Firing an employee does not have to be the worst experience of your year. You can use the occasion to examine what went wrong in the employment relationship. Assuming the termination is for a mismatch, you can help the employee build self-esteem despite their employment termination. You can encourage the employee to look ahead and get started on a new job search. Even if the firing is for non-performance, you want to end the relationship on a positive note.
Firing an employee who is unable to meet reasonable company production standards is common. So, is firing an employee who, even with extensive training, proves unable to perform her job.
Sometimes, an employee is bored or unhappy with her current position, pay, or job title. You have no open positions for which she qualifies. Her pay and title are consistent with the position. Unfortunately, the employee's job performance is rapidly deteriorating.
In some instances, an employee is either consciously or unconsciously asking you to fire her for her performance. The individual knows, on some level, that her employment with you is the wrong placement. In a recent termination meeting, the employee stated, "What took you guys so long to fire me? I am bored out of my skull with this job."
In all of these instances, these are the steps to follow.
Steps in Employment Termination for Non-Performance
Before the Termination Meeting
- Make sure the employee is clear about the job expectations, the production expectations and any other details that would enable the person to perform effectively. Job descriptions, posted production standards, and data about performance help the employee understand and perform their role. A Performance Management System ensures the employee’s clarity about the goals.
- If the employee is violating policies and procedures, make sure these are written and that the employee has been trained in the policies and procedures. A signed form is good testimony to allay the potential for future litigation.
- Provide help and guidance; give the employee regular feedback about her performance. Make sure you explain the potential consequences of underperformance. Coaching for Improved Performance provides a step-by-step coaching approach you can use to help an employee improve her work performance. This approach avoids discipline and produces results.
- Determine that you are applying the performance standards fairly. For purposes of discrimination avoidance, you must address any employee who is doing the same things in the same way. You must address the employee with the most serious problems first. All employees who are failing to follow your policies must be disciplined in the same way; never focus on one person’s performance.
- If you determine that a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) might help the employee succeed, use a PIP to positively encourage the employee. The detail required in a PIP sometimes helps a failing employee reach clarity about job expectations.
- Most importantly, you need to document any performance discussions for the employee’s file with the time, date, and policy or performance problem clearly identified. Keep good records because you never know when you will need them; minimally, good records will refresh your memory of the termination. Employees move on and good records ensure the employer will be able to address any issues about the termination in the future.
- In progressive discipline, each write up must escalate so that you have verbal warnings, verbal written warning and then suspensions on the record. This ensures that employment termination is never a surprise. When you schedule the termination meeting, the employee should not be surprised. In a recent termination I participated in, the employee came to the meeting with all of his possessions already packed. No surprises.
