect this person as a person. Be absolutely certain your actions show personal respect.

Respect that this person may have an emotional response: sadness, anger; Respect that this person may have something to say in hopes of mitigating the situation. Allow him/her to proffer a defense and do not argue. This is quite possibly the most difficult piece to do. We have to subrogate our own personal inclinations to argue a point; the fact is that at the end of the meeting, no matter what is said that person will no longer work for the company. Respect this person's need to express him- or herself, accept what he or she offers and continue.

Remember, you have almost absolute control over the situation - what that person says should no longer affect the previously made decision. It does no harm to allow that person to respond, and, in fact, could be beneficial in that more information comes forward. Perhaps the person gives a warning that the company has something to fear; perhaps there are other nuggets that will require some looking into once the employee leaves.

Be clear to this person what the plan is from here: how and when personal effects can be retrieved; when he or she can expect insurance paperwork, reference policies, unemployment compensation. If you have done your planning and have been candid, you have already done a lot of work toward respecting your employee. You have tissues readily available. You have already planned additional time to give this person if he or she needs it. You have planned the situation to avoid embarrassing the person further by holding the meeting in a place others are not likely to access. You have the organizational answers to questions you're likely to receive.

CONCLUSION.

While there are no absolutes in human behavior, a well run termination meeting may actually result in a former employee who appreciates the treatment the company gave him or her. An individual more focused on what they need to accomplish in finding a new position and less focused on the disrespectful manner in which they were dismissed will be more likely to find a new position.

In the end, you will have made an unpleasant situation less unpleasant for all involved. This meeting will be one the person will likely always remember, making your following of these guidelines even more important. It's nothing personal - it's business.