Employees are critical to the success of your business. But sometimes problem employees cause more trouble than they are worth. In that case, the best decision is to move on.
There are many things to consider when firing problem employees. Here are 5 tips to get you started:
1. Have a Good Reason
Yes, many employees have “at-will” employment. That theoretically means they can be terminated for any reason or no reason at all. However, there are numerous employment discrimination laws that an employee may rely on to contest their termination. Thus, you should definitely have and identify a good reason for firing an employee before you do it.
For problem employees, this shouldn’t be too hard. Good reasons for letting someone go include poor work performance, attendance problems, bad attitude, misconduct, etc. Just make sure you know the answer to the question, “why did you fire me?” before you do it.
That being said, you don’t necessarily have to tell the employee every detail of the decision. Still, you should be prepared to make a general statement about your reasoning. And I mean something more than “it just isn’t working out.” Employees often interpret that vague assertion as a cover up for some improper basis. They may hear “you’re too old,” “we’re tired of accommodating your disability,” or “we really want a man for this job.” You should say enough to make it clear none of those is what you mean. Otherwise, you might find yourself responding to a discrimination complaint.
2. Don’t Leave Room for Debate
When you have made the decision to move on from an employee, tell them and move on. Some employees will refuse to accept the words “we’re letting you go.” They’ll try to debate your assessment of their performance, make excuses for their attendance issues, promise to do better, etc. It’s too late for any of that at this point.
You may find yourself using the exact words, “the decision is final.” That’s fine. Accept that most employees won’t like the decision. They will be emotional in some way. This is not the time to try to have a back-and-forth conversation. Tell them what they need to know–“don’t come back tomorrow,” “we’ll pack up your stuff and deliver it to your home,” “here’s your final pay check”– and send them on their way.
You aren’t being heartless here. You’re trying to end a difficult situation as smoothly as possible. You can and should let them know whom to contact if they have questions. But give them some time to process the news before they ask those questions. “Call tomorrow.” “Call next week.”
3. Cut Off Their Access
Most people, even problem employees, are generally trustworthy. They’re probably not going to try to sabotage your business just because you fired them. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take precautions.
In the termination meeting, you are obviously going to ask for keys, ID cards, access badges, etc. If possible, you want those immediately. If they’re back at the employee’s desk or at home, then you need to address that. Have a checklist. Get everything back as soon as possible. If necessary under the circumstances, you may even have to change some locks.
These days many employees also have electronic access to various company systems. Log-ins, passwords, email, etc. The best practice in most situations is to have someone cut off the employee’s access while they are being told of their termination. That way the employee can’t leave the meeting and still get into company email or documents from his smartphone or laptop from his car, home, etc.
4. Preserve Their Computer
If the employee had a portable company computer, you’ll obviously be wanting that back immediately. Ideally, that would be before they walk out the building. But if it’s at home, then the employee will potentially have the opportunity to access it before returning it. Either way, you should consider whether there may be something on the computer that should be preserved exactly as it was upon return to the company.
You should ask the same question for an employee’s desktop computer in the office. Could it ever be relevant what they did on the computer? Might it support the reasons for their termination? Have they been copying company information to use against you? Or even just are there documents that they have been working on that you’ll need to pick up where they left off?
If there is any reasonable chance that they employee’s computer contents could be critical in some way going forward, you might want to have the hard drive forensically imaged (i.e., perfectly copied). This will preserve the computer exactly as the employee left it. Then you can still use the equipment and the data on it as necessary for the business. But if anything comes up down the road, you can use the backup copy to prove what the employee was doing.
5. Move On from Problem Employees
If there are lessons to learn from the situation that didn’t work out, then learn them. Should you restructure the position? Was the hiring process defective? Do you need to provide more training up front? Could the supervisor(s) be more effective?
At the same time, it could just be the person who didn’t work out. Don’t project their failings on the next person in the job. Also, don’t reduce your standards. Just because the new person is better than the last person (who clearly wasn’t good enough), that doesn’t mean that the new person is meeting your standards.
The next person might not work out either. Once you have had to fire one person in a position, use the experience to know what to look for in the next employee. Start monitoring those things earlier, provide additional training and supervision where warranted, document deficiencies, and make the difficult decision sooner if necessary. Eventually you will find the right person.