Dear Ammar,

I am finding myself in the dreadful position of having to fire one of my employees.  Do you have any tips on how to do this without this turning into an ugly situation for me and the employee?  Please help.

Regards,

Alaa

Dear Alaa,

Firing someone is not easy.  Yet, some say that a manager’s experience is never complete without having fired someone.  Regardless of how one looks at it, the good news is that there are ways to do this gracefully. 

For starters, a manager must build the right attitude towards firing.  Consider it as something that comes with a manager’s territory.  It must be done when necessary, and it is about being fair to the company, you, the team members, and the person being fired. 

Do not think about firing as the end of the road for the person being terminated.  Instead, think of it as a chance for that person to find a job that better fits his skills and abilities.  This is why it is unfair to keep the employee when he is doing a poor job.  It will delay him from finding that other job where he will excel.  Contrary to common belief, people who are slacking are actually under lots of stress.  In a way, they are waiting for their managers to put them out of their misery.  No pun intended here. 

It is also out of fairness to the company that poor performers are put off the payroll. Even other team members in the company suffer from a manager’s procrastination in firing an under performer.   The employee’s incompetence must be preventing others from properly doing their jobs.  They too might be waiting for you to hang the bell, so to speak.  Also, letting go of an under performer shows respect to others who are competent and performing well. 

There are dangerous attitudes to be avoided when letting someone go.    Some managers act as a judge ready to pass a sentence.  They start the meeting by stating all the bad things the employee has done for which he deserves to be fired.   There is nothing to be gained from such discussion, which usually leads to higher hostility between the manager and the departing soon employee.  The firing process is not a trial.  The manager is not a judge, the employee is not a criminal, and firing is not a court sentence.  It should be looked at as termination of a business set up that is simply not working.   Your job is to carry out this termination for the betterment of all those involved. 

Firing someone does not just happen.  There is a chronology of events that leads to the point of firing a person.  Some managers watch an employee’s poor performance without saying anything.   They might tell other managers about it but never the employee himself.  Then, one day out of frustration they bring in the employee and tell him he is fired.  Many employees are surprised when they are given the bad news.  They were never warned and they never felt that their performance was lacking. 

To avoid this situation, employees’ expectations should be correctly and clearly set from their first day on the job.  Upon hiring, a manager should define a clear performance measurement process for the new team members.  On regular basis, he should provide guidance and feedback to them on how they are performing.  The feedback should be based on clear objective measures of performance.   This will help manager and employee gauge successful achievement of desired results.  Review these measures regularly with the employees.  If there are signs of poor performance, bring them up candidly with the employee and help him come up with ways to recuperate. 

If poor performance persists, you must clearly tell the employee that continuing at this rate will lead to firing.  Many managers fail to make this point clear to the employee.  If performance does not improve, then you have to remove the employee from his position.  If the employee was warned earlier about the consequences, he might already know what is coming.  Some employees even take a further step by firing themselves. 

No one enjoys being fired.  So, do not expect people to jump up for joy when they hear the bad news.  Of course they will be disappointed, and they will try to find excuses for their poor performance.  Let the person save face and show him that even though you are firing him, you care about his well being as a person and wish him all the best.  After a while, when the dust settles, previous employees will respect you for being fair to them and for letting they go gracefully.  I hope this helps.

Regards,

Ammar