Firing: The Best Way to Let Your Employees Go and How You Can Avoid the Same Situation in the Future
2022/01/24
The words “you’re fired” spark a lot of emotion, but in some unfortunate circumstances, they’re necessary to say or hear.
In today’s episode, co-hosts Richard Lindner and Jeff Mask talk about best practices when it comes to delivering termination news. Most leaders have faced—or will face—that moment of truth when they have to let someone go. There’s a right way and a wrong way to fire people, Richard and Jeff believe, and they want to give you the script.
Listen in for some super practical advice on firing someone the right way and tips for preventing it in the first place.
The Script
They start off with the script right away, then work backward. Here’s what you say in 30 seconds or less. If you handle things right from the very beginning, this is how easy it can be to fire someone. If you’ve led with clarity, if everybody knew what was required/expected, there shouldn’t be surprises. Having a script memorized is key so you don’t freeze up under pressure.
The script: “Hey, Jeff. Thanks for joining me. Listen, the decision has been made that this will be your last day with the company. I’m sure this is not what you wanted to hear, but I’m also sure it’s not a total surprise. While I know this isn’t how you wanted it to end, I’m sure there is some relief as well. I have this HR person with me. They’re going to walk you through what’s next with benefits and any remaining pay and returning equipment and next steps. I’m sorry it turned out this way. It’s not what any of us hoped for. I wish you luck and let me know if there’s anything I can do for you.”
It may seem short, even cold, but when you hear the process leading up to it, you’ll see why this is all that’s needed.
Avoid Surprises by Creating Clarity from the Beginning
Once upon a time, Richard sent Jeff a text saying, “I’ve let people go in the past, and I want to do it better.” He had a situation that raised his spidey-sense, and he wanted to address it before it got bad. He says he had a rare moment of intuition, of realization before reaction. He and Jeff chatted on the phone and it went great.
He says that was the day he chose to lead differently, to avoid surprises, to create crystal clarity from the beginning so people know where they stand at any given moment for any given goal in any given role. Jeff shared what he had done, and Richard tweaked it to fit his business. They co-created a collaborative version of how to walk people through a plan, the https://scalable.co/library/how-to-fire-someone-with-fairness-and-dignity/ (Performance Improvement Flowchart).
You’ve hired someone and things are going well, until something goes wrong, a triggering event. When you make the decision to fire someone, there has typically been a series of things that went wrong. Did you brush those under the rug, or did you address them as they came up? Something going wrong is an opportunity to have an alignment conversation. (You don’t need a flowchart for immediately-terminable offenses like assault or harassment.)
Let’s say something happened. Who’s responsible? Let’s say Jeff is responsible. Richard leads Jeff, so he has a conversation with him and leads with curiosity. “Hey, Jeff. Let’s grab some time to chat. I want to talk about this. Is this something you feel you’re responsible for?” The goal is to leave the conversation with clarity about responsibilities. Richard ends with: “Do you have any questions? Do you need anything?”
What Happens After the Conversation
After the conversation, Richard sends Jeff a simple follow-up email so they have a document to refer to. The motive of the email is not bureaucracy (protecting against lawsuits); it’s clarity, getting on the same page. “Here’s what we talked about. So glad we’re on the same page.”
Richard is a big fan of the book, Extreme Ownership. If this is the first time, the leader can take the...
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