5 Reasons to Fire New Hires in 5 Days
The Proven Policy That Saves Your Online Reputation, Keeps Your Superstars from Leaving and Saves Thousands of Dollars
Have you ever dated the wrong person?
You likely dated that person longer than either of you wished. What if you had set that person free after the first five dates?
You probably knew it wasn’t going to work out after the first date. Wouldn’t it have saved you money, heartache, and time? Exactly.
That’s why I propose adopting a five-workday probation period for all new employees. You will save money on training, it’s the most ethical thing to do, and you can get back to work immediately finding the right employee.
Pro Tip: Firing an employee is stressful for both employee and employer. Make the process more positive and productive by changing your attitude. Instead of firing employees, think of it as setting them free — free to find employment more suited for their skills and temperament.
How to Identify a Wrong Hire
There are two unforgivable sins in my businesses:
1. You are rude to the guests.
2. You are unable or unwilling to clean.
These two sins are unforgivable because you cannot train for attitude and cleanliness is vital in the service industry.
You must decide what is important to you. Here are some of the most common reasons to set them free in five days, or anytime: performance, attitude, insubordination, harassment, attendance, and safety violations. No matter the cause be sure to set them free properly and respectfully.
Pro Tip: The best way to know you’ve made a hiring mistake is to ask yourself this one question, “Would I hire this person if they came in today looking for a job?” In fact, I request managers ask this question frequently regarding their entire team. If the answer is “No, I would not hire this person,” then answer the question, “Why wouldn’t I hire this person?” That will be the reason you should set them free.
In three decades of hiring employees, my companies have always paid the lowest unemployment insurance rates available because they follow a consistently applied progressive discipline policy.
The employee knows company policies and standards, receives an oral reprimand for violations, receives a written reprimand, and then termination. The progression can be accelerated for certain violations like criminal, discriminatory, or harassment behaviors, for example, but such accelerated discipline must be clearly identified in your employee manual.
If you adopt a five-day probation period, you can still use a progressive discipline policy and it is highly recommended. Always follow the laws for your jurisdiction.
Why Set Them Free in 5 Days?
1. Set Them Free before They Damage Your Online Reputation
For example, a Cornell Hospitality Report titled, Hotel Performance Impact of Socially Engaging with Consumers (Anderson, 2016), re-confirmed an earlier study that hotel revenue is directly associated with TripAdvisor ratings. Better ratings equal increased revenues. Don’t wait until you get the disparaging reviews.
2. Set Them Free before They Cost You Thousands in Training
Hiring a new employee costs an average of $4,129 (Northon, 2016) to $7,645(Glassdoor Team, 2019). For example, the 2019 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2020) estimates an annualized employee turnover rate of 45.00% across all industries. If you operate an 11-person staff, a 45.00% turnover rate will cost you between $20,645 to $38,225 each year. Set them free in five days before you spend thousands on training an unworthy employee.
3. Set Them Free before They Cause Your Superstars to Leave
You probably already know that employees quit because of a bad boss. It’s generally considered one of the top reasons employees leave. In the same vein, employees leave when they are required to work with rude, unproductive, or bullying employees. Set the unworthy employee free in five days to keep your superstar employees from leaving.
4. Set Them Free Before It Becomes Problematic to Set Them Free
There are many ways terminating an employee can become problematic. Unemployment insurance liability may not go into effect until a certain number of days of employment. For example, in Illinois, an employer is not chargeable until the thirtieth day of employment. That means if you terminate the employee and they make an unemployment-insurance claim you can deny your chargeability based on the 30-day rule.
The longer the employee works the harder it can be to terminate an employee due to misplaced compassion and weak bench strength. Set them free in five days to avoid complications of time.
5. Is It Legal & Ethical to Set Them Free in Five Days?
Consult legal counsel in your jurisdiction to determine if this is legal, but in most cases, if you are not violating discrimination laws, it is legal.
Is it ethical? Let’s recognize that not all jobs are for all people. Hospitality jobs, for example, are especially rigorous. The hours, the guests, and the work are all demanding. It takes a special person.
