After you
have tried everything to correct an employee's performance,
you must consider firing this person. This is not an easy
task but, for the sake of the business and morale of the
workplace, you must replace a poor performer with an effective
one.
We're not referring to firing an employee who is endangers
others in the workplace or who is caught in a criminal
act. These are cases of gross misconduct, and you can fire
these employees immediately. Instead we are talking about
firing employees whose work performance is poor.
Before Firing an Employee
Employees are rarely subject to an immediate firing for
performance issues. Let me explain. You must prove that
you tried to help the employee improve. First you give
a verbal warning. This tells the employee where his or
her shortcoming is and how you expect them to improve.
Do not make this verbal warning threatening. Often this
is all the motivation an employee needs to improve.
Occasionally though, the verbal warning is not enough.
Here you will have to create a written warning and present
it to the worker. Your goal is get the employee's attention
at a higher level, so they hopefully, will respond.
When it is Time to Fire
When both verbal and written reprimands fail, you must
proceed with firing the employee. Some experts claim it
is better to fire a person on Friday while others say you
should do it early in the week. Whichever you choose, be
prepared that most employees are not going to take it well.
Use discretion when you opt to fire someone in the middle
of the workweek.
Do not tell coworkers or subordinates about the firing
before it happens. This increases the chance the employee
will find out ahead of time. Then there is a greater risk
the employee will maliciously attempt to get back at the
company. So you should only tell the human resources department
and any witnesses who must attend the termination meeting.
Before this meeting, gather all of your documentation
and write a termination letter. When the firing is to take
place, walk up to the employee and ask him or her to please
come to your office to discuss a matter. Have your witnesses
in the office. Bring the employee in and get right to the
point taking care to be respectful. Whatever you do, don't
change your mind and in the middle of the exit interview
and decide to not carry out the firing. You should have
already carefully put thought into this before the firing
and there should be no reason to change your mind.
After you have communicated to the employee the firing,
ask the employee if he or she has any questions. Then tell
them about their final pay and any severance packages the
company offers them. If the employee is civil, you might
let the employee return to his or her desk and gather personal
items. But be careful as you don't know how people will
react to something like this after they leave your office.
If you conduct the firing properly, the employee will
be more likely to recover quickly and move on with dignity.
The event will not demoralize other employees. Plus, you
will protect yourself and your company against any lawsuits
the terminated employee may bring on you.
How
one bad employee turned me into a firing expert
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