For the record, I don’t watch the news or follow politics. We cut out cable in our home a couple of years back, and it’s been the best things ever. Any news that I get are from people in passing or the occasional Facebook post.
With that being said, I recently read an article on Mr. Comey getting fired yesterday. What stuck out to me was how he was fired. Regardless of the backstory, it inspired me to write this article.
I love creating employee first-day experiences, but what about their last? How do you fire someone the right way? Anyone you hire or has worked with you for any amount of time has indeed spent time that they aren’t going to get back. Regardless of the separation, take the high road and let them go in the most respectful way possible. Showing grace in termination will go a long way.
1. Know WHY you are letting them go and stick to it. If it’s performance, not being a culture fit, layoffs, or a human relations issue, know why you are letting them go and stick to it. Don’t add unnecessary, un-rectifiable, or irrelevant details to the why. This makes things messier and could end in a lot of back and forth. Keep it simple and to the point.
2. Give them time to digest. In the past, most of the terminations I’ve had to do took anywhere from 45-mins to an hour and 30 mins. People need time to digest and its best to give them the time to empty out. They just lost their job (without seeing it coming). Set aside enough time for them to digest what is happening.
3. Have a witness. It doesn't matter if you do it by phone or in person, have someone with you as a witness to the interactions. Let this person know they are there as an observer only and should not be expected to answer any questions or explanation for the termination.
4. Do it privately. There is nothing more embarrassing, demeaning or disrespectful than being fired in front of everyone. It’s also very unprofessional. You can let your team know after the fact with a simple message that might say “so and so doesn’t work here anymore, happy to share more details if you have any concerns, but the overall termination was in regards to performance.” Then, use this moment to remind the team of the mission, values and any other themes that support humanity in the workplace.
5. Give them options. If you have ever been fired, you start to feel as if things are unraveling right before your eyes. You feel your sense of "control" is being taken away from you without warning and there is not much you can do about it. Give them a few options such as: "You can leave now or at the end of the day, you can sign the release papers now or wait until you have digested everything, you can pack up your things now, or we can mail them to you." This will help them process from a more rational state while allowing them to feel they have some "control" over what is happening.
Lastly, people get fired all the time for many different reasons. How you let them go is what will show your humanity to the culture. Again, grace is the goal when letting someone go.
Charisse Fontes is the founder of Culture Circle and an Executive + People Ops Advisor to founders and leadership teams.
more about Culture Circle →first published on linkedin, may 2017_
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