Ethical & Courageous Firing

1. Ethical & Courageous Firing Reference: The Management Bible By Bob Nelson & Peter Economy Firing Employees.ppt

2. WHY TERMINATE YOUR EMPLOYEES? Sometimes an employee does something that requires immediate termination. Intolerable offenses include: verbal abuse, incompetence, repeated unexcused tardiness, insubordination, physical violence, theft, intoxication on the job, and falsification of records.

3. Intolerable Offenses

4. Verbal Abuse No employee should have to tolerate abuse at work. “Cursing, repeated verbal harassment, malicious insults, and similar behaviors are not acceptable, and after giving fair warning, you are free to fire employees who engage in this behavior. Not only that, but if you don’t take action by firing a repeat abuser, you could be personally sued for allowing this behavior to go on.” (p. 252)

5. Incompetence Tribal members deserve to be served by competent staff. “Not every employee is competent at his or her job…If your employees still can’t perform their duties at an acceptable level of competence—even after repeated attempts on your part to help bring their skills up to par—you are certainly justified in firing them.” (pp. 252-253)

6. Repeated Unexcused Tardiness Employee schedules are designed to ensure that customers are served during agreed-upon times and vital services are always available. “Late employees upset these schedules, interfering with the organization’s ability to get work done. If employees continue to be late to work—after being warned that further late arrivals will put their jobs in jeopardy—then termination is the right solution.” (p. 253)

7. Insubordination This is when an employee flat out refuses to do the work assigned to them. “This is grounds for immediate termination without warning.” (p. 253)

8. Physical Violence No one should have to tolerate violence and physical violence just to come to work. “Not only do employees have the right to a safe workplace; employers have the duty to provide it..” (p. 253)

9. Theft Employees caught stealing—whether company property, or the property of clients or coworkers—can be terminated immediately and without warning.” (p. 253) Think about this – a person taking home a computer or office supplies from Head Start is stealing from resources meant for our children. It just cannot be tolerated.

10. Intoxication on the Job Being drunk or under the influence of drugs on the job is sufficient grounds for immediate termination. Many companies take a more compassionate route, however, offering their employees the option of undergoing counseling with an employee assistance program or enrolling in a program such as Alcoholics Anonymous instead of being terminated.” (p. 253)

11. Falsification of Records Falsifying records—providing fraudulent information during the hiring process (fake schools, degrees, previous jobs, etc.) or …during the course of employment (fake expense reports, falsified timecards, cheating on examinations, etc.)—is also grounds for immediate dismissal.” (pp. 253-254) Let’s call this what it is – lying. Lying in the work place should not be tolerated. It really is that simple.

12. Reasons Some Avoid the Inevitable “Terminating an employee is not fun and few managers enjoy it. Regardless, it can be helpful to remember this old saying: Hire slow, fire quick. When you’ve got a serious employee problem that can’t be resolved, then don’t hesitate to terminate the employee as soon as it becomes clear that that is the best alternative.” (p. 254) Common reasons why managers might avoid terminating an employee include: fear of the unknown, emotional involvement, and possibility of legal action.

13. Fear of the Unknown ” …If you fire someone, you will need a replacement. Who will that be? How is your employee going to react when you fire him/her?

14. Emotional Involvement …Sometimes you might have to fire a friend or relative. It is bad enough to have to fire anyone, but if it is someone you know, maybe even like, ouch! That’s 100 times worse.

15. Possibility of Legal Action …The fear a fired employee will come back and sue can cause a manager to freeze up when it comes to terminating someone. This is a very real threat. That is why, before you fire someone, you should document why. Justify why. That is why your write formal reprimands and performance evaluations and put those documents in an employee’s job file. That is your proof the employee hasn’t been performing competently.

16. Firing Humanely

17. Give Employees the “Benefit of a Doubt” Be sure to give an employee a chance to bring his or her performance up to standards before firing them. “If you’re firing an employee because of an intolerable offense such as stealing or insubordination, be absolutely certain that the employee did what he or she is accused of doing” (p. 258).

18. Make it Clear When Expectations Are Not Being Met Discuss minor problems with employees and how to fix those problems, before they turn into major problems. Be sure you document these discussions in writing; this clarifies your position, the employee’s position, reinforces what must be done to correct the problem, and provides evidence that there was a problem and you have given fair warning to the employee about the problem—should termination become necessary.

