How to Terminate with Dignity

by Enrique Bekerman

One of the most dreaded, yet necessary, tasks that a manager has to perform is the firing of a subordinate. The task never gets easy, but armed with some basic principles and a little practice; the new manager can avoid making any irreparable damage while at the same time making this task less undesirable in the future.

Firing for Cause: When an employee is fired for cause it can be for either 1) a pattern of behavior that falls below the norm, or, 2) for an overt act that is illegal, or sufficiently violates the company's rules and policies, that it requires immediate termination of the employer/ employee relation.  Today, it has become customary good management policy to establish and practice progressive discipline. For that reason, it is important to do the following. Document violations of company policy in accordance with your company's rules. These rules should be given to the employees in writing.  Include a schedule that assigns weight to the severity of each infraction.

Make sure employees know where they stand.  Firing someone for absenteeism or tardiness should be straightforward, if accurate records have been kept and company policy strictly and uniformly enforced. It should be obvious when an employee's firing is immediately warranted for a violation, if the penalty for such an infraction is spelled out in the company policies

• if it is one more violation in a pattern of similar infractions,
• if it is clearly an illegal act, or
• if it is such a grievous act that it goes against the grain of normal industrial practices.

Another situation that calls for termination is one where an employee is unable to perform the tasks of the job and reassignment is not feasible.  Again, documentation is key to proceeding smoothly. When the termination is the result of an overt act, it is often best to suspend the employee until further investigation, rather than firing the employee on the spot. 

This strategy enables the manager to consider the case in a less emotional state and consider any mitigating circumstances. This step will make the eventual firing, if it occurs, appear to be a considered act based on all the information rather than a capricious and arbitrary act on the manager's part.

When the firing is the result of a chronic pattern of behavior, it may also be important to evaluate if the employee has received sufficient warning and has been offered opportunities to change the behavior at fault: 

• Has there been a need for further training, coaching or counseling?
• Has past behavior been fully documented?
• Did you observe the behavior yourself or are there credible witnesses or other irrefutable evidence?
• Are rules being enforced uniformly, or, would another employee be treated more mercifully under similar circumstances?

If the problem behavior started recently, are there any extenuating circumstances that may explain the behavior?  When the firing decision is made, remember to proceed with dignity.  The Golden Rule applies: treat your employee with the same consideration that you would like under similar circumstances. 

• Conduct the meeting in private.
• Be brief and unemotional.
• State the case for the firing and express regret, but do not apologize
• Do not blame others for the event.
• Do not allow for debate.
• Do not talk about the incident with other employees.
• Make arrangement for supervised clearing of personal property and return of company property.

Lay-offs: There are cases in which employees will be terminated by lay-offs due to downsizing, restructuring or other type of reorganization. Under such circumstances, it is important to explain the business reasons for the decision and to extend your honest empathy to the employee(s) involved.  If reasons for selecting the employee are other than seniority, be ready to explain clearly the selection criteria and be able to back it up with logical reasoning. Seniority is always the safest reason, so you should consult with your HR Department before departing from this norm. 

When mass lay-offs are involved, such as in a Department or plant closure, a general meeting should be conducted as soon as practical with the participation of Plant and HR Management.  Please also note, that there are restrictions depending on the size of the closure that spell the minimum length of time for such announcements.  At such a meeting be ready to write down all employee questions.

The goal should be to first handle as many questions as possible during the meeting, and second, to provide a handout within 48 hours containing the answers to those questions, as well as to any of the questions that required additional research.Try to predict what questions will be asked and come prepared you're your answers. During this meeting you can expect the logical questions regarding severance, continuation of benefits, outplacement help, etc. 

Although outplacement assistance is usually reserved for professional or managerial employees, there are certain simple low-cost outplacement techniques that can be used to maximize morale and obtain good faith cooperation from hourly employees during these difficult and critical times.A computer can be made available to teach employees how to search the Internet for open positions. Local businesses may be eager to employ your former employees and may help your company work out a schedule for in-house interviews and may even plan to delay starting dates to minimize disruptions to your windup of operations.State employment agencies will also schedule in-house presentations for your employees to discuss the resources available through their agencies.

Depending on the reason for the closure there may be federal or state programs available for re-training your employees and for extension of their unemployment benefits to receive such training.  Although firing or laying off employees will never be easy tasks, following these guidelines will provide a framework for conducting them in a professional trouble-free manner.

All rights reserved 

Enrique Bekerman, Quality Manufacturing Associates

For permission to reproduce write to qma109@yahoo.comPlease

Visit our Website at www.webuildqualitytogether.com/