I received the following note recently:
I fell into a human resources position several years ago by accident. I found that I love all aspects of HR, except terminating employees. I’d like to pursue a career in HR, however, I also love sales, being on the road, and need flexibility. Can you recommend the right career path and programs focusing on the PHR/SPHR? Thanks in advance for your time.
I could really relate to this letter, so I wanted to share my response with everyone. But since there’s a lot of information to cover…I’ve decided to break my reply into 3 posts. And today, I want to focus on subject of terminating employees.
There are a lot of people who cringe at the thought of terminating someone. And when I say terminating – I mean firing. Not a layoff because, in most cases, employees don’t have control over a layoff decision. But my philosophy is employees play an active role in the decision to get themselves fired.
That’s why I never (let me repeat that) never feel bad about terminating an employee. Because I didn’t tell them to do whatever they did to get themselves terminated. I didn’t tell them to show up late for work. I didn’t tell them to surf porn sites on company time. The employee made the decision to do these things and they have to accept responsibility for their actions.
And while I’m on a roll about terminations, let me add that I believe it’s the responsibility of an employee’s immediate supervisor to deliver the termination message. Not human resources. Now realistically speaking, does someone from HR usually end up in the room while the termination meeting is being conducted…yep. But the supervisor should say the words, not HR. It’s really unfortunate when HR has to intervene during a termination conversation (and I’ve had to do it plenty of times) because a supervisor is botching things up. Managers should be given the proper training to deliver these kinds of tough messages.
Which leads to another point. If management is doing their job, then employees know what is expected of them. They also know when they aren’t meeting expectations. I’ve had employees shake my hand after being fired. Because they knew it was coming and the conversation was done with dignity. It’s when employees don’t know what’s expected or managers don’t hold employees accountable that discipline and terminations become surprises. And no one likes those kinds of surprises.
I know this might sound really harsh, but with double-digit unemployment going on right now…I don’t feel bad about holding people accountable. There are so many qualified, talented people looking for work.
Being disciplined, suspended or even terminated shouldn’t be a surprise. Encourage managers to set expectations, coach for performance and hold people accountable. If you do everything you can, then if a termination conversation does take place, you can rest easy knowing that you did everything possible to make the employee successful.
P.S. Look for Part II of this series on Wednesday, where we’ll discuss the second topic – career paths in human resources. I’ve asked some very special guests to weigh in on the subject, so you won’t want to miss it. And then on Thursday, I’m talking about certifications. A lot of other people have written about it…and I’ve kept pretty quiet. That is until now.
Shennee says
Great Post as always Sharlyn! I sm looking forward to part 2 of this on Wed about HR Career Paths.
Have a great week!
Shennee
HRJEFE says
Great post! I couldn’t agree with you more on not taking responsibility for another’s actions.
Managers tell me all the time “I don’t know how you can to this (terminate) all the time”. I tell them I don’t – the associate does as I know they were given a fair chance at improvement and didn’t do it. That’s also when I let them know BTW you are telling your associate they are being terminated!
I too have had associates thank me after a termination meeting as they felt it was fair and not my fault at all.
So while terminations are a component to an HR professionals job, it does not and should not define you or HR at all.
Looking forward to the next post in this series!
Ask a Manager says
Very good point. Working for a nonprofit, I’ve come to see firing low performers as almost a moral obligation — keeping a low performer on board might keep the manager from an unpleasant conversation, but it’s a direct slap in the face to our donors who fund our work.
Wally Bock says
Yowza!!!! This is me standing up and cheering. If you look closely you will see that I am waving a banner with the following words from this post.
“it’s the responsibility of an employee’s immediate supervisor to deliver the termination message.”
Of course it’s the immediate supervisor’s job. They’re the ones who set expectations, follow up to check on performance and behavior, coach, counsel and encourage, and create the documentation. BUT
BUT? Yes, BUT, this only works if those supervisors have learned that this is part of their jobs and are supervised and evaluated themselves on how well they do it. It only works if they’ve gotten some training in skills like I mention in my Working Supervisor’s Support Kit ( http://www.threestarleadership.com/supervisorsupportkit/ ). It only works if they’re supported by the management above them.
