How to Fire Your Employee and Make Sure They Leave With Their Head Held High
Their self-worth will be shattered after hearing the words. Make sure they leave with their dignity intact.
Typically, I enjoy writing feel-good leadership articles. But leadership isn’t always about the fun parts, especially when it comes to firing an employee or letting someone go. And not going to lie, firing an employee can be one of the most difficult tasks a manager has to do.
Firing an employee doesn’t have to be more painful than it has to be. Yet many managers find themselves in the awkward position of firing someone without having adequate training or knowledge to do so.
The task of firing someone can be incredibly daunting, especially to first-time managers. Throughout my career, this has been one of the top questions I get from new managers when they seek advice:
How do I soften the blow?
I feel like I’m failing them.
What if they can’t get a job?
Will they hate me?
The company I worked for had a huge number of employees and turnover was typical. When I became a new manager, it was one of my job responsibilities to let people go. I remember being a nervous sweat when I fired my first employee.
With time, I got better and more practiced in my approach when letting people go.
In one particular assignment, I had found out that my unit business leader told a few of my peers that he preferred that I was given assignments to fire people because the employees always left the room smiling instead of being sad. To this day, I didn’t know if I was supposed to be flattered by that comment.
Being fired can be a humiliating experience for many. As a practitioner of empathetic leadership, I wanted to make sure every fired employee left the room as optimistic and confident of themselves as possible. I didn’t see termination meetings as a hindrance, but a positive opportunity for both sides and I sought to present it as such.
It’s important to ensure that both parties, company, and employee, not burn bridges. If you have a heart, you’ll be pained to fire the employee. But firing the employee in an appropriate and structured manner will help keep their dignity intact. I saw it as a win for both sides if they left the room with their head held high.
Here’s how you can do that:
Be ready.
Have all of the information, evidence, and reasons why you’re letting them go. There could be a variety of reasons why you’re firing the person. It could be performance or budget-related. Whatever the reason, have all of the information ready before the meeting.
By having all of the information ready, you can present the facts and evidence and commit. You can avoid long discussions, rebuttals, and debates by being prepared.
Apologize.
Apologize for the situation that you both find yourselves in, but don’t apologize for firing the person.
KISS. Keep it short & simple.
Don’t torture the former employee by awkwardly dragging out the conversation during the firing process.
Get straight to the point quickly and explain why they’re being let go. Don’t say any more than you have to and stick to the script if you prepared beforehand.
Empathize.
Don’t be condescending, gloating, or punishing in your meeting.
Let them know that you still care about the employee and it wasn’t easy coming to the decision.
If the employee decides to vent after soaking in the news, let them talk. Listen. Nod your head to let them know you hear them and react accordingly.
Be committed.
Don’t waver in your decision to fire the person during the conversation. It wouldn’t be fair to the former employee to deceive them into thinking there is a chance they wouldn’t be fired.
If you or your HR team did your homework, detailed the reasoning on why you’re letting the person go, you need to see it all the way through.
Thank them.
Let the former employee know that you appreciated their work and time while at your company.
Regardless of the reasons why the company is firing the employee, you want to let them know that they were their contributions were valued and important.
Wish them luck.
Wishing the former employee luck will let them know that the journey doesn’t end with them being fired.
Tell the former employee good luck with their future job search.
Offer yourself as a future referral.
They may be former employees, but they’re still human. Being fired can be a depressing experience and impact feelings of self-worth for the person.
Let the person that you’re firing know that despite not working together anymore, you can support them further by offering yourself as a referral.
The former employee could feel sad or upset after being let go, so by making yourself available to help them get their next job can help alleviate any hard feelings.
Walk them out.
Sometimes, the employee can go through a myriad of emotions after being fired.
To help contain the emotions, it’s best to keep the meeting private and their departure quick. A fired employee can end up crying in front of others if left to linger.
It’s best to have these sorts of meetings at the end of the week and the end of the day. This will help ensure everything looks normal for when the fired employee leaves with everyone else.
No discussion with others.
Ask the fired employee to leave the premises and not to loiter. Ask the fired employee to also not discuss it with anyone.
This will help you and your company manage the narrative better. A former employee could end up negatively impacting your team’s morale if they stick around and vent their frustrations to the team.
Announcing it with your team.
Let your team know that the former employee and the company are no longer working together. The team doesn’t need to know the specifics, but let the team know that the work will continue on without the person.
Ensure that the former employee’s workload is moved either to new employees or redistributed amongst the team evenly.
If you don’t address it publicly, your team will notice the employee is gone. Rumors could spread and hinder your team’s duties and hurt morale.
Example: What to say while firing someone.
Here’s an example of how a meeting can go with an employee you plan on firing:
“Hello [Employee Name], thanks for giving me your time. Please have a seat. I’ll keep this short. It wasn’t an easy decision, but we have decided that we are going to have to let you go. I’m sorry it has come to this, but as we discussed in our last meeting, you haven’t been able to meet the expectations of the job…
Please know that we absolutely valued your contributions here. Thank you so much for your service. If you need a letter of referral in your job search, please feel free to give them my contact information. I’d be glad to help…
If you could do me a favor and collect all of your stuff, leave as soon as you’re done. Try not to talk to anyone about this on your way out as we want the team to be focused on their tasks. Again, thank you, and good luck in your future endeavors. Let me help you collect your stuff and walk you out. It’s company policy.”
Firing an employee is never easy for both parties. But in the grand scheme of things, most companies that sever ties with employees are doing what’s best for their business and the former employee. It’s about what’s right for both parties.
For the former employee, it can be an embarrassing situation for them to find themselves in. Setting the proper structure and timing of the meeting to fire employees can have a huge impact on ensuring the fired employee leaves with their dignity intact.
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