You
don't need to be an legal expert. Fool-proof firing
employees procedure.
At any given time during a business day, throughout
the United States employers are calling wayward employees
into their office to give them the ax, the heave hoe,
the old pink slip. What leads up to employment termination
can vary from company to company and scenario to scenario.
As a business owner or human resource personnel, you
must find your threshold then decide a course of action
for what some believe to be the “hardest” part
of the job—firing the unwanted employee.
Finding the right time and method of breaking the news
to the employee, who may be underperforming, presents
the most difficult obstacle. Many business owners put
off the inevitable by fantasizing the employee will get
better with time, or the reprimands and written notices
will eventually do their job and the message will get
through. But how long is too long to wait? Can you immediately
replace an employee who constantly underperforms? Would
the new blood in the work environment help speed up production,
help uplift the morale of the entire business? Maybe
so, and maybe not.
Employment Termination Missteps and Obstacles
Before bringing in the employee to your office, jot
down a few notes to think about why you should terminate
the employee. By answering a few questions, you can develop
a decisive, short speech to give the employee, which
will help relieve any turmoil afterwards and give insight
into why you are terminating them.
* What problems has the employee caused?
* Are there specific policies the employee has broken?
* Have you warned the employee?
* Have you taken other measures to bring back the employee
within good standing?
* Are there legal considerations to keep in mind?
This last question brings to mind why it is crucial
to have certain actions thought out before bringing in
the employee. Employers do not want to leave any doubt
about why they are firing an employee. Do not let the
imagination of the terminated employee run wild with
discrimination lawsuit ideas. Be concise and direct about
the missteps of the employee and the employment termination
proceedings will be over within moments. Most terminations
do not end in long-drawn-out conversations, but guarded
goodbyes, but be prepared for pleas and some shameful
comments.
Many different companies handle employment termination
in various ways, even by emails and text messages recently.
We recommend face-to-face encounters, where the employee
can leave with the respect of the company for having
the nerve to tell him or her in person. If nothing else,
it will keep your company out of the headlines and where
it should be headed, towards success.
More
on how firing employees can be made easy
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