According to a recent survey, almost half of business owners believe that one of their employees should be fired "right now." I hate firing people and I know I am not alone, which is why nearly 50 percent of business owners believe that someone needs to go. If they didn't hate firing so much, those employees would be gone by now. It is the hardest and most emotionally-laden task that an entrepreneur does.
I'm sure you have heard all the buzz phrases around firing like "fire quickly" and "a bad employee is like a cancer." But at the same time, we are entrepreneurs, not HR professionals like George Clooney in Up in the Air. Our employees often are like family. All of that said, not firing someone, or even waiting too long, has drastic consequences and in some cases can even jeopardize the livelihood of all of the other employees. In light of this, here are five pieces of practical advice for finally firing those employees who should go:
- Be ruthless when someone needs to go. Anyone who has fired someone will likely say that they should have done it sooner. Keeping those employees on as long as they did probably harmed the company by way of morale, culture, and productivity. In many cases, delaying the inevitable wasn't doing the terminated employee any good either.
- Be compassionate but stay unemotional. Almost anywhere you go, people are defined by what they do for a living. While the situation may not be personal for you, it is very personal for the employee on the other side of the desk. So, when you do have to fire someone, do the right things: fire them privately, tell them why they are being let go, and unless there is cause, don't contest their unemployment claim. If appropriate, help them find their next job. Plus, the more compassionate you are, the less likely you are to get sued.
- Disregard the blame. Many times I have thought that I should give someone a second chance (or third or fourth) because the company didn't train them right or the job changed since they were hired. Your fault or their fault, it doesn't matter. If the situation isn't working, it's not working regardless of whose fault it is.
- Consult an employment attorney when appropriate, but take what they say with a grain of salt. Sure, there are some employees that pose a legitimate risk for a lawsuit or governmental agency action. But remember, we live in an "employment at will" country (there are some states that bend this a bit). If an employee isn't working out, protect yourself with documentation and fire that person. Don't be encumbered or paralyzed by fear of legal retribution. If we always did what our attorneys told us to do, nothing would get done.
- Hire more carefully. If you want to fire less, put more time and effort into your hiring. Make sure candidates will fit in with the company culture. An easy way to do this is by having several people interview the person. Would they be excited by working with the candidate? Also, hire slowly. In order to have the luxury of time when hiring, interview candidates all the time -- not just when you have a need.
Personally, I'm hoping that by putting an emphasis on #5 in my own business, I'll avoid the need to heed the rest of my own advice on this matter.
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1. THERE SHOULD NEVER BE ANY SURPRISES to either person.
Each employee has incremental performance evaluations that build and stack throughout the year.
Stage one: Sally your contribution to the Johnson project was exceptional and I noted it in your evaluation, thank you for the hard work. However I'd like to point out an area that may need some attention. Your team skills. Several of the other managers on the project commented that working with you was difficult, that during each stage of the event you dominated decision making and disregarded diverse ideas. Some of those other options we now find out are more optimal and cost effective. I'd like you to work on your team skills and let me know how you track that so I can update your evaluation.
2nd quarter : "..Sally we talked at the end of the first quarter about your team building skills what have you done to improve those ? Well since you've not taken any steps for classes, or training I'm going to put down here this is objective is not met."
you get the idea
Mgr: "I know Sally isn't cutting it. But I want to give her another chance. After all, the departmental plan changed after we hired her. She was hired to do a job that doesn't exist anymore."
CEO: "Look, I like Sally a lot. But the question is does she have the skill set that is needed to help your dept accomplish its goals?"
M: "You and I both know she doesn't. But that isn't her fault. I would feel terrible letting her go."
C: "Yes. I would too. Maybe she will come around. Let's discuss in 3 months."
The above is the mistake that many make (I have done so myself). So what ends up happening? The deparment misses its goals. Sally is frustrated. The other employees are not only dissapointed that they missed their goals, but they are pissed at Sally and have lost respect for their manager. In fact some talented employees leave because they miss the high performance environment they had.
The CEO's job includes making tough decisions. In the above everyone loses: Sally, the manager, and the company as a whole. It wasn't Sally's fault that the responsibilities changed after she was hired. But the cost of keeping her on goes well beyond her salary and is too great for the company to bear.
Why not switch the focus to hiring people you don't have to fire...or on training employees you already have. How about an article on better management-employee communication.
Or, maybe this is just a window into how disposable workers are seen by owners/management. Life is cheap.
CEO's watched other industry leaders beating them at ROI and End of year profit revenue and margins and were too stupid and lazy to do anything about it or start firing executives til they got what they wanted. Instead they pass the buck in front of the board and suggested they would hire an independent consultanting firm to do a study.
The independent firm was top notch and of course there were small incremental improvements available but nothing earth shaking to make up for years of sloth like cronism. So to validate their existence and to garner additional business they concluded "..there was some $50MM in cost savings available unrecognized.."
This publication prompted the CEO and team to gather their executives and "go find the $50MM..". They were lazy and stupid and each one came back with "lets fire the workers and offshore the work.
And the CEO and his royal courtisans rejoiced with great glee collected a sizeable bonus went on an extended vacation, church and patted each other on the back and "realigned" 10,000 worker jobs overseas.