Breaking Up is Hard to Do – Tips for Termination
Most folks have experienced the difficulty of breaking off a relationship. It can be an emotionally, mentally, and physically taxing experience. Though we often don't think about it in a work context, ending relationships in a work environment can be very difficult, both for individuals as well as the culture of your organization. Like in the non-work related aspects of our lives, ending a relationship may be the right move for a variety of reasons, but that doesn't lessen the impact.
One of the areas where we have helped clients in the past is termination. Many times this is one of the most difficult and stressful areas your organization handles on a regular basis, and it is a good idea for a whole host of reasons to get it right. So if it is time for termination, here are some helpful tips:
Preparation: though a big explosion will happen sometimes, most likely a potential termination has been on the horizon for a little while and at least a few people see it as justified. To keep yourself protected from legal action, make sure you have plenty of documentation. Formally, this looks like progressive discipline, discussions about performance measures and objectives, and anything pertaining to problems at work. Also, if you are thinking about letting someone go, keep any kind of written exchange between them. If you have an HR or legal professional on staff, make sure they are kept in the loop and on the look out for any potential problems. Other variables to consider are whether the employee has protected status (such as race or disability) or whether your company is in a right-to-work state.
Termination Letter: the termination letter should be concise, clear, and fact-oriented. There is no need to get into a tit-for-tat with the employee in the letter – simply state the fact of the termination, lay out a short version of your argument for termination (including relevant conversations, instances of insubordination, etc), and conclude with a brief 'thanks for you work, best in the future' section. The letter can be a useful hedge for protecting yourself. Enclosed with the termination letter should be a termination agreement, which lays out pertinent information (such as non-compete clauses, defamation agreements, and severance) as well as a COBRA benefits form for the short-term continuation of medical benefits (if that is part of the agreement). Individual states have other requirements for termination, so be sure to check your state's DOL information to assure compliance.
Communicate: removal of a staff member, regardless of location and responsibilities, can have a big affect on the rest of your employees. It is critically important to communicate frequently and effectively when terminating someone: your direct superiors should know before hand what you are thinking so they are not caught off guard (especially important if the soon-to-be terminated employee is a director, manager, or someone else who oversees other employees or who holds important responsibilities) as well as your friends in HR for proper documentation and compliance. It will be important to communicate with all the rest of the members of the staff, as well as any teams on which the person was working. Our people don't need to know the nitty-gritty about what all went on (in fact, you're prohibited by law from sharing confidential work information), but it will have an impact on morale and performance to simply see someone get fired and have no clue what it was all about, so make sure to address what happened and move on.
Move Forward: sometimes the decision to terminate is so clear cut and obvious that little else needs to be said about it. Other times, the details are far more murky and complex. Either way, once you have prepared, consulted with key constituencies, prepared thoroughly, and proceeded with the termination, there is no time to look back. It is not beneficial to get into detailed conversations about what happened or how the other person sees it differently. You have said your peace, and my guess is the terminated employee has said his/hers. It is time to move on and leave it in the past. Easier said than done, I know—but closure is a critical step and should not be bypassed.
Hopefully these tips will help you when you must deal with termination. I have had a number of responsibilities out of town the last two weeks, so I apologize for not having a blog up as regularly as I normally do. We're back on schedule, so check back in for more helpful ideas next week!
--Tyler