There’s one more thing, though I despair of it happening in my lifetime. This will work far better if the supervisors are chosen with the knowledge that this will be part of their work and having demonstrated some willingness to do it.
Wally Bock says
I can’t resist sharing this story, based on your comment about people firing themselves.
Some years ago a friend of mine was a police officer in a midsized Western city. He stopped a man one night for driving while intoxicated, performed the field sobriety test and breathalyzer and determined that the driver had a blood alcohol level far beyond the legal minimum for DUI.
My friend arrested the man for DUI and called for another vehicle to come and take the man to jail. While waiting for the car, his prisoner kept screaming at him, “You’re going to make me lose my license! I won’t be able to get to work.” There was other, more colorful language,too.
Finally, my friend turned to the prisoner and said, in a perfectly reasonable voice, “Sir, your actions are what will cause you to lose your license. I’m merely chronicling the events.”
Blissex says
«But my philosophy is employees play an active role in the decision to get themselves fired.
That’s why I never (let me repeat that) never feel bad about terminating an employee. Because I didn’t tell them to do whatever they did to get themselves terminated.»
There are at least two important exceptions to this argument:
* The employee may be misplaced by the company, through no fault of their. It happens very often indeed by random chance: in the wrong job, within the wrong team, after a sudden change in business circumstances. Performance is not purely the result of employee attitudes, but also of the ability of then organization to make the most of employee talents.
* In ideal organizations terminations are based on actual performance; in many real organizations they are a result of management politics. There is often a need for a manager to get rid of someone to promote someone else, to eliminate someone who knows too much, to sacrifice a scapegoat to protect oneself, and many other cases that you must have seen.
Sure, one can always argue than in both cases above it is entirely the employee’s problem to have been “unlucky”, and the business could not care less, and there is always a long queue outside of people desperate to get a job.
But your argument “I never (let me repeat that) never feel bad about terminating an employee. Because I didn’t tell them to do whatever they did” is based on the idea that somehow it always is the employee’s fault; even if the problem was a random reorg that put them in the wrong place, or a clever manager who needs a scapegoat.
There are many exasperating employees, but there are also many people who get terminated for pretty bad reasons, and who can’t do anything about those.
Blissex says
If you want to “never feel bad about terminating an employee”, even when it is clearly not the employee’s fault, just remind yourself that in the USA voters and workers have consistently endorsed and voted for parties and politicians that have been anti-union, anti-labor and in favour of “employed at will” laws.
When someone in the USA gets terminated, even in a way that is very unfair to them, that is just what they agreed to as voters and workers when they voted for and entered into an “employed at will” contract. That’s the law of the land, as the majority of voters and workers have chosen it.
Wally Bock says
Congratulations! This post was selected as one of the five best independent business blog posts of the week in my Three Star Leadership Midweek Review of the Business Blogs.
http://blog.threestarleadership.com/2009/12/16/121609-midweek-look-at-the-independent-business-blogs.aspx
Wally Bock
Marisa says
While I would agree with the comment about people essentially firing themselves, I also feel that sometimes good people just make a bad decision and that’s unfortunate. So, yes, while I agree that people should accept the consequences of their actions, it will always bother me to be involved in the decision to terminate someone–because it doesn’t just effect that person; it often effects their family as well and they played no part in that employee’s actions.
Barbara Saunders says
I recently had a conversation with a colleague, a successful entrepreneur and consultant, who said, “I don’t consider a job a success until I get fired.” That takes the point to an extreme, but consider: termination is not always a negative experience. You might well be firing the disengaged employee who can’t afford to quit without an unemployment check, the frustrated entrepreneur or career changer who needs a kick in the pants, the person who hates the job so much that depression is the only thing keeping him there. We’ve all heard of people who ask to be laid off so they can move on. If that’s not an option, a firing will do!
Sharlyn Lauby says
@Barbara – I really doubt the average worker would consider being fired a badge of honor but, you do raise an interesting point. I have a tendency to think of the situations you described as more of a planned exit strategy. I’ve entered several jobs knowing that I needed to turn the HR department around and leave once that was done. It does lead toward the same outcome – working your way out of a job isn’t always a bad thing. In fact, it could be the best thing that happens to you.