Staffing for Success

Tips on hiring - and firing - employees

The Flip Side: Firing

You can do everything right, but sometimes the person you hired turns out to be completely different than what was anticipated. Now comes the tricky part – having to fire a new or semi-new employee. According to a study performed by Leadership IQ, a leadership training and research company, lack of motivation and interpersonal skills are the top reasons many new hires don’t succeed.

For the most part, the need to fire an employee typically develops over time. There are usually warning signs or several separate incidents that cause concern. Sometimes, any one or two of those occurrences could be overlooked without much consequence. However, in order to protect yourself and your company, it’s best to take a proactive approach to poor performance as soon as you become aware of it.

As an employer, you should provide your employee with feedback and assistance throughout their employment. If your worker is starting to slack off with his or her duties and seems to be less motivated, make sure you explain the potential consequences of poor performance. Providing guidance and a helping hand to your employee early on might snap them out of their bad work habits and make them realize that they need to step up or they could possibly be fired. If they know what areas they need to work on, then they can start to change whatever they’re doing wrong. Occasionally, people really don’t know that their behavior is not meeting the expectation.

However, if nothing improves, then you’re the one who needs to make some changes. If your employee doesn’t seem to be progressing or if they’re doing something detrimental to your company or your other workers, then that employee needs to see serious consequences, especially before other employees fall prey to the negative influence.

The act of firing an employee is one of the most difficult duties of a business owner, but it is often essential. Fortunately, there are things you can do to make the act of firing as painless – for both you and the employee – as possible. The most important of which is to fire them as quickly as possible once you realize it isn’t a good match. Dao contends that it only makes the situation worse to drag out an unavoidable dismissal. “If firings/layoffs are in the works, a manager should do it quickly, so the staff isn’t sitting around in limbo,” he says.

Remember to avoid any discriminatory or damaging statements during the release. You don’t want to end up in court because you accidentally said the wrong thing when you were firing someone. An effective way to avoid having your remarks misconstrued is to keep your comments direct and brief. It’s also an excellent idea to have another manager or trusted colleague present to avoid a “he said, she said” scenario.

Finally, steer clear from engaging in an argument or a sympathetic discussion with your employee while you’re firing him or her. If the employee tries to start a fight or becomes emotional and requests more information, do not try to justify your decision. Remain professional, and simply tell the employee things are not working. Even if you attempt to comfort or affirm them, you send a mixed message that could come back to bite you.

Hiring and firing employees in the door industry – as in any industry – are two difficult, yet necessary, actions. But by following these tips and using your own judgment and experience, you can help both dealings to go as smoothly as possible.

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