After the dismissal of FBI Director James Comey this week, I thought I’d share some timely tips on how not to fire someone:
- If you let someone go and it comes as a major shock to the employee, you’re doing it wrong. You should be letting employees know if they aren’t meeting expectations immediately. It doesn’t help you or the employee to let them believe they are doing a great job when they aren’t. Be sure to set clear, measurable goals with employees from the start, then it is clear to everyone if they aren’t meeting expectations.
- It’s like a breakup: if you’re emailing someone to let them know you’re ending it, then you’re doing it wrong. As unpleasant as it is, you really do need to fire employees in-person.
- If everyone in the company knows before the employee that they are getting fired, you’re doing it wrong. Let your employees go with dignity. Your team will respect you more for it.
Need a process for letting someone go? Read this.