The hard job of letting people go — when and how?
By TRISOFT team
One of the most unpleasant work experiences anyone can have is probably being fired or having to fire/let go of someone. Today we will talk about the manager’s perspective, as termination can be just as painful for the person doing it. There’s a lot of stress and frustration inside the person having to say the dreaded words “You’re fired.”
Making such a decision is never easy. Especially when it’s about letting go of someone you know well. Experience can be a helper, but still, it’s almost impossible to take the emotional completely out of what is a decision with a highly personal impact — even when that decision makes, rationally speaking, perfect sense.
Trying to salvage things
Before going ahead with it, every respectable manager knows that they have to make some efforts to see if they can still salvage things. Trust that was lost is rarely regained, but in some cases there is a slim chance that needs to be explored.
The first thing you need to do is make sure you have honestly and constructively given feedback to your employee about their performance. You need to set realistic goals and objectives for him or her to meet. A concrete timeline needs to be followed and most of the times it’s advisable to ask for the employee’s own input on how they could improve performance. In some situations, involving other key-employees in the ’recovery’ process might also be a good idea.
If, at the end of what should be a genuine effort to win back your employee, you conclude there is nothing left to do, then you should consider the final step — letting them go. From a management perspective, at least, you would have done everything in your power to set expectations, give guidance, and empower your underperforming employee to step up to the plate.
Require, review, repeat
These are the three most important R’s in a strong employee evaluation process. As managers, we need to make sure we have the proper control over our employees’ performance.
When problematic situations appear, ask yourself first who is really at fault. Especially with small companies and start-ups, the issue is often that the job description is poorly defined and so employees don’t really know what they have to do and where they went wrong. If this is the case, you will be able to correct it in time.
As we’ve pointed out above, you have the opportunity to remind the employee exactly what is expected of him or her and that continued failure to perform will lead to dismissal. Have the verticality to lay your cards on the table and thus give the employee a fair chance to change.
Again, if the employee doesn’t make a comeback after this, you should proceed with replacing that person.
Let’s see how we can closely analyze and decide. Amid all these sometimes harsh, conflicted feelings, how do we know the employee is still a team player, worthy of another chance? Or on the other hand, how do we actually know when enough is enough?
Ask yourself the following 7 questions to help shed light on the right course of action:
1. Is your employee meeting the responsibilities listed on his job description?
Your employees’ efforts are to be appreciated at all times. However, when they fail to meet the expectations laid in front of them time and again, it may be time to accept the fact that they may not be a good fit for your business. On top of costing money, they are also likely to cause stress within the organisation, to bring everyone around down and this is not fair to anyone, and is definitely not good for the business. So go through their job description together, have a meaningful discussion and recalibrate the employee’s responsibilities as needed. If the employee’s performance isn’t matching with the revised job description, it’s time to terminate.
2. What is their attitude?
The next important thing to look at is the attitude. How and to what extent is their attitude affecting their work, other people, your business? From our point of view, this is a non-negotiable. So their attitude needs to be reasonable, ethical and goodwill-oriented, otherwise it will negatively impact everyone else.
3. Do they fit within the company’s culture?
Sometimes it’s more important to hire people who are a right match with your organization rather than just a good professional. Of course, having the right skills is great, but being in tune with the company’s goals is even nicer. Especially since they need to be integrated within your team.
4. Can the market offer you a better employee at the same price?
Statistics show that it can cost from 20% up to even 200% of one’s salary to replace an employee. So there you have it, replacing talent is expensive. However, isn’t it less expensive than sticking with the problems? We would say yes! Even if we’re talking about a value employee with a solid history of performance, you will discover that if the reasons and timing are right, their replacement will bring a breath of fresh air to your business.
After all, the market is full of professional, enthusiastic, young people looking to progress in their careers. So you need to ask yourself how hard it would be to find someone instead, how much time, energy and resources you would need to invest in order to find someone with the talent and dedication you are looking for. As managers, we need to keep this reality in mind, no matter how hard it can be in the moment.
5. Given the opportunity, how is he handling progress?
In a fast-moving business environment, one thing is for sure — your employees need to keep up with the pace and even more, be comfortable with change and eager to make a difference. For your company, which you’ve struggled to build and support, growth is crucial, so it is your duty as the owner to make sure all your team members are high-performers and that they are striving to move in the same direction as the company. When all of these stop applying, then the collaboration stops making sense as well. Companies need to continue to improve and evolve to be successful, and so do their workers.
6. Do they lack enthusiasm and drive?
We value people who are motivated! We value people who are brave, dedicated and happy about new starts, about learning something new and doing things right. But above all, we value people who can keep up the enthusiasm and drive throughout the years. This is because it’s easy to feel motivated in the beginning, but as the business moves forward and encounters all sorts of difficulties, that’s when you, as a manager, can assess who is really committed and who isn’t. When the butterflies fly away, it’s sometimes time for some employees to maybe join them as well…
7. If the employee resigned today, would you fight to keep him?
This is the final test. Or it can be the first question to ask yourself. How would you feel about this employee leaving you? Imagine he came and handed you his resignation today. Would you be relieved or rather upset? How much would you bring to the table for that employee’s change of heart and when would you consider that enough (sometimes, too much…) was spent on negotiating his stay? This is a good way to understand, on a deeper level, if the business relationship can still be salvaged or not. Experience showed us that, in some cases, the person leaving is just not worth the effort.
Cushioning the blow
Working with people is difficult, but letting them go can sometimes be even harder. Their reactions will vary depending on their character, their professional and personal backgrounds, plus few other factors which are hard to predict. They may be surprised or even shocked and angry. The important thing to remember is that you have done all the best possible to keep your employee and that after all, that person who wasn’t right for you can be right for someone else.
So you might be able to cushion the blow by offering him or her a letter of recommendation and maybe point them in the direction of other job opportunities you may know about.
A few final thoughts
Not everyone is going to be the right fit for your company. It may sound harsh, but the reality is that keeping an employee around who isn’t contributing positively to your mission and goals can really hurt a business. However cold the reality, you should still be human. Put the employee on notice, be compassionate and sensitive, avoid lecturing and be supportive up to the last day together.
At TRISOFT, we are always trying to take the highroad when it comes to parting ways with some of our team members. We have learned that through compassion and sensitivity we can avoid nightmarish legal and operational problems that result when firing is viewed simply as giving a person walking papers at a moment’s notice.The actions you take really do matter to the employee who is being fired and to the coworkers who will this way learn more about their boss. Your actions will ultimately empower you to build ever-better businesses around ever-better people.
