Terminating an employee is never easy. The discussion is a no-win situation for everyone involved. If you are the supervisor who is informing the employee of their termination, you never feel good about it. Because of this, it is important to prepare properly for the meeting with the employee to make sure things go smoothly. Here’s what to do.
1. Follow the rules
Terminating someone should only come after a process of helping the employee to improve or change. The employee has been notified about their poor performance, and they have received training and other help to enable improvement, targets and timelines have been set up to measure performance. Furthermore, there has been feedback and you have followed up throughout the process. And all of this has been documented. If, after all of this, the performance has not changed, termination becomes the only solution. You want your employee to succeed, so going through the process and doing everything you can to make it work will make the termination discussion much easier since you won’t be blindsiding the employee.
2. Get prepared for the termination meeting
You need to know how the exit process will unfold – how will the person return company property and collect personal items, what about their benefits, when will they get their last paycheck? You should have the answers to all of these questions before you meet.
If you need to bring in someone else to help you out, such as an HR rep, plan in advance so the rep will be at the meeting to explain things. Don’t make the employee wait while you fumble around trying to find information. They are probably embarrassed about the situation, and you don’t want to draw it out longer than necessary.
3. Have a witness
You need to have a third party at the meeting to witness the event to protect you and the company from accusations the employee may make later. The human resources department is a great place to start with that third party to the meeting. They handle these situations all of the time, and it’s traditionally in their duties to assist with the situation.
4. Prepare your speech
Know in advance exactly what you are going to say, and make it short and sweet – “I’m sorry, but we are going to have to let you go.” You don’t have to explain – if you have gone through the performance review process, the employee already knows the reasons for the termination all too well.
Resist the temptation to continue talking. It only makes things messier and more awkward. If the employee argues, don’t get sucked in. Tell him you will listen, but it will not change anything.
Wish the person well and shake hands. End of meeting.
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