Also, if the job is not a fit, neither the employee nor the employer is happy. Why should you or the employee prolong the dissatisfaction longer than five days? What is the point of waiting the 30, 60, or 90 days of the traditional probation periods?
You know they don’t fit. They know they don’t fit. It is a kindness to set them free to seek satisfying employment elsewhere.
Pro Tip: Implement a progressive discipline process for employee behavior issues and to inform the employee there is a performance problem and an opportunity for improvement. Typical steps include:
1. Verbal Counseling: Counsel the employee about a behavior issue and the company policy violated with a warning that continued inappropriate behavior may result in termination. This step is delivered verbally but you must document this discussion in the employee’s written record — date, time, and what was discussed. Some policies, like theft and safety violations, might trigger immediate termination if stated in the employee policy manual.
2. Written Reprimand: Discuss a twice repeated offense and document in a written form. The employee gets a copy.
3. Termination Reprimand: Deliver a final written reprimand for a thrice-repeated offense. The employee gets a copy.
Why Do Managers Hang on to Dead Weight?
There are two main reasons.
First, they don’t have any bench strength — no one waiting to fill that position. The solution is to be in a constant state of hiring. When a superstar walks in your door you better hire them — available position or not. Put their start date two weeks into the future. You’ll have an opening by then, I promise.
Second, the manager feels it’s an act of compassion to give the recruit a million chances. How’s that working for you? Set the trainee free in five days and take control of your position vacancies instead of frantically trying to fill holes left when they quit without notice.
In Summary…
You maximize your staff’s productivity by setting free an incompetent employee the first week.
First, your trainer can either get back to normal duties or start training a worthy candidate. The quicker you bring on the next candidate, the faster you can have a productive employee on the crew.
Second, your top performers won’t have to work with an incompetent employee for the next 90 days before you decide to terminate their employment, or they find another job and leave. Top performers will be dissatisfied working with slackers. You’ll lose your superstars over time if you don’t give them competent people to assist with the workload.
This sounds crazy on the surface — fire your new employee in five days if they are not a fit. It’s going to increase your turnover rate — unless you don’t include these false starts in your data. You could call these first five days a paid working interview if you have heartburn with high turnover rates.
Let’s face the facts, employees are not sticking around no matter what you do. You will see a dramatic decline in real turnover. The new employees that survive the first five days will stay longer and your top performers will be ecstatic that you are giving them productive co-workers who have their back.
Set the unworthy new hires free in five days and everyone will be glad you did.
Finally, you’ll drastically reduce the number of whiners, slackers, and people with too many personal obligations in your workforce. This will save you time, money, and headache later.
What’s Next?
- Consider a five-day probation period to save money, time, and energy.
- Change your mindset from firing to setting free — free to find employment more suited for their skills and temperament.
- Set new hires free quickly so your superstars don’t leave because they don’t want to work with slackers and pigs.
- Set new hires free quickly so they don’t ruin your online and community reputations.
References
Anderson, C. &. (2016). Hotel Performance Impact of Socially Engaging with Consumers. Cornell SC Johson College of Business. Ithaca: The Hotel School.
Glassdoor Team. (2019, July 5). How To Calculate Cost Per-Hire. Retrieved from Glassdoor for Employers: https://www.glassdoor.com/employers/blog/calculate-cost-per-hire/
Kermath, D. (2020, November 29). Recruit, Hire, & Retain Superstar Part-Time Employees: Little Known Ways Small Business Can Find, Employ, and Keep More Qualified, Competent, Motivated People. Amazon Kindle Edition. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08PB1C7JV
Northon, L. &. (2016, August 3). 2016 Human Capital Benchmarking Report. Retrieved from Society for Human Resource Management: https://www.shrm.org/about-shrm/press-room/press-releases/pages/human-capital-benchmarking-report.aspx
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2020, March 17). Economic News Release. Retrieved from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Web Site: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.t16.htm
