Over the course of the past few months it became clear that one of our employees was not meeting the demands of their job. This employee is always cheerful and very helpful when given specific tasks, but their particular skill level is not well-suited for completing the type of tasks that had evolved into their job description. We tried a few different organizational strategies to assist them but these were unsuccessful.
I came to the realization that unfortunately this person would have to be released from the organization. Firing employees is very difficult, especially in a small firm. I’m sure that most small firms such as ours strive to create a collegial family atmosphere rather than a strict authoritarian work environment.
As we reached the decision that we would have to terminate this employing came the horrifying news that they were diagnosed with cancer. I came to the conclusion that the right thing to do would be to postpone the inevitable termination to allow them to get over their surgical treatment. We had a lengthy discussion with our employee before they went off for their long hospital course wishing them well and at the same time delicately suggesting that upon their recovery we may find that circumstances will change.
Upon their return about a month later after a few days we had a somber discussion during which we informed the employee that they would no longer be employed by our firm. Given their health issues and the fact that this person was able to contribute to the firm, although not in an ideal manner, we agreed to keep them in employment until the end of the month. Their last day with us was yesterday, the day before Thanksgiving.
Take away lessons for bosses in small firms who have to fire an employee:
1) Laying people off in a large firm is much different than laying people off in a small firm. Rules applicable for one are not applicable to the other. For for thoughts on laying people off at larger firms read Guy Kawasaki – The Art of Laying People Off . I felt that this much commented upon writing is not applicable for a small business owner.
2) The employee’s intent and attitude go a long way towards the determination of how to deal with them. If they had a good attitude, worked well with others, and tried to complete their job duties to the best of their ability read on. If they had a bad attitude and were disruptive, they should be terminated immediately. They didn’t care about your future so you shouldn’t go out of your way to lose sleep over theirs. For those employees that did their best but could not get the work done read on:
3) Unless a person you’re firing has another job lined up, the economic hit to them will likely be much greater than the economic hit to your firm by keeping them on for another week or two. Be a good person and keep them on for short period of time to help ease their transition to a difficult financial future. Your firm will certainly survive paying this person another week or two since you’ve been doing it for so long to begin with. Additionally since you’ve made the decision that they have a good attitude and do the best they can, you can still use them productively for other aspects in the office until their final day.
4) Immediately inform everyone in your firm about your decision to terminate that employee. Don’t let gossip and rumors overwhelm your small workplace.
5) Firing an employee may be necessary for maintaining team morale. If others feel they have to pick up the slack of another employee, they may become resentful and the team may become mutinous.
6) Most importantly, take responsibility as a boss. Since you hired that person, and they did not work out, you made a mistake that cost your firm. It is not the employees fault, it is your fault. You failed the company. Should the person have been hired in the first place? Did you need to provide more training? Did the company have a proper organizational structure? Something is broken, and you the boss need to find out what it is and fix it.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey Ron, a great and provocative blogpost- no matter from which angle you look at it, but the most important point is the last- what to learn from the painful exercise, without the guilt trip! I find it enormously enlightening when we do anonymous employee surveys in large corporations to see how much resentment can build up in a team when one member of the team is a consistent under-performer. Far from crediting you as the boss with kindness and generosity of spirit as a person who tolerates diversity and make allowances for the fact that people have different gifts and contribute in different ways, employees have a sensor that knows when the scales tip and one team member creates that tipping point. Its the leader’s role to either lift that performance BEFORE the tipping point is reached (my theory is that once the tipping point has been reached the credibility damage is too hard to recover from) or to remove the person. But, your team also judges you on HOW you remove the person. Even if they thought the under-performer SHOULD go, they want it done in a way that ensures the dignity of the person. (your point 3 above). Leadership is both the toughest and most rewarding thing we can be challenged with, and the responsibility and rewards are enormous. Thanks for wrestling with this very sensitive matter through a personal story.
This was exactly the article that we needed to read. We are a small office of 6 women, who know that a current employee is not the right fit after 5 months of being employed here, but she has tried her best. In addition, she was already friends with a team member who works here (bad idea!), so we worried about what repercussions we would face when firing her and we want to do everything we can to make the transition easy for her. The thought of firing someone during the holidays (even without Cancer) is horrifying. But, to continue to pretend that she is enhancing this team would be even worse. During the holidays we have Christmas Parties and a staff retreat, and it seems like the longer we fail to face the facts and do the right thing, the harder it becomes to actually go through with it. Our solution after reading this, is to offer her a severance package of 2 weeks pay and any paid time off she has accrued. This way she will still be paid another 2 weeks, have benefits until the end of the month, and be able to use that time to find another job. We have never offered anyone else a severance package, but these circumstances seem to warrant it. We are like a family here and these decisions will affect everyone. Thank you again for your insight.