The right way to fire someone
By Rebecca Martin | smh.com.au | 23 February
Lyn Mason* is a seasoned manager but the first time she had to sack someone she threw up three times.
"It was awful," says Mason, who has worked in managerial and HR roles for both the private and public sectors. "I was so nervous. [The sacking] was for poor performance. But when you work with someone, you get to know them. I knew her partner and had been to her home."
Despite the nerves, and plenty of tears from both Mason and the unfortunate employee, the meeting went well. "We ended up having a big chat," Mason says.
"I said I would support her and help her as much as I could and that everyone has a niche, she just had to find hers. She is doing amazingly well now. She went overseas travelling, hit London and never came back. One door closes and another one opens."
Sacking someone or showing them the door is one of the most difficult jobs a manager has to do. Poor performance, organisational change or misconduct such as stealing or fraud are three typical reasons why an employee might be let go, with redundancies due to organisational churn the most common. It's an unsavoury job that many managers don't often get right, according to Australian Human Resources Institute national president Peter Wilson. "Termination interviews are recognised as an area that is handled badly," he says. "It takes a skilled hand to reflect the compassion, sensitivity and professionalism required. A lot of people don't want to do it.
"They want to get the discussion over quickly and get on with their job," he says. "They don't like saying, 'You're fired' to people. They do it quickly and it's very hurtful to the person who is hearing that their job is gone. You have to give people time to grieve for the news."
General advice on sacking someone starts with doing it yourself. Don't leave it to HR to break the news. Do it in person and not by text, phone or email. You should explain clearly to the employee why they are being fired. Give them the option to leave immediately and take pay in lieu. And do it lawfully.
"There was someone I know who had a heart attack and went to hospital," Mason says. "Then the company he worked for said he didn't have a job. It was dumb, really, really dumb. [Employment] is a relationship. You have to consider both parties. Industrial relations is not difficult if you are honest with people."
Julie Cogin, a lecturer in organisational change at the Australian School of Business, says sackings for poor performance are the most likely to be badly handled. "The worst is when they haven't been given any feedback," Cogin says. "They have gone through the review process and got three stars out of five. Nobody has had the face-to-face conversation about performance. [Suddenly] at 4pm on a Friday, they are called in and told to give over their phone and laptop and take severance pay. Their self-esteem is wrapped up in the job. It's unfair. The manager has a responsibility to give feedback. [Being fired] should never come as a surprise."
Even if they deserve it, firing someone is hard, says David Williams, managing director of talent management group Kurtis Paige Initiatives. After catching an employee embezzling, he says he found no joy in showing him the door. "My point of view was that [the employee] had hurt the reputation of the company and therefore its work colleagues. He had let them down. [But] if you find confidence or happiness in sacking someone, it's time to get out."
Williams says redundancies can be the most heart-wrenching, even though the employee is usually entitled to redundancy pay.
He advises giving as much advance warning as possible that redundancies are imminent and have counsellors on hand for the fall-out. "Of one group of people [made redundant], three of the employees had partners that were still working at the business," Williams says.
"We had to manage the reaction of the individuals that we were making redundant and also their partner who had to [keep coming to work]. It was really tough. We had counsellors there who were better equipped to deal with the [emotional aspects]."
Having counsellors is not always enough. Williams says that, during one round of redundancies, emergency services had to be called to attend to one employee found in the foetal position in the board room after receiving the bad news. Cogin says, hard as it can be to sack someone, not doing it or not following due process can be just as detrimental. "[We see cases] where people effectively demote someone, then impose someone above them to micro-manage and force them to resign. Often managers don't have the courage to fire someone.
"If you overlook poor performers, the performance of the stars will deteriorate as they are working hard to meet objectives."
And while it's a manager's responsibility to be considerate to the sacked employee, it also pays to look after your own welfare, Mason says. "The hardest sacking I ever did was of someone with a lot of emotional issues," she says. "He wasn't terribly rational. It is difficult when someone is distressed and screams obscenities and threats. So I had a couple of people outside the door just in case. But it never happened."
* Not her real name.
Help for when it hurts
It's hard to sack someone but it's often harder to be sacked. Annemarie Cross, of executive coaching company Advanced Employment Concepts, says several strategies can help:
Be prepared for emotional pain "Expect a rollercoaster ride. It's common for people to go through the whole grieving process. Men, in particular, can experience a lot of emotions they may not be familiar with. That's quite normal."
Speak to someone neutral about what's happened "Family members can often be going through the same [feelings] as you. An impartial viewpoint, such as from a counsellor or coach, can help."
Consider the reasons for your sacking "Take a step back and consider whether there's an area where you could undergo some professional development. It's always good to turn a negative into a positive."
Look at what you achieved on the job "People need to recognise their strengths. Look at some of the successes you had and what you will bring to your next job."
First published by Smh.com.au on February 23 2008
Visit smh.com.au for the latest news updated throughout the day
