Five Steps For Firing

Firing employees is never easy. What steps do you take before firing someone? According to a recent article from CBS.com‘s Suzanne Lucas, there are five steps you must do before firing. Before sitting down with the employee, consider these steps.

1. See if there is a better fit elsewhere within the company.

2. Approve the termination all the way up.

3. Get consensus sideways.

4. Consider how this is going to impact your whole team.

5. Dot all your i’s and cross all your t’s.

Just because an employee isn’t the right fit in your department does not mean that the employee is an ill-fit for the organization. Before firing the person, check around and see if the employee would be a good fit in another department. Also, before firing, go to the top to affirm your decision. Unless you own the company, there are other opinions that matter. If you have a boss, be sure to clear the termination with him or her.

Employees often have ties in departments other than yours. Talk to these other department heads and get some feedback about the employee’s performance from their perspective. Terminating one of your employees can effect other departments and their productivity. Do you need to find a replacement to fill the the terminated employees’ shoes in multiple departments?

How is terminating this employee going to effect the whole team? Take the team’s perspective into account when firing an employee. Just because you see the problem doesn’t mean everyone else does, so be sure to explain and help re-distribute the workload. Also, be sure that you follow company policy when firing an employee, or it could be YOU who’s out of work. These guidelines are in place to protect you and the organization.

Check and double check with HR to make sure you’re following internal procedures and that all employees are treated similarly. HR needs to sign off as well. It’s their job to protect the company.

Keeping your eye open for problems before they occur can keep things sailing at a smooth pace. Firing an employee is never going to be easy or fun, but following the five steps above can make things a little less difficult. Click here to read more about what to do before firing an employee within your organization.

 

 

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