19. Act Quickly to Dismiss Once you have determined an employee just isn’t working out, you need to fire that employee immediately. If you’ve given them a chance to improve and they just aren’t, then the sooner you deal with the situation, the better. You can be gracious and say something like, “I thought things would work out, but they haven’t and we’re going to have to let you go” (p. 259).

20. Making Your Termination Stick Be darn sure that before you terminate an employee, you have documented the reasons why. If you fire an employee without just cause, they can come back and sue for wrongful termination. So, before you fire a worker, make sure of the following:

21. Documentation When it comes to terminating an employee, document, document, and then document some more. If the employee is being terminated because of performance shortcomings, you had better have the performance data to back up your assertions. If you’re firing an employee for falling asleep on the job, then you had better have proof that this particular employee intentionally meant to bed down during his or her shift. Believe us: You can never have too much documentation.” (p. 259)

22. Fair Warning Be sure before you fire a worker that you have made it clear to them they are performing under par (substandard work). They must have fair warning that their performance needs to improve, or else, they will be fired. Except in the case of an intolerable offense, you must put an employee on notice, give them time to turn their performance around, and only fire them after a period of time when it is obvious they will not adequately improve their performance to meet company standards.

23. Fair Warning (Cont.ed) All this must be clearly communicated: (a) what you expect, (b) how the worker is falling short of your expectations, (c) how the worker can bring their performance up to your expectations, (d) how much time the worker has to do this, and (e) that if he/she doesn’t improve, the consequence is to be fired.

24. Response Time Make sure you give your employees enough time to correct a problem before firing them.

25. Reasonableness Make sure your termination policies are reasonable and fair. Be sure performance standards are achievable. “The test here is whether or not you have set the bar so high that no one could achieve it” (p. 260).

26. Avenues for Appeal “In the United States, our basic sense of fairness requires that terminated employees have some avenue available to present their side of the story to higher management. On some occasions, direct managers or supervisors really do ‘have it out’ for employees, or they are too emotionally involved. This can cause errors in judgment that a higher up will quickly see and have the opportunity to correct.” (p. 260)

27. Terminating inThree Steps “Employees are ultimately responsible for their performance and behavior, not you.” (p. 260)   When firing an employee, keep two key goals in mind: employees deserve a clear explanation for the firing, and employees deserve to have their dignity respected. Many wrongful termination lawsuits are fired just because the employee wants to know why they were terminated. So tell them before you are sued, not after. Firing should occur in a private meeting in an office with at least one witness, preferably a witness that is the same gender as the employee being fired. There are three steps to the process:

28. Step 1 “Tell the employee that he or she is being terminated. Don’t beat around the bush; tell your employee that he or she is fired. Firmly tell the employee that the decision is final and not subject to appeal. In most cases, the announcement should come as no surprise because he or she has already been put on notice for performance or behavioral shortcomings.” (p. 261)

29. Step 2 “Explain exactly why the employee is being terminated. If the firing is the result of misconduct, describe the policy that was broken and what the employee did to break it. If the firing is due to a failure to meet performance standards, remind the employee of past counselings and attempts to correct his or her performance and the subsequent incidents that led to the decision to fire. Stick to the facts.” (p. 261)

30. Step 3 Announce the effective date of the termination and provide details on the termination process. A firing is normally effective on the day that you conduct your termination meeting. Keeping a fired employee around is awkward for both you and your employee and should be avoided at all costs. Now is the time to describe termination benefits, if any, and to make arrangements for gathering personal effects from the employee’s workspace. Run through the termination paperwork with the employee and explain the handling of final wages due.” (pp. 261-262)

31. Persevere Going through the process of firing someone is not fun. You definitely do not want to repeat the experience, if you don’t have to. So don’t hire the person back once they are fired. Persevere in your decision, and be more careful about who you choose to hire in the first place, in the future. It is within our power to be good managers, so let’s get to it.

32. Full Reference: Nelson, B. & Economy, P. (2005). The Management Bible: Including interviews, case studies, worksheets, and cutting-edge techniques. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. THANK YOU!